Prof. Eveline Crone is full professor in Developmental Neuroscience in Society and she leads the Society, Youth and Neuroscience Connected (SYNC) Lab. Eveline’s research examines the psychological and neural processes involved in self-regulation and social development. All of her work employs a developmental cognitive neuroscience approach to examine the relation between brain development and changes in psychological processes from birth to adulthood, with a special focus on adolescence. One of her special interests involves enrichment of cognitive and social experiences of children and adolescents using longitudinal, training and intervention designs. Eveline and the members of her research group regularly publish in leading international journals. Besides her mission to do innovative and excellent scientific research, her lab invests in the contribution and translation of scientific findings to society.
Recognitions
Eveline received her PhD ‘Performance monitoring and decision-making” in 2003 cum laude. For her PhD research, she received the NVP Best Dissertation Award in 2005, the J. C. Ruigrok Prize in 2007 and the Junior Heymans Award in 2008. In 2009 she received the Huibregtsen Prize for Science and Society from the Minister of Science and Education. In 2011 she received LNVH Early Career Award for the Social Sciences and the Early Career Award of the Society for Psychophysiological Research in Boston (USA). In 2017 she received the Ammodo KNAW award, and in 2018 the KNAW Hendrik Muller Award for contributions to the social sciences. Eveline received the Spinoza award for her research on the adolescent brain in 2017. The Spinoza award is the highest recognition in Dutch Science.
In 2012 she was elected as member of Academia Europaea and of the Royal Dutch Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW), in 2013 of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and in 2021 she was elected as corresponding member of the British Academy. In 2017 she joined the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC), as of 2020 as Vice-President. She is board member of Flux: The Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience and incoming president.
From Science to Society
In addition to her scientific work, Eveline has been successfully communicating her findings to the general public. In 2018 she published the revision of the Dutch book “Het puberende brein” for a wide audience, of which over 100,000 copies have been sold. The book has been translated into six languages. In this book, Eveline Crone explains the influence of brain development on learning, risk-taking and the social relations and friendships of adolescents. Eveline and members of her research group also provide information for teachers and youth workers in workshops and presentations (www.kijkinjebrein.nl).
In 2020, Eveline and her group launched the youth platform YoungXperts (www.youngXperts.nl). This Living Lab is a collaborative platform for youth, scientists, policy makers and professionals. Through iterative science approaches adolescents provide crucial input on the scientific priorities.
If you are interested in Eveline’s Curriculum Vitae, you can find it here.
Kayla is a postdoctoral researcher in the Erasmus SYNC Lab. Her work focuses on how adolescents and young adults grow up in a complex and rapidly changing world, marked by various societal challenges (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, poverty). She specifically examines how adolescent and young adult wellbeing is shaped by socioeconomic hardship and future uncertainty. Kayla aims to shed light on how the developing brain adapts to challenges in the social environment, and how such neural challenges may foster resilience. Which vulnerabilities put some adolescents at risk to be disproportionably hit by societal challenges, and are there protective factors that might buffer against the potential negative impact on wellbeing. Additionally, Kayla investigates self-disclosure in the context of societal topics, which may be viewed as political or controversial (e.g., should adolescents aged 16 or 17 years have the right to vote?).
She is co-founder and social media officer of the YoungXperts youth participation platform. She is passionate about connecting science to society and policy. Kayla uses participatory approaches to actively involve youth in science and policy. She also engages in science communication and outreach activities.
Kayla is member of the ambition team on youth participation. Since 2020, Kayla is member of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee of the international Flux Society. She co-leads the Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) affinity group. Kayla was awarded the PhD Excellence Award for Best Societal Impact by the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities in 2022. She was also awarded a travel grant by Flux Society in 2022. Together with her YoungXperts colleagues she received the Open Science Award for the collaborative work on inclusive youth participation within the YoungXperts platform. In 2022 Kayla was selected as Faces of Science by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie), and NEMO Kennislink.Green has a background in psychology (Utrecht University, 2015). After obtaining her bachelor degree, she continued with the research master Neuroscience & Cognition (2018) and the clinical master Neuropsychology (2017) at Utrecht University. She did her clinical internship at the Neurology and Geriatrics Department of the Spijkenisse Medisch Centrum, where is also obtained her BAPD (certificate in psychodiagnostics). She obtained her PhD in 2024 (cum laude) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Under supervision of prof. dr. Eveline Crone and dr. Suzanne van de Groep. Kayla examined the socioeconomic, social and neural determinants of wellbeing across adolescence and young adulthood.
Andrea is a Postdoc at the SYNC lab in Rotterdam. He is interested in studying how the social environment influences youth’s upbringings and decision making.
Andrea is currently finishing his PhD at the University of Amsterdam, where he specializes in designing behavioral experiments to study social learning strategies in adolescents and adults.
He looked at what types of peers are most influential within classrooms, what types of social cues (confidence, expertise, majority) people use when they look at others’ opinions, and wether following others is beneficial or not.
Andrea has a background in Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy and obtained his Master’s Degree at the Humboldt University in Berlin, where gained his first experience in measuring brain activity using EEG. In Berlin, he also worked as Research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
Judith is a postdoctoral researcher at the Erasmus SYNC lab. She is interested in how adolescents are affected by and can contribute to societal challenges (e.g., climate change, social inequality). Her goal is to contribute to research that recognizes adolescents’ potential to be transformative frontrunners in society.
During her PhD project (2020-2024, Department of Psychology, Utrecht University) Judith studied how interventions that harness adolescents’ motives for autonomy and peer status can promote their climate-friendly behavior. Before her PhD, Judith obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology (2018) and research master’s degree in Development and Socialisation in Childhood and Adolescence (2020, cum laude) at Utrecht University.
Sophie Sweijen is a PhD candidate in the SYNC lab. She focuses on the behavioral and neural developmental trajectories of prosocial behavioral and societal contributions during adolescence.
Her work is part of the longitudinal ERC consolidator ‘Brainlinks’ project, in which 142 adolescents are followed over the course of three years. The project focuses on the development of prosocial behavior in young individuals, using a variety of techniques (e.g. fMRI, laboratory tasks and questionnaires). She also works on the Urban Rotterdam Project examining how the social environment interacts with individual characteristics on developmental outcomes. Here, she specifically investigates adolescents’ opportunities for prosocial actions during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sophie completed her research master ‘Developmental Psychology’ at Leiden University in 2019. Her main interests lie in the social world of young individuals. During her studies, she assisted in multiple behavioral and fMRI studies investigating social learning, peer relations and risk taking in adolescence. For her master thesis, she focused on the developmental changes and individual differences in learning through social interactions.
Ethell is a PhD candidate at the Erasmus SYNC lab, working on the GUTS project. Her research focuses on the developmental trajectories of trust in adolescents and the influence of their socio-economic status and ethnic backgrounds. Ethell is particularly interested in fMRI research and is intrigued by the development of youth from diverse socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.
Ethell’s work is part of the Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) project, a longitudinal study exploring how adolescents grow up in an increasingly complex society. The project encourages interdisciplinary research, and Ethell’s work combines developmental psychology with sociological perspectives.
As part of the first work package (WP1) in the GUTS project, Ethell’s research focuses on the influence of adolescents’ socio-economic status. Her research will address how adolescents’ trust in society develops and whether adolescent’s trust differs depending on their SES and ethnic background. To this end, she will employ a variety of methods including fMRI, questionnaires, behavioral assessments, and youth participation.
Ethell is part of the YoungXperts platform, which involves youth in science and amplifies their opinions. She is committed to making science accessible for young people and plans to implement YoungXperts’ methods of youth participation in her research.
Prior to her PhD, Ethell completed her master’s in Biomedical Sciences – Neurosciences at the University of Antwerp in 2023. Her master’s thesis focused on developing and assessing visual fMRI paradigms to engage brain regions involved in the perception of equilibrium and balance.
Yvette Grootjans is a PhD candidate in the Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) project. Her research focuses on the use of electrophysiological recordings (EEG) to assess the role of self-regulation in the development of mental health problems in adolescents, with a focus on both internalizing and externalizing disorders. This will be explored not only in individual settings but also in a social setting, through an EEG hyperscanning set-up.
Yvette received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2020. She then obtained her Research Master in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, specializing in Neuropsychology at Maastricht University
in 2023. Yvette did her thesis internship at Trinity College in Dublin where she focused on the use of non-invasive brain stimulation in auditory perceptual learning.
Ruth is a PhD candidate at the Erasmus SYNC lab. The title of her research project is ‘Teaching for Purpose: encouraging purpose development in adolescents through an integrated approach in classroom settings‘. Purpose is cultivated through a process of discovery and exploring unique interests, skills and values. One of the key developmental tasks during adolescence is developing this sense of purpose. The aim of Ruth’s research is to explore – together with students and teachers – how classrooms and schools can become an environment in which the development of purpose in adolescents is further encouraged.
Ruth has a background as a sociologist for developing countries, with a focus on education. Throughout her career she has been involved in working with beneficiaries to design projects and approaches that lead to positive youth development, mainly within educational settings. She has done this in various developing countries (Bangladesh, Vietnam, The Gambia) as well as in (international) schools.
What she thoroughly enjoys in these settings is the great emphasis on the involvement and participation of community members and beneficiaries, as well as the willingness to experiment and try new approaches in order to create a positive impact. In her work it has always been critical to bring in the most recent insights from research and connect it to the reality on the ground – an approach that aligns very well with that of the SYNC-lab.
Upon her return to The Netherlands Ruth started working as a school leader at the bilingual secondary school – Wolfert Tweetalig – in the centre of Rotterdam. In this position Ruth emphasised the need to develop an environment in which the socio-emotional development of young people serves as the foundation for a conducive learning environment. It is during this time – that Ruth developed the desire to take a deeper dive into this topic. From her own experience of teacher-training, as well as through research, it is clear that there is still a great gap between what is known about the development (and possibilities) of the adolescent brain and how this is translated into the training of our teachers and the practices in schools.
Ruth returned to teaching (Maatschappijleer & Global Politics) in the same school and approached the SYNC-lab to explore the opportunity of collaborating on a research project in which we can bridge the gap between knowledge and insights produced through research in adolescent neuroscience and the practice of education. Ruth managed to secure a grant to conduct PhD research ( the ‘NWO promotiebeurs voor leraren‘), whilst continuing to teach.
Coen is a PhD candidate at the SYNC lab with a strong interest to further bring together neuroscience and behavioral science. Coen’s work focuses on the enhancement of measures for Social Anxiety and on exploring the interplay between social anxiety and prosocial behavior in adolescents. He also aims to integrate Experience Sampling Method (ESM) data with neurophysiological measures (EEG) to find parallels between methods.
After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology at the University of Amsterdam, Coen completed his Master’s in Legal and Forensic Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His academic journey has been fueled by a deep curiosity about adolescent behavior and its underlying motivations and processes, which he approaches from both biological and psychological viewpoints
