The projects cover a diverse range of topics, such as research into what makes each autistic brain unique and the development of language.

Precision Functional Imaging in Autism - A Comprehensive Study on Functional Brain Networks and State-Dependent Variability

dr. J.M.C.  Bathelt, University of Amsterdam

The brain probably works differently in autism, but the exact nature of these differences is not fully understood. This study focuses on understanding what makes each autistic brain unique. It will assess how brain function in autism differs over time and across different situations, like when watching people interact or when making sense of dense information.

Language Evolution in a Relational World

dr. R.  Garrido Alhama, University of Amsterdam

Human language is one of the most complex systems in nature, which allows us to communicate about what we see, know or imagine. Thus a relevant question is how human language developed its complexity. This project capitalizes on recent technical innovations to understand how human language evolved from simple phrases to fully-fledged sentences.

Human rights and the ethics of compulsory prison labour

dr. J.C.A.  Olsthoorn , University of Amsterdam

Compulsory prison labour raises profound moral and theoretical questions. This widespread legal practice (abolished in the Netherlands in 2021) jars with several established human rights, including freedom of occupation and unionization. Have offenders lost these human rights? This philosophical research project examines these contested questions from a human rights perspective.

Regenerative Capitalism: How Big Business Constructs the Nature-Positive Economy

dr. P.S.  Schleifer , University of Amsterdam

This project employs large language models (LLMs) in critical discourse analysis, examining business responses to the global biodiversity crisis and corporate communication about being nature positive. Dominant frames, biases, and variations between sectors and over time are identified in this process.

Coalitions of Distrust: Conspiricization via Hashtag Hijacking

dr. M.D.  Tuters , University of Amsterdam

The research explores new methods to detect the spread of what it refers to as “issue conspiricization” in online discussion. It applies visual network analysis and natural language processing to an extensive longitudinal dataset, spanning 15 years of Twitter posts (n=>10M) to investigate "hashtag hijacking” as a mechanism of misinformation propagation—a heretofore overlooked phenomenon.

Temporal trends and psychological consequences of adverse childhood experiences among transgender and gender diverse adolescents seeking care

dr. D.M.  Doyle, Amsterdam UMC

Some claim that rising rates of referrals to gender clinics are driven by an increasing number of adolescents with adverse childhood experiences ‘mistakenly’ labelling themselves as transgender and seeking medical transition, which is purported to be unlikely to alleviate their psychological distress. The proposed project will therefore examine changes from 2002 to 2022 in proportions of adolescents seeking care who are exposed to adverse childhood experiences, as well as whether exposure to such events in childhood limits the efficacy of gender-affirming care in reducing psychological distress into young adulthood.