SIG Social and Cognitive AI grants awarded

Afbeelding met handen met gloeilampen. Bron: © iStock.com/Nataly Kosarevich
© iStock.com/Nataly Kosarevich

In December 2025 the Special Interest Group (SIG) in Social and Cognitive AI (SCAI) invited Master’s thesis supervisors to apply for a (mini) Grant-to-the-SCAI on behalf of their students.

These small grants (up to €400) aim to support Master thesis’s projects that explore the social and cognitive aspects of AI, including topics such as Human–AI interaction, cognitive modeling, the ethical and social implications of AI, and applications of AI in social or health contexts.

The funding could be used for participant compensation, software, or other minor research-related expenses. Proposals were first screened for their alignment with the themes of SCAI, after which the final recipients were selected by lottery.

A Grant-to-the-SCAI was awarded to the following students: 

  • Jelte Pijl (Decision-making authority between humans and AI systems - ReMa Social Health Psychology),
  • Angela Perez Arceredillo (Computationally rational cognitive models of human problem solving - MSc AI),
  • Esther van der Wal (Predicting turn shifts in dialogues with humans - MSc AI),
  • Ennis Vriens (Evocation of emotions from AI-made vs. Human-made art - MSc AI),
  • Ben Dijkstra (Learning Analytics and AI - MSc Educational Sciences).

The SCAI team congratulates the students and wishes them all the luck with their projects!

The Special Interest Group Social and Cognitive AI (SCAI) is part of the Utrecht University’s focus area Human-centered Artificial Intelligence.