My research

The overarching aim of my research is to address grand challenges by bridging mathematics and public administration. Grand challenges are ‘wicked’. They are contested, with conflicting (public) values, and a high degree of uncertainty. Understanding these uncertainties is critical to decision-making. Strategic uncertainty – uncertainty about how and when other stakeholders act/decide – is difficult to grasp, creates silo-thinking, go-alone behavior and prevents constructive collective action needed for addressing wicked challenges.

Strategic uncertainty and its causes are a major theme in the field of Public Administration. My research adds mathematical concepts to (i) characterize decision-making, (ii) generate novel theoretical and empirical explanations underlying strategic uncertainty, and (iii) provide methodological (participatory) approaches to support stakeholders navigating it.

I use qualitative research methods (e.g. interviews, observations) and intervention methods (e.g. participatory modelling, simulations) to identify game theory models that are able to characterize and analyze the decision-making situations.

IAS Fellowship

During the IAS research fellowship I want to explore (mathematical) concepts and models that are able to characterize and analyze complex decision-making. In particular, I aim to find novel ways to characterize the mechanisms underlying strategic uncertainty in decision-making in healthcare networks.