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ERC Starting Grants for three VU researchers

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03 September 2026

Organizational psychologist Sanne Feenstra, philosopher Sabrina Coninx, and political scientist Julia Rone of VU Amsterdam have each received a Starting Grant of at least 1.5 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC).

"Impostor syndrome"

Organizational psychologist Sanne Feenstra has received an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for her research on the imposter syndrom in the workplace. With this research, Sanne Feenstra aims to fundamentally change the prevailing perception of the imposter 'syndrome.' "The central question is no longer which people feel like an imposter, but rather when and why impostorism arises. My research must uncover how the work environment causes feelings of ‘impostorism’ and influences career opportunities,” says Feenstra.

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The stories behind chronic pain

Philosopher Sabrina Coninx of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has received an ERC Starting Grant for her research project “Narrating the Invisible: Stories of the Self in Chronic Primary Pain.”

In this project, Coninx investigates the nature of illness narratives in the context of chronic primary pain—the stories that patients and their loved ones use to understand the illness, and the stories that others tell about the illness—and how this influences the way patients interpret their own condition.

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European digital autonomy

Political scientist Julia Rone has received an ERC Starting Grant to study the role of labor migration in Europe’s digital transition. For the first time, she is systematically investigating how labor migrants at various levels of the digital technology sector contribute to Europe’s ambitions for digital strategic autonomy.

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ERC Starting Grants

The ERC uses starting grants to support talented researchers in the early stages of their careers in carrying out groundbreaking projects for a period of five years.

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