Eiko Fried
- Name
- Prof. dr. E.I. Fried
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-7469-594X
Eiko obtained his PhD in Clinical Psychology at the Free University of Berlin, followed by four years of postdoctoral training in methodology at KU Leuven and University of Amsterdam. He returned to Clinical Psychology in 2018, as Assistant Professor at Leiden University, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021. Since 2026, he has a shared appointment between Clinical Psychology and Methodology & Statistics, as Professor of Mental Health and Data Science. His interests are how to best describe, measure, predict, and understand mental health problems. To do so, he conceptualizes them as emergent properties that arise from complex, dynamical, biopsychosocial, transdiagnostic systems, rather than as clear-cut categories with simple causes. In addition to interdisciplinary work at the intersection of mental health and data science, his lab works on improving cumulative psychological science through open scholarship and responsible research practices. Eiko loves burnt coffee and fast computers, and is humbled to get to work with many fantastic colleagues from all over the world.
More information about Eiko Fried
Eiko Fried
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'Transdisciplinary work is fantastic, but requires dedicated efforts from all sides to understand each other’ -
Eiko Fried in Leisure Management on stress measurements from smartwatches -
Does your smartwatch say you’re stressed? It may often be wrong -
Update #iamapsychologist: Why Psychology and the international bachelor's programme are essential -
Re-occurring moments to reflect on our values: ‘It’s about commitment to culture change' -
Mental health problems during COVID highly variable by symptom cluster and population group -
Rethinking Responsible Scholarship: ‘It is in so many day-to-day decisions, we forget to pause and reflect sometimes’ -
WARN-D: Your personal code yellow - orange - red -
International appreciation for Eiko Fried -
European grant for Eiko Fried to develop a personalised early warning system for depression -
ERC Starting Grants for five young researchers from Leiden University -
‘The process is part of the result!’ -
Psychology Awards 2019 -
Gravitation grant for team captains Bernet Elzinga and Andrea Evers
Open Science Framework
Research
Eiko obtained his PhD in Clinical Psychology at the Free University of Berlin, followed by four years of postdoctoral training in methodology at KU Leuven and University of Amsterdam. He returned to Clinical Psychology in 2018, as Assistant Professor at Leiden University, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021. Since 2026, he has a shared appointment between Clinical Psychology and Methodology & Statistics, as Professor of Mental Health and Data Science. His interests are how to best describe, measure, predict, and understand mental health problems. To do so, he conceptualizes them as emergent properties that arise from complex, dynamical, biopsychosocial, transdiagnostic systems, rather than as clear-cut categories with simple causes. In addition to interdisciplinary work at the intersection of mental health and data science, his lab works on improving cumulative psychological science through open scholarship and responsible research practices. Eiko loves burnt coffee and fast computers, and is humbled to get to work with many fantastic colleagues from all over the world. You can find Eiko’s most recent CV here.
Awards
- 2020-2025: Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher Award (top 1% for field and year in Psychiatry and Psychology)
- 2021: Janet Taylor Spence Award for transformative early career contributions to psychological science; Association for Psychological Science
- 2020: Commendation of the Society for the Improvement for Psychological Science
- 2019: Education Award for Best Teacher, Institute of Psychology
- 2018: APS Rising Star Award; Association for Psychological Science
Grants
- 2024-2029: Co-I (€8,700,000): “Project PHONOTYPE: Validation of smartphone-based digital phenotyping markers for detecting amotivation symptoms in young people with depression”. Wellcome Trust Mental Health Award Stratification scheme. PI: Alexis Whitton.
- 2024-2026: Co-I (€3,000,000): “Integrating AI and health economics to improve the precision and efficiency of mental health treatments”. Synergy grant, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). PI: Helen Christensen.
- 2023-2025: Co-I (€370,000): “Comorbidity networks of mental disorders and general medical conditions”. Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF). PI: Karen-Inge Karstoft.
- 2021-2025: PI (€1,500,000): “Using network theory to predict depression onset and build a personalized early warning system”. ERC Starting Grant, European Research Council. www.warn-d.com
- 2019-2028: Co-I (€19,393,000): “New science of mental disorders”. Gravitation/Zwaartekracht grant, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). PI: Anita Jansen.
Tasks support staff
- 2023-: RMOC representative, Clinical & Health Research Master track
- 2023-: Team ‘Responsible Research’ with Anna van’t Veer, creating & teaching workshops to improve research practices in psychology
- 2021-: Research Master Mentor, Clinical & Health Research Master track
- 2020-2025: Member of Young Academy Leiden, a select group of academics promoting interdisciplinarity, science & policy education, and outreach.
Media
- 2026: Lifehacker (paper on quality of smartwatches).
- 2025: Guardian , Gizmodo, Techspot, Athletetech News, Dubai Eye radio station (paper on quality of smartwatches).
- 2024: Women’s Health, New York Times, Women’s Health (psychedelics for treating mental health problems).
- 2023: ScienceNews (working mechanisms of depression treatments); Under The Cortex podcast, Chain of Thought AI podcast (complex systems in mental health); UKrant Groningen (WARN-D); DailyBeast, Irish Examiner, PsychedOut, UnDark, IrishTimes, Science, WIRED, MadInAmerica, TAZ, ZEIT (psychedelics for treating mental health problems); APS Observer (Open Science).
- 2022: Guardian, VICE/Motherboard, Nature, Krautreporter (psychedelics for mental health); Horizon Magazine, Volkskrant, Leidsch Dagblad, MARE, LINDA (WARN-D).
- 2021: Science Magazine (botox as depression treatment), EOS Wetenschap (depression heterogeneity).
- 2018: Volkskrant (depression heterogeneity).
- 2016: Statnews (hypothermia as depression treatment).