On the 15th and 16th of October 2025, more than 90 consortium members of Stress in Action gathered in Amsterdam city centre. Our annual two-day meeting was held at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) at Trippenhuis, Amsterdam.
This consortium meeting was not only for our consortium members. We also welcomed our international Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). A special thank you to our SAB members for joining us in Amsterdam!
Wednesday’s programme was chaired by Ute Bültmann and Eco de Geus. After a brief introduction by Brenda Penninx and official welcome to all attendees, we started with various expert talks. We learned more about the research on emotion regulation of prof. Cornelia Wrzus (Psychological Institute Heidelberg University, Germany) and were delighted learn from prof. Johannes Siegrist (University of Düsseldorf, Germany) about chronic work stress. In the afternoon, prof. Matthias Mehl (University of Arizona, USA) presented about his work on ambulatory assessment, and prof. Viola Vaccarino (Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, USA) shared her expertise on stress response physiology and cardiovascular risk.
31 PhD students from the SiA consortium presented their projects in two poster sessions. These sessions were a great opportunity for the junior researchers to present their work, answer questions, receive feedback and discuss opportunities and limitations to their studies. These were lively sessions in the beautiful foyer of the Trippenhuis.
After a full day of social interactions and scientific expert talks, we closed the day with a lovely dinner at TestTafel Amsterdam.
Prof. Cornelia Wrzus
Prof. Johannes Siegrist
Prof. Matthias Mehl
Prof. Viola Vaccarino
During the second day, Thursday, Research Themes and Support Cores had a chance to present their progress and highlights of the past phase and discuss their steps for the coming phase(s). A great way for each group to showcase their project(s) and discuss their progress and plans for the future with the Scientific Advisory Board. This day was chaired by Brenda Penninx and Matthijs Noordzij.
Thursday afternoon there was time for the junior and senior researchers to break out into groups and discuss general matters in the consortium. For junior researchers this meeting consisted of very fruitful discussions and sharing of stories. How do junior researchers experience their PhD trajectory? What could SiA do for them? Consortium meetings like these are a great way for juniors to connect with senior researchers and explore collaborations, but also to strengthen their bonds with other juniors sharing their thoughts and experiences. The senior researchers discussed the progress of the project in general. They generally reflected on the first phase of the project, and discussed the needs and wishes before starting phase II.
The SAB members had time to reflect and discuss their impressions of the project. Prof. Joshua Smyth (Ohio State University, USA) presented their findings and comments afterwards.
In the evening, the Executive Committee (EC) took the SAB members on a beautiful cruise through Amsterdam, closing the day with another lovely dinner.
In a closed meeting on Friday, the members of the EC invited the SAB members for their final meeting. They discussed the feedback and further elaborated on the next phase of the project.
