Rense Corten is associate professor (with ius promovendi) at the Department of Sociology. His research revolves around the themes of cooperation, trust, and (the dynamics of) social networks, with empirical applications including adolescent networks, social media, the sharing economy, online criminal networks, and laboratory experiments. In 2016 he received an NWO Vidi grant for a research project on the origins and consequences of trust in the sharing economy. He co-directs the ELSE laboratory for experimental research at Utrecht University and leads a project within the ODISSEI consortium on developing infrastructure for large-scale online experiments.

He obtained his PhD in social sciences in 2009 and his master's degree in sociology in 2004 at Utrecht University.