prof. dr. Theo van Tilburg

Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Social Sciences, Sociology

Professor Emeritus, Research Programmes - Social Sciences, The Social Context of Aging (SoCA)

Personal information

Theo van Tilburg (PhD in Social Sciences in 1988) is emeritus professor of Sociology and Social Gerontology at the Department of Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and endowed Professor at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, department of Epidemiology & Data Science. He was academic director of the Graduate School Social Sciences; director of the research program ‘Participation in Society (PARIS): Social Context of Aging;’ and board member and senior researcher of the ‘Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam’, an ongoing interdisciplinary study into aspects of aging since 1991.

Research

His research focuses on the social functioning of older adults, in particular the family; the personal network; social support, and informal help and care; and loneliness. These topics are studied from the perspectives of individual change trajectories and societal change across birth cohorts. He also studies interventions to improve one’s social living conditions.

Van Tilburg published more than 250 scientific articles, book chapters, professional publications and publications aimed at the general public. His work is widely cited (H = 77 in Google Scholar; > 23,000 citations). He supervised PhD theses (24 completed and three in progress). He received a five-year fellowship of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1989), and various large grants from NWO and ZonMw. In that research he collaborates with researchers from various other faculties of Vrije Universiteit (e.g. epidemiology, psychiatry, health sciences) and with researchers from universities of applied sciences (HvA, HAN).

Teaching

He taught various courses, both at the bachelor and master level, and post graduate, and both in sociology and in research methods.

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