Susan Niessen

Susan Niessen is a University Lecturer in the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen, affiliated with the Psychometrics and Statistics department. Her work spans psychometrics, personnel selection, algorithmic decision-making, and talent identification in sports and education.

Research Interests: Her research focuses on predictive validity, decision-making, organizational psychology, and educational assessment. She investigates how algorithms and psychological tests can improve fairness and accuracy in hiring and admissions. Her work also explores talent scouting in soccer and the use of multimodal data for personality assessment.

Publication Trends: Her recent articles emphasize algorithmic transparency in hiring, athlete assessment using cognitive models, and longitudinal analysis of career pathways in sports. She combines psychometric rigor with real-world applications in education, HR, and sports science.

Scientific Awards:

• Gratama Award (2024)
• ABBAS Dissertation Award (2019)
• Top Cited Paper Certificate, International Journal of Selection and Assessment (2018)
• BSS Science for Society Award (2016)

Advising and Grants: She serves as co-supervisor for a PhD project on algorithmic fairness in secondary education admissions (2024–2029). She has contributed to consultancy projects, including the evaluation of selection procedures for R(h)io’s (2024). Her datasets on higher education performance and soccer talent are publicly available. She is an editor for the Journal of Personnel Psychology and actively participates in peer review and academic presentations.

Labs and Teams: She collaborates closely with researchers like R.R. Meijer, M. Neumann, and R.J.R. den Hartigh. Her work is embedded in the Psychometrics and Statistics group at the University of Groningen, contributing to both academic research and societal impact through public engagement and policy-relevant studies.