Inge Stegeman studied Health Sciences at the Vrije University Amsterdam. She obtained her PhD in models for colorectal cancer screening in 2013, after which she was appointed as an epidemiologist at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of the UMC Utrecht. Her research focus is on the quality of biomedical research with a focus on hearing and tinnitus.

Ayoub Bagheri is an Assistant Professor in Data Science at Utrecht University with an interdisciplinary research focus on Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and Explainable Machine Learning. By combining these fields, he aims to develop AI-based language models that can address complex challenges in various domains. His research contributions have been significant, particularly in the design and development of open source decision support systems. Throughout his career, he has been a strong advocate of open science, recognising the importance of transparency, collaboration and accessibility in scientific research. He actively promotes the sharing of knowledge, tools and methods within the scientific community. Driven by a deep passion for the social and health sciences, he strives to improve understanding of human behaviour, social dynamics and health outcomes by harnessing the vast amounts of data available and extracting meaningful insights. In the Department of Methodology and Statistics, he leads the Text and Natural Language Processing Lab (https://nlp.sites.uu.nl/), where a dedicated team of more than 10 individuals collaborates on developing research-based tools and open educational materials for text mining and NLP.

Personal website

Mareike Smolka is Assistant Professor in the Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation group at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and a research fellow at the Human Technology Center at RWTH Aachen University. In her research, she engages in inter-/transdisciplinary collaborations and different types of ethnographic fieldwork to study which role responsible innovation and ethical considerations can and could play in science and engineering. Her research areas are science & technology studies (STS), responsible innovation, and empirical ethics. She has also gained experience in conference studies, the sociology of emotions, and, more recently, transition studies.

Corinne Lamain cares about research contributing to social and environmental justice. She wishes to contribute to that by listening well, shifting the narrative in academia and designing bold funding mechanisms that prioritise trust, equitable collaborations and fun. Before joining CUCo, Corinne worked for over a decade as policy adviser at WOTRO Science for Global Development, a department of the Dutch Science Council (NWO). There she coordinated research programmes with focus areas on conflicts over natural resources and climate change, food and nutrition security, and more. She also co-developed the Impact Plan approach within NWO. Corinne is a PhD candidate in the field of Political Ecology, looking at climate security discourses as part of climate action in the Eastern Himalayas. Whenever opportunity arises she is outside, growing food and watching birds. In addition she reads, lots of reading, preferably classic novels.

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Helma van Luttikhuizen cares about bringing together different kind of ‘worlds’. At Cuco she likes to do this through organizing unusual events: a place where people can experience, learn, create, meet and understand. Events which inspire to take action to contribute to a more livable and equal world. Before joining Cuco, Helma managed a diverse range of projects and events within governmental, business and non-for-profit contexts in the Netherlands and abroad. She liked to discover different disciplines all focused on development of human beings. She did this by completing a Pedagogical Science Bachelor followed by a Master’s in Organizational Design and Development and currently studying Cultural Anthropology by following courses at Utrecht University next to her role as event manager for the alliance. Whenever possible, Helma is reading books, involved in many social activities, tries to play piano and where she can she likes to travel and discover the world.

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Anke de Vrieze is an anthropologist with an unusual career path. After her studies, she ventured into organic agriculture and ambitioned becoming a farmer, but landed on studying and supporting urban farming instead. This interest brought her to the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University, where she coordinated a European research and training network around sustainable-placing and discovered a passion for designing and enabling meaningful research collaborations. She’s co-founder of Re.imaginary and the WUR Transformative Learning Hub, and works for one day per week as engagement coordinator at the Centre for Space Place and Society. She joined the CUCO team in September 2022 as Knowledge and Learning Officer. In this capacity, she seeks to support teams in effectively collaborating across disciplines and fostering learning across projects. In all the time that is left, she loves to dance, pick wild mushrooms, grow food on the rooftop and prepare tasty meals.

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Tom first familiarized himself with the advantages of interdisciplinary research during his master’s in Humanistic Studies. After graduating, he worked in education support at Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences for several years before he took on the secretary position at CUCo. In that capacity, he takes care of all the logistics behind the scenes, while taking a keen interest in what the research projects aim to accomplish, and how their interdisciplinary teamwork could be supported even better. In his free time, Tom writes fiction, plays chess, and likes to go out for the occasional run.

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Ohad Ben Shimon is CUCo’s first and current researcher-in-residence. Read more about his work and activities on the researcher-in-residence page.