The Network Institute’s (NI) Academy Assistants program (NIAA) is now entering its 16th year. Initially funded through a KNAW grant and aimed at combining social sciences and computer science research, it has since been adopted by the Network Institute and opened up for other interdisciplinary projects which fall within the NI’s research themes. The Academy Assistants program aims at promising high-potential master students who want to conduct scientific research and possibly pursue an academic career.
The projects are aimed at VU researchers who are willing to cross the boundaries of their own discipline, and who have a research topic in mind that would benefit from such an interdisciplinary approach.
Jagoda Hanuszewicz, Clara Fayyad and Charlotte Gerritsen won the Best Paper Award for their paper ‘Virtual Reality and Serious Gaming for reducing Household Food Waste’ at the 2026 FOODSIM Conference. This paper was the result of their Network Institute Academic Assistant project.
Read more about the call for the next academic year.