Anne-Laura van Harmelen is Professor of Brain, Safety and Resilience at Leiden University and affiliated with the Institute of Education and Child Studies. Her research focuses on the social, psychological, and neurobiological mechanisms of risk and resilience in adolescence, with particular attention to the impact of early-life stress and trauma. She integrates perspectives from developmental psychology, neuroscience, and the social sciences.

Van Harmelen is the founder and scientific lead of the Resilience Center Leiden. Within the SSH Sector Plans, she is a national working group member and university lead for the theme Resilience in Youth. In this role, she coordinates interdisciplinary research collaboration and actively connects academic research with policy and societal partners.

Judy Veldhuijzen is Research Director of the Institute of Psychology and Associate Professor of Health and Neuropsychology at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Leiden University. Her research focuses on mind–body interactions, with particular attention to interdisciplinary approaches of coping with pain, stress resilience, interoception, placebo and nocebo effects, and cognition stress, and resilience in chronic somatic conditions. She combines experimental psychological approaches with neurobiological and clinical perspectives. Veldhuijzen is affiliated with the Center for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies Leiden (IPS Leiden) and collaborates closely with medical and societal partners.

Within the SSH Sector Plans, she is a national working group member and university lead for the theme Mental Health Disorders. In this role, she contributes to strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration between psychology, health sciences, and clinical practice at the national level. 

Wouter Veenendaal is Professor by Special Appointment of Kingdom Relations and Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at Leiden University. His research focuses on the relationship between population size and democracy, with a particular emphasis on small states, island territories, and non-sovereign jurisdictions.

Since 2024, he has held the Chair in Democratic Representation in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, established by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. In this capacity, he conducts research on the political and institutional relations between European Netherlands and the six Caribbean countries and territories within the Kingdom. Veenendaal is also the principal investigator of the NWO Vidi project Downsize My Democracy? The Democratic Consequences of Decentralization (2021–2026), which examines local and regional democracy in Europe.

Within the SSH Sector Plans, he is a national working group member and university lead for the theme Societal Transitions and Behavioural Change.

Tim Mainhard is Professor of Educational Sciences at the Institute of Education and Child Studies at Leiden University. His research focuses on social interaction and classroom climate in primary and secondary education, and on how teacher–student relationships contribute to students’ motivation, well-being, and learning. His work addresses major societal challenges such as educational equity, citizenship education, and the teacher shortage.

Mainhard has received several competitive research grants from the Dutch Research Council and has extensive experience in academic leadership and research governance. Since 2022, he has served as Educational Director of the Interuniversity Center for Educational Sciences (ICO). Within the SSH Sector Plans, he is a national working group member and university lead, contributing to the strengthening of Educational Sciences at the national level.