Team Tom Postmes

Prof. Dr. Tom Postmes, Principal Investigator

Tom Postmes is one of the PI's of CrowdING and Professor of Social Psychology at the University Groningen. Postmes studies human behaviour in many different groups: teams, virtual groups and communities, and also crowds. Across these different forms of group life, his interest is often how individual behaviour, thoughts and social interactions become co-ordinated, so that people think and behave as teams, groups, crowds or even as ‘a society’. He likes integrating a range of methods: qualitative, experimental, observational and self-report. Postmes has also closely studied human movement in small groups, together with choreographers and movement experts. This is a more embodied and phenomenological research method that he introduced to CrowdING to study the movement behaviour in large crowds.

Drs. M. Boendermaker, Project Manager

Marjolein Boendermaker graduated in Sociology from the University of Groningen and now works as a project manager for the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. In this role, she supports the researchers with the organisational aspects of the research and acts as the point of contact for the parties involved.

Odeta Tase, PhD student

Odeta Tase is a PhD candidate of CrowdING at the University of Groningen. She is a social psychologist with an interest in understanding crowd behaviour. With a background in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, she will apply an integrative approach in her project. Her research will focus on how individuals behave in crowds and how they coordinate with one another.

Prof. Dr. Namkje Koudenburg, Associate professor

Namkje Koudenburg is one of the researchers of CrowdING and associate professor of group dynamics at the University of Groningen. Her interests range from micro-level dynamics in communication to macro-level societal dynamics of polarization and social change, and she especially studies the interplay between these levels and the intermediate group level.

Dr. Hedy Greijdanus, Assistant professor

Hedy Greijdanus is a researcher of CrowdING and an assistant professor in Social Psychology at the University of Groningen. Using mixed methods, she explores social dynamics in online and face-to-face settings. On the horizontal dimension, her research focuses on (de-)polarisation between opposing groups, marginalisation within groups, and dynamics at the interface between individuals and groups, such as humour. On the vertical dimension, she studies interactions between citizens and institutions, including topics such as activists’ and police experiences of protest policing, and government roles in organising emergency volunteers.