Here you will find information about the current board members of the Central PhD Council.

Wenwen Guan – Faculty of Humanities

Wenwen is a PhD candidate at the Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC). Her research looks into the use of metadiscourse in Asian learners’ English writing and speaking, combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The findings are expected to help language learners improve their communicative skills at the discourse level. Wenwen started her PhD in 2020 and represents the Faculty of Humanities (FGw) in the Central PhD Council as of November 2022.

Timo Schenk – Faculty of Economics and Business

Timo Schenk is a PhD candidate of the Econometrics group at the Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE). His research aims to improve the statistical tools used to evaluate the effect of policy changes on economic outcomes. He is interested in applications in environmental economics, labor economics and health economics. Timo started his PhD in September 2020 and represents the Faculty of Economics and Business in the Central PhD Council since July 2022.

Saskia Arbon – Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Saskia Arbon is a PhD candidate at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE). Her research focuses whether secondary school students understand why people disagree on socio-scientific issues, and more specifically: controversial issues related to the school subject biology. The aim is to teach secondary school children to evaluate multiple perspectives and think critically when facing a socio-scientific issue in their own life. Saskia started her PhD in September 2022 and as of November 2023, she represents the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences within the Central PhD Council.

Pramiti Parwani – Faculty of Law

Pramiti is a PhD Candidate at the Law Centre for Health and Life. She focuses on issues of access to vaccines in low and middle-income countries. In particular, she looks at the impact of EU and India’s legal and regulatory framework on global access to vaccines beyond their borders. The aim is to map out the obstacles– and the role of EU and India therein- to low-and-middle income countries’ capabilities to access vaccines. She started her PhD in February 2021, and as of November 2022, she is representing the faculty of law of the University of Amsterdam.

Kelly Wong – Faculty of Science

Kelly Wong is a PhD candidate in the Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics. Her research aims to advance the understanding of the effects of climate and environmental changes on corals, as well as to identify mechanisms that enhance coral stress tolerance under future ocean conditions. Kelly started her PhD in August 2022 and joined the Central PhD Council board as the FNWI representative in April 2024.

Annemiek ter Wee - Faculty of Medicine

Annemiek is a PhD candidate at the Department of Biomedical Engineering & Physics at the Amsterdam UMC. Her research focuses on a non-invasive diagnostic tool for knee implant loosening. Her aim is to identify the potential effects of image quality, image processing techniques and mechanical bone properties on the current method, and propose optimizations. She started her PhD in April 2023 and represents the Faculty of Medicine in the Central PhD Council since October 2023.

Joanita van Santen – Faculty of Dentistry

Joanita is a PhD candidate in the Department of Oral Biochemistry at the ACTA. Her research focuses on the regional salivary profiling of Sjögren’s disease patients. Her aim is to identify salivary biomarkers to enable easier screening/diagnosis of Sjögren’s disease. She started her PhD in December 2022 and represents the Faculty of Dentistry in the Central PhD Council since November 2023.