I am working as a Veni-funded Postdoctoral Researcher at the Psychological Methods group at the University of Amsterdam, where I am part of the Bayesian Graphical Modeling Lab, the Theory Methods Lab, and the Psychosystems group. I am also partially funded by the New Science of Mental Disorders (NSMD) gravitation consortium, for which I provide trainings and statistical consultation.
Research
In my research I focus on developing methods for the social and behavioral sciences. My hope is that my methodological work contributes to empirical research projects that have a positive impact on society and the conditions that sustain it, such as a livable planet. I therefore also collaborate with and provide methodological support to many empirical researchers. My methods research spans three key areas:
Statistical Modeling. In collaboration with many colleagues, I have worked on network models for cross-sectional data, including the development of the popular R package mgm, which allows one to estimate networks with different types of variables, moderated (higher order) network models and the estimation of time-varying MGMs and mixed variable VAR models. I am currently collaborating with Maarten Marsman’s lab on the development of a whole suite around analyzing network models for ordinal data using a Bayesian approach. Recently, I have focused more on the issue of analyzing the surge of time series data from daily diary and EMA studies, collaborating with colleagues on the issue of non-stationarity, measurement scales, different ways to model heterogeneity across persons in VAR models such as Latent Class VAR models, multilevel Hidden Markov Models, model checking for time series models, and many additional ongoing projects.
Computational Modeling. If our goal is to understand and effectively intervene in systems, I think it is hard to do so without building computational models. This approach can be very useful even in the early stages of research programs, because it can help clarify theoretical ideas, improve research designs, and evaluate our overall scientific workflow. My collaborators and I have argued for computational models in psychology and in clinical psychology in particular; we have built the first believable computational model of panic disorder and the first computational model of a CBT treatment for panic disorder. We have also recently proposed a computational model for emotion dynamics, with several ongoing computational modeling projects.
Natural Language Processing. Since the NLP revolution in 2023, we are able to analyze text data at a quality and scale that was unthinkable just a few years ago. I am exploring these new possibilities in several areas. I collaborate on projects in communication science, analyzing media coverage of various topics such as activist groups and climate change at scale. I am also involved in projects investigating how LLMs and embedding models can be used for psychometric scale development) and work with the MITNB consortium on the analysis open-text responses from EMA studies using NLP, in addition to several other projects on using LLMs to analyze complex text data.
Education
I previously co-taught the Research Master course Network Analysis and created the new course Formal Theory Lab. Since around 2016, I have taught at the PSYNETS winter and summer schools and will be teaching at the new upcoming Theory Building Summer School in 2026. Currently, I teach the mathematics module of the bachelor’s course Basic Skills in Mathematics, Programming and Statistics and a research master course in proof-based Calculus.
I supervise research master’s internships and research master’s and Behavioral Data Science theses. Before the UvA Thesis Speed/Internship Speed Dating event in fall, I share a list of potential projects, but feel free to reach out at any moment. I am also happy to discuss your own ambitious project ideas as long as they reasonably fall within my area of expertise.
Academic Community and Advocacy
I draw a lot of inspiration from inter- and trans-disciplinary work and try to contribute to this exchange by organizing events that bring together diverse researchers and other professionals. For example, I was part of the organizing team of the Winter Workshop on Complex Systems (WWCS) in Amsterdam in 2023 and have been serving on the WWCS steering committee since then. I am also a founding member and president of the foundation running the yearly Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change (ACSCC) hosted by the Institute for Advanced Study, which brings together (early career) researchers and professionals from government, NGOs, and industry to work on projects related to climate change.
In addition, I am part of the Amsterdam Young Academy, which serves as an independent interdisciplinary platform where early-career scientists from different disciplines come together to develop perspectives on science, scientific policy, and how to build bridges between science and society in Amsterdam. I am also a member of the Green Young Academy, which does advocacy work on climate issues in the Dutch academic community.
Contact
jonashaslbeck@protonmail.com
Links
Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change
New Science of Mental Disorders (NSMD)