People

PI

Caspar J. Van Lissa

 

My research revolves around three themes: The “theory crisis” in social sciences, cumulative knowledge acquisition, and reliability of research findings. My primary Vidi-funded research line focuses on machine learning-informed formal theory construction. My secondary research line focuses on machine learning-informed evidence synthesis, including text mining systematic reviews and meta-analysis. My third research line addresses open science practices, in particular computational reproducibility and automated research workflows.

PhD students

Rasoul Norouzi

 

Rasoul is a PhD student in the Methodology and Statistics department at Tilburg University, working under the supervision of Caspar van Lissa. His expertise lies in advanced text mining techniques and language models for retrieving information from scholarly papers. His PhD project aims to automate the generation and analysis of Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) that capture cause-effect relationships. Through these graphs, he seeks to uncover hidden patterns and latent theoretical structures, refining existing theories and aiding in the development of new ones.

Ward Eiling

 

My main research interest occurs at intersection of philosophy of science and statistics and lies with issues regarding theory formation and measurement in the social sciences. My PhD projects, under the supervision of Caspar van Lissa, aim to further develop causal discovery and machine learning methods to support inductive research.

Data manager

Leonhard Volz

 

My focus is on computational methods and infrastructure for formal theories of psychological processes as part of the Department Methodology and Statistics at Tilburg University. In that context, I work on different approaches to psychological modelling, such as network analysis, cognitive modelling, and machine-learning-inspired methods for theory construction. Besides that, I am passionate about open and sound research methods in (psychological) science and has been active in various topical (student) initiatives.

External Members

Raphael Merz

 

Working on theory-based predictions of plausible effect sizes | board member at the Platform for Young Meta-Scientists (PYMS).

Research Assistants

Amirali Rezazadeh

 

I’m currently pursuing a Research Master’s in Statistics and Methodology at Tilburg University, where I’m also gaining valuable experience as a Student Assistant in the Department of Statistics and Methodology. Teaching has quickly become one of the most fulfilling aspects of my journey. There’s nothing I enjoy more than guiding students through the intricacies of statistics—it’s where my passion truly comes alive. In addition to teaching, I’ve discovered a deep interest in meta-research, a passion that took root during the final year of my bachelor’s degree. I’m now committed to advancing my career as a meta-researcher, eager to contribute to the evolving landscape of research methodology and to push the boundaries of what we know. I’m driven by a love for both teaching and research, and I’m excited to see where this path will take me as I continue to grow and learn.

Collaborators

Sophie Hendrikse

 

I am an assistant professor in the department Methodology and Statistics at Tilburg University. In my research, I build bridges between Artificial Intelligence and the Social Sciences. I combine knowledge from these disciplines to develop computational models for mental and social behaviour, and these models can be applied in Social AI systems, such as virtual coaches or chatbots. Moreover, I work on psychological theory building of multiple phenomena (like social bonding, empathy, emotion regulation, depression) through model formalisation and extensive simulations of the formalised model. To accomplish this, I rely on adaptive network models, agent-based models, dynamical systems models and other machine learning tools.

Andreas Glöckner

 

I am a decision researcher and social psychologist at the University of Cologne. I have a long standing interest in cognitive modelling, open science, and theory development. Together with Susann Fiedler and Fiona tho Pesch, I initiated the Theory Specification Challenge, a many theorists project to analyze and specify classic theories of social psychology. Co-supervisor of Ward Eiling.

Daniel Lakens

 

Professor in the Human-Technology interaction group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Daniel’s expertise includes meta-science, research methods and applied statistics. Promotor of Raphael Merz.