ERC Proof of Concept grants for VU researchers

Nienke van Atteveldt, professor of neuroscience and society at VU Amsterdam, and Tieme Janssen, an associate professor, have received a Proof of Concept (PoC) grant of 150,000 euros from the European Research Council (ERC) for the project Explore Your Brain 2. Sociologist Dimitris Pavlopoulos has received it for the project COMBINE. Nienke van Atteveldt and Tieme Janssen. Nienke van Atteveldt and Tieme Janssen are leading the Explore Your Brain 2.0 project, which aims to develop a maximally effective, user-friendly, and scalable growth mindset intervention to break through the declining motivation and academic performance of adolescents. This PoC subsidy is based on the ERC Starting Grant "BRAINBELIEFS," in which the research team discovered that allowing students to experience the plasticity of their brains can stimulate a growth mindset. Van Atteveldt stated, "Adolescence is a period of sharp declines in school motivation and performance, with negative consequences not only for the academic success and mental well-being of young people but also for teachers and parents." Dimitris Pavlopoulos. Measurement uncertainty in socioeconomic data may hinder effective policy making.