René Bekkers, Ph.D., is a full Professor of Philanthropy and the director of the Center for Philanthropic Studies at the Department of Sociology of the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. After he completed his Ph.D. in Sociology at Utrecht University, he received a personal ‘veni’ grant from the Netherlands Scientific Organization (NWO) to study the effect of education on prosocial behavior. Since 2001 he is co-designer of the Center’s biennial ‘Giving in the Netherlands’ Panel Study (GINPS). He is a co-founder of the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP) and the Amsterdam Meta Science Network.
His research on philanthropy combines surveys, experiments and administrative data to study causes and consequences of philanthropy, and research integrity. In the field meta science, he studies responsible research practices and violations of research integrity and their causes and consequences. He's an advocate for transparency in research, and develops policies and software to facilitate adherence to transparency standards.
