Key details
Dr Jana Uher
Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Research
Dr Jana Uher is an Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Research working in the School of Human Sciences of the University of 糖心Vlog. She is the Science Dialogue Lead as well as a Founding Member and Co-Leader of the Science Practice Hub (SciPHub). Jana also serves on the Steering Committee of the Centre for Research and Enterprise in Language (CREL) and as Research Competency and Mentor Lead in the Research Executive Committee of the School of Human Sciences. She is a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Jana Uher is an expert in the epistemological and methodological foundations of measurement and quantification across the sciences. Pertinent contemporary research practices are currently at the centre of intense scientific debates about psychology’s crises in replicability, generalisability, validity and confidence. Jana’s transdisciplinary explorations of these problems have opened up fundamentally new perspectives and gained international attention.
Jana serves as Associate Editor of Frontiers in Psychology, Quality & Quantity. International Journal of Methodology as well as of further journals. With international colleagues, she is currently editing the It highlights that questionable research practices (QRPs), currently discussed as the cause for psychology's crises in replicability, validity generalisability and confidence, are just surface symptoms. Experts from many lines of research will discuss fundamental problems still hardly addressed, such as conceptual problems and methodological deficiencies of established psychological methods (e.g., rating scales, psychometrics). They will critically explore and open up new perspectives on the foundations of quantification and measurement in psychology, including perspectives still hardly considered (e.g., qualitative mathematics, complex dynamic systems, fuzzy systems modelling, machine learning).
Jana's research has received several awards and prizes for its originality and intellectual rigor, for addressing fundamental research problems, and for promoting and enabling inter- and transdisciplinary collaborative research. She was shortlisted nominee for the Student Led Teaching Awards in 2021, 2019 and has received a Highly Commended Supervisor of the Year Award from the Students Union (SLTAs) of the University of 糖心Vlog in 2018.
Since 2004, more than 80 reports and interviews about her research have appeared in the public media in various formats including TV.
Personal website:
Centre for Research in Language and Heritage: /research/crel/about-us
Other external profiles:
Posts held previously:
- 2015 - 2017, Department of Social Psychology, Senior Researcher and Marie Curie Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
- 2010 - 2014, Head of Research Group 'Comparative Differential and Personality Psychology and Principal Investigator, Free University Berlin
- 2011 - 2013, Visiting Scholar, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council of Italy (ISTC-CNR) in Rome
- 2011 - 2012, Lecturer in Psychology, Department of Psychological Assessment, Differential and Personality Psychology, and Psychological Intervention, Free University Berlin
- 2009 - 2010, Principal Investigator, Free University Berlin
- 2006 - 2008, Lecturer and Researcher, Department of Personality Psychology at Humboldt-University of Berlin
- 2005, Project Leader in Management Development in the U.K. headquarters and plants of an international steel-working company (2005)
- 2003 - 2005, Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVAN), Department of Comparative and Developmental Psychology, and the Wolfgang K枚hler Primate Research Center (WKPRC) in Leipzig
- 2002, Researcher in Computer-Human Interaction (CHI), Department of Engineering Psychology at Humboldt-University of Berlin and Daimler Chrysler AG
Responsibilities within the university
- Science Dialogue Lead, Science Practice Hub (SciPHub)
- Founding Member and Co-Leader, Science Practice Hub (SciPHub)
- Steering Committee Member, Centre for Research and Enterprise in Language (CREL)
- Research Competency and Mentor Lead, Research Executive Committee, School of Human Sciences
- Module Lead, Personality and Individual Differences (for all BSc Psychology programmes, BSc Psychology and Sociology as well as MSc Conversion Psychology)
- Supervisor of BSc, MSc, MPhil, EdD and PhD research projects
Awards
Honours and Prizes
- 2021 - Inspirational Teaching Award, Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs), Nominee, Students Union, University of 糖心Vlog
- 2019 - Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs), Shortlisted Nominee, Students Union, University of 糖心Vlog
- 2018 - Highly Commended Supervisor of the Year Award, Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs), University of 糖心Vlog
- 2012 - Excellent Teaching Award (shortlisted nominee), Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Free University Berlin
- 2009 - 2010, European Commission, Selected participant of the 12-month ProFiL-Programme for the Advancement of Junior Leaders in Science, funded by the Berlin Universities and the European Social Fund
- 2008 - First Prize for Outstanding Oral Student Presentations, XXII. Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS) in Edinburgh, Scotland
- 2007 - Award for the Best Diploma Thesis on Personality in the years 2005-2006, German Psychological Society (DGPs) in Vienna, Austria
- 2007 - Award for the Best Diploma Thesis of the Year 2006, Psychological Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin
Funded research projects:
| Year | Details | Awarding Body |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Competitive Research Funding | Institute for Lifecourse Development |
| 2018-2021 | Vice Chancellors Scholarship | University of 糖心Vlog |
| 2015-2017 | Awarded 2013, European Commission, Principal Investigator | Marie Curie Research Fellowship |
| 2010-2013 | Principal Investigator | German Science Foundation (DFG), Research Grant (incl. P.I. and RA positions) |
| 2010 | EAPP, Travel grant award | European Association of Personality Psychology |
| 2009-2010 | Post-doctoral Research Grant, Principal Investigator | Free University Berlin |
| 2008 | EAPP, Travel grant award | European Association of Personality Psychology |
| 2007 | Travel grant award | Humboldt University of Berlin |
| 2007 | Research Scholarship | Humboldt University Berlin |
| 2006 | Travel agent award | Humboldt University Berlin |
Recognition
External examination of dissertations and theses
- Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Estonia
- Centre for Philosophy of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal
- Humanities and Social Sciences, University of 糖心Vlog
- Social Psychology, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
- Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, Tallinn University, Estonia
- Languages of Emotion, Cluster of Excellence, Free University Berlin
- Neurobiology and Behaviour, Free University Berlin
- Development and Culture, Psychology Department, University Osnabr眉ck
- General Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Research leadership
- 2009 - 2010, Selected participant of the ProFiL-Program for the Advancement of Junior Leaders in Science, funded by the Berlin Universities and the European Social Fund
Editorship
- 60 papers edited (11/2024)
- Frontiers in Psychology: Developmental Psychology
- Frontiers in Psychology: Educational Psychology
- Frontiers in Psychology: Positive Psychology
- Frontiers in Psychology, Quantitative Psychology and Measurement
- Frontiers in Psychology, Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
- Journal of Comparative Psychology (APA)
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- SAGE Open - Social Sciences
- Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science
- Quality & Quantity. International Journal of Methodology
Journals - Ad hoc reviewer
134 reviews (11/2024) ; Acta Psychopathologica; Annals of Behavioural Science; Animal Behaviour; American Institute of Mathematical Sciences: Neuroscience; American Journal of Primatology; Behaviour; Behavior Research Methods; Behavioral Ecology; Behavioral Sciences; Biology Letters; Biology & Philosophy; Biological Reviews; Cornell Hospitality Quarterly; Culture and Psychology; Current Issues in Personality Psychology; Diagnostica; Environmental Values; European Journal for Philosophy of Science; European Journal of Personality; Frontiers in Education: Educational Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Comparative Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Evolutionary Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Personality and Social Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology; Information Society; Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science; International Journal of Primatology; Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour; Journal of Anxiety Disorders; Journal of Comparative Psychology; Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology; Journal of Ethology; Journal of Intelligence; Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research; Medicina; Nature - Scientific Reports; Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature; New Ideas in Psychology; Oikos – Synthesising Ecology; Personality Science; Personality and Individual Differences; PLoS ONE; Psych; Quality & Quantity. International Journal of Methodology; Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences; Royal Society: Open Science; Science; Social and Political Sciences Journal; Sustainability; Symmetry; Synthese; The Science of Nature; Theoretical Economics Letters; Theory & Psychology; Universities Federation for Animal Welfare Journal; Zeitschrift f眉r Sexualforschung.
Funding agencies
Dutch Research Council (NWO)
Talent Programme - Vidi scheme (experienced researchers)
Talent Programme - Vici scheme (senior researchers)
European Research Council (ERC)
ERC Synergy Grants
Research Councils UK (RCUK)
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) scheme
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
The Leakey Foundation
Christian-Vogel-Fund
Book editors
- Oxford University Press
- Social Science Books, Emerald Group Publishing
Professional memberships
- British Psychological Society (BPS)
- British Society for the Psychology of Individual Differences (BSPID)
- Primate Society of Great Britain (PSGB)
- Society for Ambulatory Assessment (SAA)
- Soci茅t茅 Fran莽aise de Psychologie (SFP)
- Social Psychology Network (SPN)
Research / Scholarly interests
"Alongside a focus on behavioural studies in real-life settings, my line of research is centrally concerned with restoring the match between psychical phenomena and the methods used for their investigation as this match was lost in the last half-century in which quantitative assessments and questionnaire tools became established as standard methods in many areas of psychology, the social sciences and applied contexts. "
Over the last decade, Jana has been developing a line of transdisciplinary research that cuts across several fields of psychology, biology, medicine, social sciences, physics, metrology and philosophy of science. It focuses on the philosophical, metatheoretical and methodological foundations of holistic research on individuals, their personality, behaviour and social relationships. A central concern is to critically analyse, improve and redevelop research frameworks, approaches and investigatory tools for better understanding and help finding solutions for real-world problems.
In her empirical research, Jana applies evidence-based approaches to explore how people actually interpret and use standardised questionnaires and how they form their judgements of individuals. She investigates implicit biases derived from stereotypical beliefs about gender and ethnicity, and the role that standardised survey scales, such as personality questionnaires, may play in their manifestation in empirical enquiries.
Jana has also been developing comprehensive research frameworks for taxonomic research on individual differences across human cultures and across different species. Together with international colleagues from Cambridge University (UK) and McMaster University (Canada), she edited a Theme issue on integrated taxonomies of individual differences, their neurobiological underpinnings and expression in psychopathology. They have brought together leading scholars from experimental neurophysiology, psychiatry, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, psychogenetics, developmental, differential, personality, clinical and comparative psychology, nonlinear dynamics modelling and evolutionary theory. This theme Issue was published in.
Jana employs a broad portfolio of methods, including behavioural tests and observations, audio-visual and computerised methods for the detailed analysis of individual behaviours, standardised and open-ended surveys as well as in-depth interviews involving first-person videos. Her empirical studies involve people of different ages and sociocultural backgrounds as well as various species of nonhuman primates, especially the great apes.
For more information:
Recent publications
Article
Uher, Jana and , (2024), . Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge. In: , , , . Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge, Psychological Inquiry: An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory, 34 (4) . pp. 280-290 ISSN: 1047-840X (Print), 1532-7965 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2023.2274384).
Hanfstingl, Barbara , Uher, Jana, Edelsbrunner, Peter A., Dettweiler, Ulrich , Gnambs, Timo (2023), . Frontiers Media S.A.. In: , , , . Frontiers Media S.A., Frontiers in Psychology, 14: 1091721 . pp. 1-5 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1091721).
Uher, Jana and , (2023), . Wiley. In: , , , . Wiley, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17: e12740 (5) 1751-9004 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12740).
Uher, Jana and , (2022), . Frontiers Media S.A.. In: , , , . Frontiers Media S.A., Frontiers in Psychology, 13: 1009893 . pp. 1-46 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1009893).
Uher, Jana and , (2021), . Springer. In: , , , . Springer, Quality and Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, 56 . pp. 2519-2548 ISSN: 0033-5177 (Print), 1573-7845 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01215-6).
Uher, Jana and , (2021), . SAGE. In: , , , . SAGE, Theory & Psychology, 33 (1) . pp. 411-416 ISSN: 0959-3543 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543211014963).
Uher, Jana and , (2020), . American Psychological Association. In: , , , . American Psychological Association, Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 41 (1) . pp. 58-84 ISSN: 1068-8471 (Print), 2151-3341 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/teo0000176).
Uher, Jana and , (2020), . Elsevier Ltd.. In: , , , . Elsevier Ltd., Personality and Individual Differences, 170: 110205 ISSN: 0191-8869 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110205).
Uher, Jana and , (2020), . Springer. In: , , , . Springer, Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 55 (1) . pp. 212-224 ISSN: 1932-4502 (Print), 1936-3567 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-020-09545-0).
Uher, Jana and , (2020), . Springer. In: , , , . Springer, Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, 54 . pp. 975-1004 ISSN: 0033-5177 (Print), 1573-7845 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-00970-2).
Uher, Jana and , (2020), . Wiley. In: , , , . Wiley, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 50 (1) . pp. 20-24 ISSN: 0021-8308 (Print), 1468-5914 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12232).
Uher, Jana and , (2018), . Frontiers Media. In: , , , . Frontiers Media, Frontiers in Psychology, 9: 2599 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02599).
Uher, Jana and , (2018), . Springer Netherlands. In: , , , . Springer Netherlands, Quality & Quantity, 53 (1) . pp. 221-246 ISSN: 0033-5177 (Print), 1573-7845 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-018-0744-3).
Trofimova, I. , Robbins, T. W., Sulis, W. H., Uher, J. (2018), . Royal Society Publishing. In: , , , . Royal Society Publishing, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373 (1744) ISSN: 0962-8436 (Print), 1471-2970 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0152).
Uher, Jana and , (2018), . Royal Society Publishing. In: , , , . Royal Society Publishing, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373 (1744) ISSN: 0962-8436 (Print), 1471-2970 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0171).
Uher, Jana , Trofimova, Irina, Sulis, William, Netter, Petra , Pessoa, Luiz , Posner, Michael I. , Rothbart, Mary K. , Rusalov, Vladimir , Petersen, Isaac T. , Schmidt, Louis A. (2018), . Royal Society Publishing. In: , , , . Royal Society Publishing, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373 (1744) ISSN: 0962-8436 (Print), 1471-2970 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0172).
Uher, Jana and , (2017), . Wiley. In: , , , . Wiley, European Journal of Personality, 31 (5) . pp. 572-573 ISSN: 0890-2070 (Print), 1099-0984 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2128).
Book section
Uher, Jana and , (2018), . SAGE Publications Ltd. In: , , In: Virgil Zeigler-Hill, Todd K. Shackelford (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Personality and Individual Differences. Vol. 1. The Science of Personality and Individual Differences. SAGE Publications Ltd, London, UK (1st) . pp. 84-109 . ISBN: 9781526445179 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526451163.n4) NB Item availability restricted.