Six PhD research grants awarded at UMH
Six PhD research grants awarded at UMH | August, 2024
Six research grants have been awarded to UvA PIs and researchers to facilitate the appointment of six PhD candidates at UvA who will each work within interdisciplinary research teams at UMH
A recent Open call for PhD projects by the Centre for Urban Mental Health at the University of Amsterdam has resulted in the awardance of six grants to newly formed research teams from across the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Sciences. The grants are to be allocated to the appointment of PhD candidates at UMH who will be performing their PhD studies during the second period of UMH (2024-2028). The candidates are expected to start their studies during the fall of 2024.
UMH will have Team science at its core in the coming years. Here, the three UvA faculties that are united in UMH will each be in the lead for an overarching theme. Per theme, two projects have been selected, with each project setup from at least two different departments.
The Open call resulted in a very strong set of applications, with each research proposal of relevance to UMH and its objectives. UMH would like to thank all applicants for their efforts and congratulate the teams who have successfully applied for a UMH-2 PhD grant.
Would you like to know more? Details on the six projects are listed below.
Theme 1 | Lead: Faculty of Sciences
Urban stress and common mental health conditions, mechanisms, and effect of interventions
Awarded projects and main applicants
Exposure to cannabis during pregnancy; Transgenerational effects on the dopamine system, prefrontal cortex and stress coping behavior
Dr. Rixt van der Veen, FNWI-SILS, Brain Plasticity group
Prof. dr. Marten Smidt, FNWI-SILS, Molecular Neuroscience group
STRIDE-4-MH Project – Stress Tolerance and Resilience by Integrating Digital and Exercise training-based interventions for Mental Health of Dutch students
Dr. Joram Mul, FNWI-SILS, Fit Brain Lab and Brain Plasticity group
Dr. Sanne de Wit, FMG, Clinical Psychology and Habit Lab
Dr. Sascha Struijs, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences (Vrije Universiteit), Clinical Psychology
Theme 2 | Lead: Faculty of Medicine
Multilevel interventions for common mental health conditions and urbanicity
Awarded projects and main applicants
Designing Social Connection: Computer Modeling to Establish Quality Social Connections in Urban Mental Health Interventions
Dr. Nadia van der Spek, FG, Psychiatry
Dr. Mike Lees, FNWI-IvI, Computational Science Lab and IAS
Innovating interventions: A genetically informed multi-level framework for identifying and addressing substance (ab)use risk factors
Prof. dr. Karin Verweij, FG, Psychiatry
Dr. Saar Mollen, FMG, Communication Science
Dr. Margot van de Weijer, FG, Psychiatry
Theme 3 | Lead: Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Personalization of interventions for common mental health conditions and urbanicity
Awarded projects and main applicants
Understanding the Dynamics of Suicide: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach to Inform Intervention Strategies in an Urban Context
Dr. Derek de Beurs, FMG, Clinical Psychology
Dr. Valeria Krzhizhanovskaya, FNWI, Informatics Institute
MIND-CHAT: May I help you? An Intervention for Non-suicidal self-injury and Depression through a culturally-sensitive Chatbot
Dr. Nida Gizem Yilmaz, FMG, Communication Science
Prof. dr. Ellen Smets, FG, Medical Psychology and Amsterdam Public Health
Dr. Annemiek Linn, FMG, Health Communication