Three researchers from Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Erasmus University College have been awarded an NWO SGW Open Competition grant. The SGW Open Competition promotes excellent, free, curiosity-driven research with a primarily social science or humanities research question and problem definition.
An overview of all laureates from Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Erasmus University College:
Pre-emptive implementation: Responding to evolving policies on incoming international student mobility to the Netherlands
dr. M. Schiller, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
The Dutch Minister of Education's recent proposal to limit international student mobility marks a shift in the country's higher education policy. This project asks how university staff at a more strategic and the street-level in Behavioural & Social Science faculties at universities Leiden, Nijmegen, and Rotterdam are responding to the evolving policy and what motivates practices of ‘pre-emptive implementation’ of a policy that is yet to come. Based on focus groups, interviews and document analysis, the study will yield potentially ground-breaking insights for research on migration policy, street-level bureaucracy and policy implementation.
Navigating Physical and Mental Space in the Digital Age
dr. M.I. Ikbal Sahan, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
The human cognitive system is equipped with an “internal GPS” for navigating the physical world, but modern reliance on “external” navigation devices such as smart phones or GPS is diminishing our natural navigation skills. Despite 80% smartphone usage worldwide, the cognitive effects of these devices remain unknown. With the global population aging rapidly, projected at 2 billion people aged above 60 years by 2050, it is vital to understand the interplay between GPS use, age-related decline and spatial cognition. This project investigates the impact of aging and GPS use on our navigation skills by using VR and eye-tracking technology.
Befriending Strangers in a Divided City: Towards a Lyrical Urban Studies
dr. R. Chowdhury, Erasmus University College
The figure of the ‘stranger’ embodies different aspects of social polarization in cities. This project will investigate interactions between passengers on the Metro and cultural organizations in Rotterdam to understand how the stranger is welcomed into the communities of the city. The study will produce a sociological taxonomy of social action (compassion, care, friendship, identification) that potentially bridges social polarization. The project will inaugurate a new way of doing and presenting urban research which it conceptualizes as ‘lyrical urban studies’. It will integrate ethnography with fictional techniques to take the findings of this research to a wider reading public.
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Marjolein Kooistra, communications ESSB | kooistra@essb.eur.nl | 06 83676038
