PhD projects

Are you accepting PhD students for the new academic year?

Yes! In March the ICS starts to recruit new PhD students. Traditionally, the ICS works with sociologists as well as students from other disciplines, such as economics, psychology, education, or mathematics.

How to apply?
See the website of the ICS for the recruitment and selection procedure.

Master thesis projects

Are you accepting Research Master’s students for the new academic year?

Yes! I am involved in the Research Master’s Program Behavioral and Social Sciences (track: Lifespan Development and Socialization). The deadline for the application is 1st of April. See our video search for talented candidates for the next academic year.

How to apply?
Research Master students: See the website of the Research Master for the recruitment and selection.

More information

Read more about supervised master projects.

For more information about the Department of Sociology visit University of Groningen.

Member of manuscript committee

  • Sari Hogye: Child problem behavior in the early family environment: Unraveling the role of maternal and paternal harsh parenting. Thesis defended: Rotterdam, 2024.
  • Maria Wiertsema: Transmission of child and adolescent peer experiences across social contexts and generations. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2024.
  • Fleur van Gils: Powerless or powerful? (How) can teachers impact bullying at school? Thesis defended: Leuven, Belgium, 2022.
  • Jacintha Tieskens. The risk of childhood risk-taking Thesis defended: VU Amsterdam, 2022.
  • Chloé Tolmatcheff: Opening the black box of anti-bullying programs. Thesis defended: UC Louvain, Belgium, 2021.
  • Jolien Geerlings: Teaching in culturally diverse classrooms: the importance of dyadic relations between teachers and children. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2021.
  • Tomas Diviak: Criminal networks: actors, mechanisms, and structures. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2020.
  • Robert Krause: Multiple imputation for missing network data. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2019.
  • Maurits Masselink: Despicable me: Self-esteem and depressive symptoms among adolescents and young adults. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2019.
  • Jin He: The power of being prosocial development and influence of children’s prosocial behavior in the peer context of elementary school. Thesis defended: VU Amsterdam, 2019.
  • Dorinde Jansma: This is wrong, right? The role of moral components in anti- and prosocial behaviour in primary education. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2018. 
  • Loes Pouwels: The group process of bullying: Developmental, methodological, and social-cognitive perspectives. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2018 (cum laude). 
  • Tatang Muttaqin: The education divide in Indonesia: Four essays on determinants of unequal access to and quality of education. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2017. 
  • Sara Geven: Student problem behavior in school: the role of peers. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2016.
  • Tirza van Noorden: Mechanisms of bullying and victimization: Target specific empathy and human characteristics attribution. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2016. 
  • Dorottya Kisfalusi: Interethnic relations among Roma and non-Roma students in Hungary. Thesis defended: Budapest, Hungary, 2016. 
  • Judit Pál: Negative ties and bullying. Thesis defended: Budapest, Hungary, 2016 (cum laude). 
  • Evelien Hoeben: Hanging around and messing about. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (VU), 2016 (cum laude / winner of the Willem Nagel Prize of the Dutch Society of Criminology / winner of the Hershel D. Thornburg Dissertation Award). 
  • Ruben de Cuyper: Personal networks of prisoners. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (VU), 2015. 
  • Daphne van de Bongardt: Developing adolescent sexuality in context: Relations with parents and peers. Thesis to be defended: Utrecht, 2015. 
  • Jellie Sierksma: Bounded helping: How morality and intergroup relations shape children’s reasoning about helping. Thesis to be defended: Utrecht, 2015. 
  • Saskia Mulder: Children with internalizing problems and peer problems. Risk factors, treatment effectiveness, moderation, and mediation. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2014. 
  • Vincent Busch: The Utrecht Healthy School: Connecting adolescent health behavior, academic achievement and Health Promoting Schools. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2014. 
  • Chip Huisman: The smoking chain. Friendship networks, education, social background and adolescent smoking behavior in the Netherlands. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (UvA), 2013. 
  • Tessa Lansu: Implicit processes in peer relations. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2012 (cum laude). 
  • Charlotte Verboom: Depression and role functioning in adolescence and adulthood. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2012. 
  • Nicoletta Balbo: Family, friends, and fertility. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2012 (winner of ECSR Thesis Prize 2013). 
  • Peter Kolarcik: Self-reported health and health risky behaviour of Roma adolescents in Slovakia: A comparison with non-Roma. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2012. 
  • Marieke van de Rakt: Two generations of crime: The intergenerational transmission of criminal convictions over the life course. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2011. 
  • Miranda Witvliet: Children’s peer relations and the development of psychopathology: A group-based approach. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (VU), 2009. 
  • Hanneke Palmen: Friendship and aggression in elementary school. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2009. 
  • Gijs Weijters: Youth delinquency in Dutch cities and schools: A multi-level approach. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2008. 
  • Berna Güroglu: Development of dyadic peer relationships: Friendships and antipathies. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2008 (cum laude).