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.
Eleni supports Erasmus Professor Eveline Crone in her mission to create positive social impact. The focus of my activities is on helping people achieve their goals, forging valuable connections, and improving processes with a keen eye for customer-centricity. My work involves organizing events, bringing people together, optimizing workflow and facilitating research initiatives within the Erasmus SYNC Lab.
Yolijn is the project coordinator for the Gravitation program ‘Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS)’. She facilitates the Steering Committee, oversees all functions, provides administration and weekly duties, schedules meetings, and facilitates communication between the Steering Committee and all applicants. Yolijn has a background in psychology and obtained her Master in Youth and Adolescent psychology at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2022. Her master thesis focused on the development of cognitive control in elementary schoolchildren with internalizing symptoms, and she obtained some experience in a large data program, the Generation R Study. Yolijn likes societal engagement and working with (young) people.
Kitty is the knowledge broker for the ‘Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS)’ project. Her goal is to bridge the gap between research and society, by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and orchestrating meetings to foster collaboration. She works closely with researchers from seven universities, assisting them in involving society in their work. Additionally, Kitty is responsible for managing the visibility of the GUTS project. This involves overseeing the social media strategy, maintaining the website, and managing the project’s newsletter. With a background in cognitive neuropsychology and a master’s in Youth Development & Social Change, she brings her experience and passion for youth participation, diversity, and inclusion to the team.
Simone Mulder is a Data Manager for the SYNC lab and the Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) research program, with special interests in open science, health care, programming, and (meta)data visualizations. She coordinates data storage, processing, and sharing between the nine collaborating institutions that are part of the ten-year GUTS project. Simone is currently working on developing protocols and pipelines to ensure a flexible and accessible data infrastructure.
Simone obtained her research master’s degree in clinical and health psychology in 2021. She previously worked as a research data specialist for the Leiden-CID project, focussing on the implementation and development of the Leiden-CID data infrastructure. She also developed a long-term strategy to make data flexible and accessible to other researchers.
Julianna is a research assistant at the SYNC lab and is involved in the Gravitation program ‘Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS)’. As a research assistant, Caroline is primarily involved with planning and screening of participants and data collection including MRI scans, behavioural experiments, and questionnaires.
Julianna has a background is in psychology and neuroscience and is currently enrolled in a Research Master in Neuroscience & Cognition at Utrecht University. During this master’s she also conducted her internship at SYNC, under the Braintime study, where she helped with the last wave of data collection in young adults.
Sarah is a research assistant at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is involved in the transdisciplinary research ‘Adolescents as agents of change’. This research focusses on how youth can positively contribute to society, what effect it has on them and in what ways society can support them in doing so. In this position, she works closely with several societal partners and she is involved in various aspects of the research, including the participant recruitment, data collection and data processing.
Sarah obtained a bachelor’s degree in pedagogical sciences and a master’s degree in Youth Development and Social Change at Utrecht University. During her studies she specialised in working interdisciplinary and learned how to operate as a bridgebuilder between science and practice, to work on societal problems regarding youth.
Dimitri Mau Asam is Art director and graphic designer responsible for the entire branding of SYNC lab and the Young Xperts platform. In close collaboration with Glenn Windhouwer for the construction of the website SYNC lab and Young Xperts.
Ties Fakkel is a postdoctoral researcher at the Erasmus SYNC Lab. His broader focus is on understanding how adolescents end up with a similar or different socioeconomic position compared to their parents. Specifically, Ties studies socioeconomic differences in adolescent psychosocial competencies and examines how these competencies contribute to socioeconomic outcomes in early adulthood, such as educational attainment, occupational status, and income.
At the SYNC Lab, Ties is primarily involved with The Urban Rotterdam project and YoungXperts. These projects provide unique quantitative and qualitative data to understand what young people in Rotterdam perceive as causes of poverty. Rotterdam has a relatively high number of people living in poverty, but Rotterdam also has a relatively high number of young people. Their insights have the potential to foster a more sustainable and resilient future for our city.
Besides collecting data on important topics, Ties is also highly motivated to disseminate novel research findings. Through his work at the SYNC Lab – but also through his initiatives at Addendum – Ties regularly strives to make science more tangible for a broader audience. According to Ties, co-creation is at the heart of new wave social science, a vision broadly shared within the SYNC Lab.
Sterre is science communication manager at the SYNC lab and for the Gravitation program ‘Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS)’. She translates scientific matters into language that is understandable for everyone and exchanges this with society. She works on projects to effectively increase public engagement and societal impact of the research.
Sterre has a background in neuroscience and finished her master’s degree in Neuroscience & Cognition at Utrecht University in 2021. Her final thesis dealt with how social media brings opportunities for adolescent social (brain) development while physical distancing in times of Covid-19. During her masters, Sterre started her specialization in the field of science communication. Among several other science communication projects, she was fully committed to the editorial board of a popular science magazine for six months.
Sterre expanded her expertise during her position as outreach officer for the Social Resilience & Security program at Leiden University. Throughout her career, she developed (and carried out) high school guest lectures, created podcasts, organized youth panels, designed activities for science festivals and various other ways to connect science to society.
