One of the SiA Career support Core’s (CASC) main goals is to provide education in areas such as theory assessment and analytical methods relevant to the SiA programme, thereby boosting the international standing of daily-life stress researchers.
In November we hosted our very first 4-day training programme for SiA’s PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. The week started with a consortium meeting in Amersfoort on Monday 25th of November, continuing into the Interdisciplinary Education Week at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on the 26th, 27th and 28th of November.
This training programme included expert lectures and collaborative sessions focused on daily-life stress and its impact on mental and cardiometabolic health. Participants explored key stress models, advanced data analysis methods, and machine learning techniques in ambulatory stress research, working in interdisciplinary teams. The programme also provided time for social interaction, fostering connections among junior researchers, organised by the Junior Think Tank.
Stress Theories
On Tuesday we focused on Stress Theories in a lecture by dr. Bertus Jeronimus and we learned more about the measurement of stress and context in an interactive session with prof. dr. Eco de Geus, dr. ir. Femke Lamers and dr. Artemis Stefani.
Stress Impact
On Wednesday the central theme was Stress Impact. Prof. dr. Brenda Penninx and prof. dr. Meike Bartels started the day with lectures on causality in stress & health research, using examples of longitudinal cohort studies.
In the afternoon we discussed Transdisciplinary research with prof. dr. Ute Bültmann and in an interactive and creative way we discussed ethical challenges in ambulatory studies and health research with dr. Els Maeckelberghe. The participants created posters to get the conversation started about ethical challenges in their research.
Stress Analyses
On the last day of the course we focused on Data. The first session started with a talk on principles of longitudinal analyses by prof. dr. Ellen Hamaker and prof. dr. Dimitris Rizopoulos. After lunch we enjoyed a course on machine learning analyses with prof. dr. Mark Hoogendoorn and prof. dr. ir. Bernard Veldkamp.
The course was successfully completed by 25 PhD students in the Stress in Action consortium. Thank you for participating, your devotion and enthusiasm!
Thank you to the Junior Think Tank for organising an eventful social programme on Tuesday and Wednesday night. We enjoyed a lovely dinner on campus and glow-in-the-dark painting workshop in Amsterdam city centre. Bringing together junior researchers from all over the country for four days, is a great recipe for building bridges, starting friendships, collaborations and building an even stronger consortium.
