Dr. Lennart Ackermans wins fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

A “cum laude” PhD dissertation bearing fruit

Ackermans’ impact in research and his fellowship stem from his PhD dissertation “Probability, Causation, and Inequality of Opportunity” at the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE) and Erasmus School of Philosophy, defended at the EUR in September 2023. His thesis tackles two very challenging subjects: the relationship between probability and rationality and the measurement of causation.

On the advice of two external referee reports and a jury of international top scholars, Ackermans’ thesis was awarded with the rare cum laude predicate. The thesis was praised as “thoroughly argued, with perspicuous presentation, and crystal-clear language. It is a careful, clever, and clearly presented display of ingenious arguments, adding new material to well-established debates in formal epistemology and philosophy of science. There is clear promise for outstanding further research in the future.”

His main supervisor Dr. Christopher Clarke adds: “I am delighted with Lennart’s excellent work. It combines a deep knowledge of causation as a general concept with cutting-edge insights into particular settings in which it is especially socially relevant to measure causation, such as the study of discrimination.”

Ackermans in discussion with Nobel Laureate Guido Imbens

In 2023, Ackermans' work on causation caught the eye of Nobel Laureate Guido Imbens. As a result, Nobel Laureate Guido Imbens (Professor of Applied Econometrics at Stanford) presented his views on causal methodology at an EIPE research seminar. There, Ackermans and Christopher Clarke commented on Imbens’ 2020 paper called “Potential Outcome and Directed Acyclic Graph Approaches to Causality”, published in the Journal of Economic Literature. The discussion focused on the relative merits of two prominent frameworks in causal methodology.

Research Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

The Research Fellowships are awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to highly qualified scholars from around the world who are just embarking on their academic careers. Recipients will spend up to two years at a German university to carry out their own research project. Ackermans will use the fellowship to conduct research at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) at the University of Munich, working with Professor Stephan Hartmann.

Measuring socially relevant causation

In Munich, Ackermans will investigate the scientific methods used for measuring socially relevant causal connections. Causal connections play a role in various socially relevant phenomena, such as inequality of opportunity and algorithmic unfairness. Ackermans' research aims to clarify the conceptual, ethical, and epistemological problems related to their measurement.

Professor Jack Vromen and Dr. Conrad Heilmann, who were part of the PhD supervision team, add: “Lennart’s work is of outstanding quality as well as innovative and socially relevant. We are looking forward to seeing his research career take off further by working with colleagues at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy.”