Cees Diks is Professor of Data Analysis and Economic Statistics. He studied theoretical physics in Utrecht and obtained his PhD in mathematics from Leiden University. He is the local (UvA) coordinator for the EPOC international training network, an international network of PhD students working on environmental and climate-related research topics. He also acts as the Programme Director for the faculty’s newly-founded master in Data Science and Business Analytics.

I am a Professor in Philanthropy and Sustainable Finance at the University of Amsterdam. My goal is to explore what drives individuals to invest their time and resources in ways that benefit society. I’m also focused on identifying the most impactful ways to use these resources. I conduct field experiments and field surveys with financial institutions around the globe. I link these data to real-world investment choices. My samples include retail investors, pension fund members, and millionaires. With the help of my Vidi grant (Dutch Research Council). I will investigate the beliefs and sustainable investment behavior of professional investors in the next five years. When I’m not working, I enjoy pursuing creative interests like improvisational theatre and playing the piano.

Ujjwal Sharma is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Amsterdam, where his research focuses on the application of artificial intelligence techniques to marketing tasks. Specifically, he develops algorithmic methods to understand subjective consumer perceptions. His research delves into unraveling patterns in how consumers perceive intangible aspects of products or services, using visual and textual evidence. Prof. Willemijn van Dolen and Dr. Stevan Rudinac serve as his doctoral advisors, with additional guidance from Prof. Marcel Worring and Dr. Joris Demmers. Ujjwal’s interests revolve around challenges related to multimodal data, and he is presently associated with the multimedia analytics group “MultiX” at the Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam. Ujjwal earned his Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from VIT University, Vellore, India, and holds a Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Amsterdam.

Ramon de Punder holds master’s degrees in Econometrics and Actuarial Science from the University of Amsterdam and a research master from the Tinbergen Institute. In collaboration with his PhD supervisors Cees Diks, Roger Laeven, and Dick van Dijk, he has proposed a general procedure for evaluating density forecasts on regions of interest, and his current research involves exploring its application to hypothesis testing and observation-driven time series models. His postdoctoral research with Roger Laeven, Rick van der Ploeg, and Ton van den Bremer harnesses his statistical expertise to assess nature-related ESG risks in insurance and financial portfolios.

I am a PhD candidate in Finance at the University of Amsterdam and a guest researcher at the Dutch Central Bank. I am interested in some of the major predicaments of our time: expanding infrastructure financing needs amid constrained fiscal capacity, inequality within and across borders, polarized views on sustainable investing amongst growing climate concerns, and persistently high savings rates, defiantly unaffected by plummeting interest rates. My work regards these challenges. I examine the real impact of impact investment and retail investors’ sustainability preferences and (mis)perception under the supervision of Prof. Aleksander Andonov and Prof. Paul Smeets. The work on saving is part of a bigger NWO grant of Prof. Enrico Perotti on macro-financial trends. I am empirically-minded, leveraging proprietary, experimental, and survey data. I also enjoy theory for increased conceptual clarity.

Lukas Hofmann is a PhD candidate in Finance at the Amsterdam Business School. His PhD is supervised by Prof. Marc Francke and Dr. Martijn Dröes. Lukas holds a research master in economics from Tinbergen Institute and a master in economics from Uppsala University. His research interests include the economics of climate change and real estate markets. For the RCSII, Lukas quantifies the impact of ESG risks on the Dutch real estate market. His master thesis explored how land subsidence, the lowering of the ground surface, and flood risk impact property prices in the Netherlands.

Marleen de Jonge holds degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Econometrics from the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit, respectively, and will commence her PhD studies in September 2024. Her academic interests include climate risk, financial stability and the application of generative AI in finance. Her research focuses on applying AI models to estimate future corporate alignment with environmental goals and the financial risks associated with climate change.

Lara Spaans is a postdoctoral researcher of sustainable finance at the University of Amsterdam and is collaborating with Prof. Paul Smeets and Prof. Aleksandar Andonov.  She is specifically interested in the portfolio decisions of large institutional investors concerning climate and sustainability factors.  For her PhD she examined mutual funds’ reliance on backward- and forward-looking sustainability information signals. Lara’s other academic interests are local economic effects resulting from biodiversity losses, and questions related to strategic cooperation within mutual fund families.

Davide Castellani is a postdoctoral researcher at the Amsterdam Business School, finance section. He is obtaining a PhD in Economics from Collegio Carlo Alberto, with a focus on environmental economics, climate finance, and urban economics. His research explores the economics of climate change, real estate markets, and climate-related financial risks. For the RCSII, Davide quantifies the impact of extreme weather events on housing markets and insurance outcomes.