Chiel Volman

Dr. Chiel Volman serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pedagogy within Utrecht University's Social Sciences faculty. His work focuses on Development & Education of Youth in Diverse Societies, with research spanning developmental psychology, motor control, and embodied cognition. He maintains an active research profile through multiple funded projects and contributes to both bachelor's and master's level pedagogy education.

His research expertise centers on the interplay between motor development, spatial cognition, and learning in children. Key areas include developmental coordination disorder, number-space mapping from an embodied cognition perspective, and spatial language development. His work often examines children with developmental challenges such as Down syndrome and chronic illnesses.

Volman has secured significant research funding including a €500,000 ZONMW grant on sports' health effects for chronically ill youth and multiple NWO-funded projects like SPACE (Mapping numbers to space) and studies on spatial language development. His research employs longitudinal approaches tracking children from infancy through early childhood.

Notable grants include:

• ZONMW SPORT program (€500,000): Health effects of sports for children with chronic illnesses (2013-2018)
• NWO MaGW Open Competition (€208,193): Number-space mapping in infancy (2011-2016)
• NWO Top Talent grant: Spatial exploration and language development (2008-2013)
• Steunfonds 's Heeren Loo grants (€107,000 & €75,000): Language development in Down syndrome

He supervises PhD candidates and contributes to clinical child development education through courses like Pedagogical Practicum, Development Learning and Behavior, and Clinical Assessment. Volman also serves on the Dutch DCD Steering Committee for Developmental Coordination Disorder.