Lex Heerma van Voss studied social and economic history in Utrecht and paris. His research is focussed on the history of social security, comparative global long term history of occupations (dockers, textile workers, prostitutes) and the history of the North Sea area in the Early Modern Period, especially the influence of the Dutch Republic as the first modern economy in this area. He is director of the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands (KNAW - Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences).