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If I had to describe my IAS fellowship in three words, they would be: peace, space, and trust. As soon as you walk into the IAS building, you get the impression that you can slow down, take time to reflect, find inspiration, and develop ideas outside of the context and disciplinary boundaries that often characterize – and limit – the daily work of a scientist. It was very special to have Huub and Julia's trust to use this time and space in a way that felt right to me, rather than goal-oriented, with a direct benefit or end point already determined, which in turn gave me confidence in my own thought process.
Jolien Francken

In terms of content, my topic 'Measurement across the sciences' worked very well, and I learned and discovered things that I could not have thought of in advance. Engaging with colleagues at the IAS was always useful and fun. Over the course of my fellowship I organized two events. One was a documentary viewing of the movie 'Als de nacht maar niet valt' (If only night wouldn't fall) about measurement in the context of mental disorders, with a discussion afterwards with the filmmaker and scientists. The other event was a two-day international workshop entitled 'Exploring the interaction between conceptualization and measurement across the sciences' for early-career researchers located in Europe. As a result of this workshop, a network of researchers working on measurement in various scientific disciplines has been established.

Apart from these two events and the resulting network, the following activities arose from my fellowship:

  • An interdisciplinary reading club on measurement;
  • Participating in a workshop on measurement in the human sciences in Cambridge and contributing a paper to the associated special issue;
  • Several talks at research groups across UvA;
  • A plan for a book containing interviews with scientists from various disciplines about fundamental issues in measurement in their field;
  • Participation in various workshops, events and collaborations at the IAS, including UMH, AI, M&D and the Psychological methods department.

I am delighted to be part of the IAS community and I look forward to staying connected through the 'Measurement' theme that I have established and will continue as part of the broader 'Foundations and methods' theme of the IAS.