Bianca Beersma

Prof. Bianca Beersma is a Full Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Department of Organization Sciences. She holds additional appointments at the Network Institute and the Organization & Processes of Organizing in Society (OPOS) research group. Her research focuses on cooperation vs. competition dynamics, conflict management, negotiation, and the social functions of gossip in organizational contexts. She has supervised over 40 students, including those who won prestigious awards like the NSvP ‘David van Lennep Award’ and ‘Nico Frijda Thesis Award’.

Education:

• PhD in Psychology (University of Amsterdam, 2002)
• Master in Social Psychology (Free University Amsterdam, 1997)

Research Interests:

• Team functioning and performance
• Healthcare organizational behavior
• Workplace coaching and empowerment
• Gossip’s role in group processes
• Long-term care coordination

Grants & Awards:

• ERC Consolidator Grant (€1.999.693, 2017) for ‘FORCE-OF-GOSSIP’ project
• ZonMW Grant (€288,860, 2020) on nursing home care relationships
• Multiple teaching awards including BKO certification

Teaching: Leads courses on Cooperation/Conflict, Proposal Design, Organizational Behavior, and Conflict & Peacebuilding at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Key Projects:

• Investigating gossip’s impact on group cooperation
• Improving intergenerational empathy in online discussions
• Work environment effects on nursing staff retention

Labs/Teams: Active in interdisciplinary research teams focusing on healthcare innovation, organizational psychology, and digital society challenges.