Willem Frankenhuis
Utrecht University
Willem Frankenhuis studies how people develop in harsh and unpredictable conditions. His empirical work focuses on (1) hidden talents, abilities that are enhanced by adversity, and (2) reasonable responses to adverse conditions, even if these responses entail costs. His theoretical work focuses on how adaptive processes—evolution, development, learning—tailor individuals to environmental conditions. He uses mathematical modelling to explore in which conditions natural selection favors sensitive periods in development, and how experiences shape the features of these periods, such as their timing and duration.
Willem Frankenhuis obtained his Psychology BSc. (2005), Psychology MSc. (2006), and Philosophy MA. (2006) from the University of Amsterdam. In 2012, he received his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, before becoming a post-doctoral researcher in the Cognitive Development Center of the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. In December 2012, Willem Frankenhuis became Assistant Professor in the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University in the Netherlands. In January of 2018, he attained the rank of Associate Professor. Since September 2020, he is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and a Senior Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg, Germany.