Jolien Francken wins KNAW Early Career Partnership 2026 award
1 May 2026
With this award, Jolien receives €10,000 to organise an interdisciplinary meeting around her project:
“Meer dan cijfers: een interdisciplinaire verkenning van betekenisvol en verantwoord meten in wetenschap en samenleving”
(“More than numbers: an interdisciplinary exploration of meaningful and responsible measurement in science and society”)
In this meeting, Jolien will bring together researchers from different fields to discuss a simple but important question:
What do numbers actually tell us – and how can we measure in a way that is meaningful and responsible?
More than numbers: an interdisciplinary exploration of meaningful and responsible measurement in science and society
What is a mental disorder? How do we define electrical charge? And what is the difference between democratic and undemocratic countries? Often, the answer to such questions both affects and is affected by how we measure the concepts of mental disorder, electrical charge, and democracy. But how do we know if we are measuring these concepts correctly? And what if different measurement methods exist?
The aim of this workshop is to explore the similarities and differences in measurement practices between scientific disciplines (alpha/beta/gamma) in order to answer the question of what constitutes 'good' measurement. This question is relevant not only to science but also to society, now that we live in a world that increasingly revolves around data.
To answer the question of what 'good' measurement is, I want to bring together a diverse group of people in this workshop: philosophers of science, philosophers of measurement, ethicists, (empirical) scientists from various fields, and people/organizations that measure in a societal context. The thematic structure of the workshop ensures that the question is examined from various angles, ultimately leading to a thorough and comprehensive answer.Jolien Francken
About the KNAW Early Career Partnership
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) supports promising researchers who obtained their PhD three to seven years ago. With the Early Career Partnership award, the KNAW encourages them to:
- build new collaborations across disciplines
- explore innovative research ideas
- organise a scientific meeting within one year
This year, the KNAW received 61 applications and selected 10 outstanding proposals for funding – including Jolien Francken’s project on meaningful and responsible measurement.