Neuroscientist to Develop New Theory of Emerging Curiosity with Distinguished Fellowship

Neuroscientist to Develop New Theory of Emerging Curiosity with Distinguished Fellowship

(IN BRIEF) Eveline Crone, a developmental neuroscientist at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University, has been awarded the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellowship 2023/24 for her research on the emergence of curiosity. During the fellowship, starting in September 2023, she will investigate how changes in curiosity occur and what factors facilitate opportunities for curiosity in biological, individual, social, and societal domains. The Fellowship is awarded by the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study and the Lorentz Center to promote interdisciplinary research. Crone aims to develop a new theory of emerging curiosity by combining traditional cognitive science approaches with novel methods from industrial design engineering and cognitive and affective neuroscience literature.

(PRESS RELEASE) ROTTERDAM, 20-Mar-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —  Erasmus University Rotterdam, a Dutch public research university, and Leiden University-based developmental neuroscientist Eveline Crone has been awarded the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellowship 2023/24 for her research on the emerging of curiosity. During the fellowship, which begins in September 2023, she aims to unravel how changes in curiosity emerge and identify the factors that facilitate opportunities for curiosity in biological, individual, social, and societal domains.

The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS-KNAW) and the Lorentz Center established the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellowship to promote interdisciplinary research that combines perspectives from the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Technological Sciences. The Fellowship is awarded to a leading scientist working on research that has the potential to bring about significant breakthroughs.

Eveline Crone is a pioneering researcher on the developing human brain and its cognitive functions. She has used brain imaging to make groundbreaking discoveries, such as showing that brain regions important for learning undergo developmental changes during adolescence. She has also discovered that adolescents who have stable and warm friendships exhibit heightened activation in reward centers of the brain when their friends win awards.

Crone’s aim is to develop a new theory of emerging curiosity that argues that changes in the human brain during adolescence may reflect a transition period for curiosity. The development of curiosity is expected to be critical for taking social responsibility and adapting rapidly to different contexts. During her research, Crone will combine traditional cognitive science approaches with novel methods from industrial design engineering and the cognitive and affective neuroscience literature.

About Eveline Crone

Eveline Crone (Schiedam, 1975) studied developmental psychology at the University of Amsterdam and obtained her PhD cum laude in 2003. After she spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis, Crone came to Leiden University. In 2009 she was appointed professor in Neurocognitive Developmental Psychology at this university. In addition, Crone started as professor of Developmental Neuroscience in Society at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences in 2020.

Crone has been awarded several prestigious research grants, including a VENI, VIDI and VICI grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and two grants by the European Research Council (ERC), namely a Starting Grant in 2010 and a Consolidator Grant in 2016. In September 2017, Eveline received the Spinoza award for her research on the adolescent brain.  She is known to the general public for her book ‘Het puberende brein’ (The adolescent brain).

About the Fellowship

A Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellowship is by nomination only. The Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellow receives a 5-month residential fellowship at NIAS, a workshop at the Lorentz Center and a public lecture at SPUI25. Previous fellows include psychiatrist Iris Sommer, cultural biologist Franjo Weissing and psychologist Iris van Rooij.

About NIAS

The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study is an intellectual haven for international researchers, writers, journalists, and artists to pursue their project, to work in an interdisciplinary environment and to share their knowledge with society. NIAS is the oldest Institute for Advanced Study in Europe whose founding mission is to foster curiosity-driven research. It is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and is located in Amsterdam.

About the Lorentz Center

The Lorentz Center is a workshop center that hosts international scientific meetings. The meetings are normally 5-days long for up to 55 participants and are characterized by high scientific quality and an open and interactive atmosphere. It is located at Leiden University.

Prof.dr. Eveline Crone 

More information

Marjolein Kooistra, communications ESSB, kooistra@essb.eur.nl

SOURCE: Erasmus University Rotterdam