The GUTS GO Working Package 3 team has launched a new Instagram account to share their research with a wider audience, including participating families, parents, youth professionals and anyone interested in adolescent brain development. The account offers an accessible window into the research conducted within GUTS GO, translating scientific findings into engaging and understandable content.

Working Package 3 investigates how the adolescent brain and behaviour develop over time, and how these developmental processes influence decision-making and everyday functioning. By following young people longitudinally, the researchers aim to better understand the biological, psychological and environmental factors that contribute to healthy development.

In addition to updates about the study, the Instagram account features behind-the-scenes insights into MRI research, fun facts about the brain, quizzes and educational content about human behaviour. Through this initiative, the team hopes to make developmental neuroscience more accessible while strengthening engagement with participants and the wider community. Follow the account at @guts_go_amc for the latest updates.

Science communication becomes truly powerful when curiosity takes center stage. This year, two GUTS PhD candidates, Ethell and Tatvan, participate in the Hoe?Zo! Show this year. The Hoe?Zo! Show is an interactive theatre show for children in group 6, organised by Barbara Braams. During the show, children ask scientists surprising questions such as: “Why does water feel wet?”, “Why do humans have two kidneys when they only need one?”, “Why do fireworks exist?” or even “How does love happen?”

At a time of information overload, encouraging children to ask questions and think critically is more important than ever. The experience is equally valuable for researchers, who learn to explain complex ideas in accessible and inspiring ways while rediscovering their own sense of wonder through the curiosity of children.

Learn more about the project and upcoming shows at: https://hoezoshow.nl/

Prof. Christian Keysers has been awarded a highly competitive ERC Advanced Grant by the European Research Council for his pioneering research into the neural basis of empathy and social cognition. The grant supports ambitious, curiosity-driven research by established scientific leaders and is among Europe’s most prestigious research funding programmes.

Based at the Social Brain Lab of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Keysers investigates how the brain enables us to understand and share the emotions and experiences of others. His new ERC-funded project will combine advanced neuroimaging techniques with cross-species research to unravel the neural mechanisms underlying empathy. The findings have the potential to deepen our understanding of social cognition and contribute to new insights into conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and other disorders affecting social interaction.

The award recognises both the scientific excellence of Keysers’ research programme and its potential to advance our understanding of one of the most fundamental aspects of human behaviour: our capacity to connect with others.

Dr. Kayla Green has officially delivered her inaugural lecture as Practor for Equal Opportunities at Albeda mbo, marking the start of her practorship focused on strengthening equal opportunities for young people through research, education and practice. The inauguration brought together educators, researchers, policymakers and students to reflect on the question of what young people need to thrive in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing society.

In her new role, Kayla aims to bridge vocational education, higher education and academic research by developing knowledge that directly contributes to educational practice and youth development. During the event, students shared their experiences in conversation with journalist and educator Karim Amghar, highlighting the importance of including young people’s perspectives in discussions about education and opportunity. The programme also featured an opening by Simone Fredriksz and a panel discussion with Gyzlene Kramer-Zeroual, Dean Marjolijn Antheunis (Erasmus University Rotterdam), and MBO Raad chair Adnan Tekin. Together, they explored how collaboration across sectors can contribute to reducing inequalities and improving opportunities for all young people.

Kayla’s appointment closely aligns with the mission of GUTS, where interdisciplinary collaboration and youth participation are central to understanding healthy development and promoting equal opportunities across different contexts.

On 8 April, researchers from across the GUTS consortium gathered for an internal Sociology Symposium dedicated to the social determinants of youth development and health. The symposium provided an opportunity for researchers from different institutions and disciplines to exchange ideas, discuss ongoing work and strengthen collaboration within the consortium.

The programme opened with a keynote lecture by Jeroen van der Waal – examining how social class, poverty and inequality shape young people’s opportunities and developmental trajectories. Throughout the day, participants took part in interactive sessions covering a range of methodological and substantive topics, including the use of CBS register data, analyses of personal social networks and the measurement of socio-economic status within GUTS. These sessions stimulated discussion on how social environments can be better integrated into interdisciplinary research on adolescent development.

By bringing together expertise from sociology, developmental science and data science, the symposium reinforced GUTS’ commitment to understanding youth development from multiple perspectives and to fostering collaboration across disciplines.

Dr. Valeria Gazzola has been awarded a prestigious €1.5 million NWO Vici grant for her project Empathy, helping and aggression: unravelling the missing neural link.

The Vici grant enables senior researchers to develop innovative research lines and establish their own research group. Gazzola’s project focuses on a fundamental question in social neuroscience: how and when empathy for others can inhibit aggressive behaviour.

Aggression causes significant social and economic harm, yet the underlying brain mechanisms remain only partly understood. While it is known that observing another person’s pain activates brain regions involved in empathy, it is still unclear how these signals influence decision-making and help prevent harmful actions. Gazzola’s research aims to uncover how the brain translates empathy into self-restraint, and how this “empathy brake” adapts across different situations.

By investigating how empathy shapes behaviour, the project will contribute to a deeper understanding of social interactions and may ultimately inform strategies to reduce aggression and support prosocial behaviour.

Dr. Eddie Brummelman has been awarded the prestigious Mercator Sapiens Stimulus, a €1 million research prize presented by the KHMW. The award recognises mid-career researchers with an ambitious and socially relevant research agenda and provides them with full academic freedom to pursue innovative ideas.

With this funding, Brummelman – Associate Professor of Pedagogy at the University of Amsterdam – will launch the interdisciplinary project Generation Hope. The project investigates how children perceive and experience economic inequality and how these perceptions shape their self-image, expectations for the future, and wellbeing.

Economic inequality is highly visible in children’s daily lives, yet we still know little about how they interpret these differences or what they mean for their development. By placing children’s perspectives at the centre and involving them directly through participatory approaches, the project aims to generate new insights into how inequality influences young people and how we can support them to grow up with a sense of hope and opportunity.

Generation Hope brings together expertise from pedagogy, developmental psychology, sociology, economics, the humanities and the arts, and builds on Brummelman’s work within KiDLAB on children’s self-concept and social context.

Dr. Anita Harrewijn has been awarded an NWO XS grant for her project Promoting resilience to anxiety at school: mechanisms and youth-informed support strategies. The XS scheme of the Dutch Research Council funds curiosity-driven and high-risk research, giving researchers the opportunity to develop innovative ideas at an early stage.

Harrewijn’s project focuses on the early recognition of anxiety symptoms in school settings and on identifying protective factors that help young people keep anxiety manageable before it develops into a clinical problem. By actively involving young people through co-creation, the study aims to develop practical, everyday support strategies for parents, teachers, and schools.

The project contributes to a better understanding of how resilience to anxiety can be strengthened in daily educational contexts and highlights the importance of youth-informed approaches to mental health support.