CELL MEMBERS
HENRY OTGAAR
Professor
Prof. Dr Henry Otgaar works as a research professor at the Leuven Institute of Criminology (LINC), KU Leuven (Belgium), and as Professor of Legal Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience - Forensic Psychology Section, Maastricht University (the Netherlands). His research concentrates on developmental changes in memory from childhood to adulthood.
Contact: henry.otgaar@kuleuven.be
External website: http://henryotgaar.wixsite.com/henryotgaar
PAUL RIESTHUIS
PhD, Postdoc Researcher
Dr Riesthuis works as a Post-Doc Researcher at LINC, KU Leuven (Belgium). His research line is focused on the smallest effect size of interest and eyewitness memory. He previously obtained his double PhD diploma from KU Leuven and Maastricht University with his thesis: “When lying becomes the truth: the impact of lying on memory in the court room”.
Contact: paul.riesthuis@kuleuven.be
CHARLOTTE BÜCKEN
PhD, Post Doctoral Researcher
Dr. Bücken works as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at LINC, KU Leuven (Belgium). Her research interests surround the interlude of omission and commission memory mistakes, disclosure of traumatic events, and possibilities to reverse prior memory contamination. She obtained her double PhD diploma from KU Leuven and Maastricht University with her thesis: “I Never Said That! The Impact of False Denials on Memory-Based Testimony”.
Contact: charlotte.buecken@kuleuven.be
MARA GEORGIANA MOLDOVEANU
PhD
Mara obtained her double Ph.D. from the Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University (Romania) and the section of Forensic Psychology, Maastricht University (the Netherlands). She is also a member of the Research in Individual Differences and Legal Psychology Lab (RIDDLE LAB, UBB, Romania). Her research focuses on self-deception, motivations underlying self-deception (such as cognitive dissonance), and the relation between self-deception, lying, and memory and self-deceptive enhancement in self-report measures.
Contact: maramoldoveanu@psychology.ro
ANNE VAN DE BOVEKAMP
PhD student
Miss van de Bovekamp works as a PhD student at the Faculty of Psychology - Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University (the Netherlands). Her research focuses on psychology and law surrounding elder abuse, with a main focus on prevalence and risk factors.
YIWEN "OPHELIA" ZHANG
PhD student
Ophelia is a PhD student at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Her current research focuses on forgetting and the formation of false memories in legal proceedings. Her research interests also lie in child investigative interviewing and suggestibility.
NURUL ARBIYAH
PhD student, Lecturer (Universitas Indonesia)
Nurul is currently doing a PhD at Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. She is a lecturer at Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia and a member of Psychology of Traffic, Urban Society, and Psychological Measurement (PsyTRUST). Her expertise and areas of interest are in the development of psychological measurement tools, psychometrics, and statistics. Her research focuses on psychological tools use in legal or forensic setting.
Contact: n.arbiyah@maastrichtuniversity.nl / nurul.arbiyah31@ui.ac.id
DIANDRA YASMINE IRWANDA
PhD student
Diandra is a joint PhD student at the Leuven Institute of Criminology (LINC), KU Leuven (Belgium) and Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University (the Netherlands). She is also part of Psychology of Traffic, Urban Society, and Psychological Measurement (PsyTRUST) Laboratory in Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia. She received scholarship from from Lembaga Pengelola Pendidikan (LPDP) - The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education. Her research focuses on the memory and investigative interview, specifically the information gathering techniques for traffic accident investigation.
Contact: diandrayasmine.irwanda@kuleuven.be
CAROLINA DUQUE
PhD student & Teacher Assistant (KU Leuven)
Carolina is a PhD student and Teaching Assistant at KU Leuven in Belgium. She is a forensic psychologist and criminologist with more than 20 years of professional experience in criminal investigation and forensic interviewing in Chile. Her work has focused particularly on child investigative interviewing and the implementation of evidence-based interviewing practices. Her current doctoral research examines the quality and effectiveness of investigative interviews with child victims of sexual and violent crimes.
Contact: carolina.duque@kuleuven.be
Ayşenur Büyükkaymaz
PhD student
Aysenur is a PhD student at the LINC - KU Leuven (Belgium), supported by the 1416 YLSY Scholarship from the Turkish Ministry of National Education. With a background in forensic science, her research explores the application and efficacy of cognitive bias mitigation strategies in forensic evaluations, particularly focusing on crime scene investigations.
Contact: aysebkaymaz@gmail.com
COLLABORATORS
IVAN MANGIULLI
Assistant Professor
Dr. Mangiulli works as an assistant professor at University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. He is mainly interested in forensic psychopathology and neuropsychology. His research focuses on amnesia, lying, and memory for criminal experiences.
FABIANA BATTISTA
Assistant Professor
Dr. Battista works works as an assistant professor at University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. Her research interest is mainly related to the effects of lying on witnesses’ memory with a specific focus the role of cognitive resources in this relationship. In general, she is also fascinated by how individual differences in cognition and personality can influence the way in which people recall information.
NAEL SUMAMPOUW
Assistant Professor
Dr. Nael Sumampouw works as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia. He is the Head of Indonesian Forensic Psychology Association (APSIFOR). His key interests are investigative interviewing and biases in the legal arena.
SANNE HOUBEN
Assistant Professor
Dr. Houben works as a Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience - Forensic Psychology Section, Maastricht University (the Netherlands). Her research topic is focused on false memory effects of therapeutic interventions (e.g., EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
Post-Doc Researcher
TAMARA DE BEUF
Dr. Tamara De Beuf works as postdoc researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) in Amsterdam. She is part of a large-scale longitudinal research program on the evaluation of alternative sentencing in the Netherlands. At KU Leuven, she is a research fellow at CELL and the Leuven Institute of Criminology (LINC). Her research expertise and interests include violence risk assessment and anything related to wrongful convictions (e.g., causes & consequences).
Contact: tdebeuf@nscr.nl
External website: https://tamaradebeuf.wixsite.com/mysite/
Post-Doc Researcher
YIKANG ZHANG
Dr. Yikang Zhang has a broad research interest in topics at the intersection of human decision-making and evolutionary sciences. Specifically, his past and ongoing projects include research on memory processes, intergroup relations, norm psychology, and fundamental research on human sexuality. Several research lines also have an applied angle, focusing on the improvement of crime prevention policies and intelligence gathering techniques in the justice system.
In his latest appointment at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, he aims to combine research in social psychology, evolutionary biology, and criminology to study how peers influence teenagers’ and young adults’ delinquent decision-making in various contexts.
RICARDO NIEUWKAMP
Senior Researcher
Dr. Ricardo Nieuwkamp, LLM, works fulltime as a senior researcher at Vias institute in Brussels (Belgium) and works parttime as researcher at LINC, KU Leuven (Belgium). He obtained his PhD at Maastricht University (the Netherlands) on topic of the believability of alibis. Furthermore, he is member of the Board of Directors of the Flemish Centre for Policing and Security (CPS) where he organises in depth training on investigative interviewing techniques in Belgium.
IRENA BOŠKOVIĆ
Assistant Professor
Dr. Irena Bošković is an Assistant professor of Forensic psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam (the Netherlands). In her research, the primarily focus is on detecting deception in health reports and lie detection in general.
GLYNIS BOGAARD
Assistant Professor
Dr Glynis Bogaard works as Assistant Professor at Maastricht University and her research areas include verbal and non-verbal lie detection such as testing the validity of credibility assessment tools; examining individual differences in lying and lie detection ability and investigative interviewing techniques.
BRENDA ERENS
Assistant Professor
Dr Brenda Erens is Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology at the Open University, Heerlen, the Netherlands. Her research interests are concerning child investigative interviews and risk assessment.
JANE JIANQIN WANG
Associate Professor
Dr. Jianqin Wang currently works as an associate professor at Fudan University. She used to work as a post-doc researcher at the Catholic University of Leuven. She obtained her PhD at Maastricht University. Her interests lie broadly in memory and behavior.
HARALD MERCKELBACH
Professor
Dr Harald Merckelbach is a Professor of Legal Psychology at Maastricht University. His research interests include the feigning of symptoms, fantasy proneness and susceptibility to pseudo-memories. He also writes a monthly column in the science supplement of the NRC Handelsblad.
LILIAN KLOFT
Assistant Professor
Dr. Lilian Kloft is an Assistant Professor and researcher at the Department of Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University. She combines the fields of psychopharmacology and forensic psychology and her research focuses on investigating the effects of popular drugs on memory.
DANIEL VAN HELVOORT
PhD Candidate
Daniel van Helvoort is member of the Forensic Psychology Section (Maastricht University, the Netherlands) and the forensic mental health care research group at GGzE (the Netherlands). His research focuses on antecedents of poor symptom validity and their implications for assessment
MELANIE SAUERLAND
Associate Professor
Dr. Melanie Sauerland is an Associate Professor at Maastricht University and doing research in eyewitness memory, both concerning eyewitness identifications and interviewing eyewitnesses. Research topics include predictors of identification accuracy, the impact of the presence of multiple perpetrators on identification performance, and the Self-Administered Interview.
LORE MERGAERTS
Assistant Professor
Dr Lore Mergaerts is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law and Criminological Science, KU Leuven. Some of her research interests are suspect vulnerability, criminal proceedings and police investigations.
CORINE DE RUITER
Professor
Dr. Corine de Ruiter is a Profesor of Forensic Psychology at Maastricht University and a licensed clinical psychologist (BIG) in the Netherlands, who strives to bring scientific knowledge, assessment methods and interventions to professionals in the field, so they can deliver high quality care. Her current research focuses on the prevention of child abuse, partner violence and high conflict divorce.
CHUNLIN "ELSA" LI
PhD
Miss Li research line is focused on nonbelieved memories and the impact of undermining belief on traumatic memory.
Former members and collaborators
Adriana Selaya Berodi, PhD
Bruna Calado, PhD
Carey Marr, PhD
Tameka Romeo, PhD