Data School and Research Software Lab awarded grant for ‘Responsible AI in Practice’ A research team from Data School and the Research Software Lab, both part of the Centre for Digital Humanities (CDH), has been awarded a €125,000 grant from the SIDN Fund and Topsector ICT for their project Functioneringsgesprek voor AI (FG-AI). Organisations are increasingly expected to demonstrate that their AI systems perform well and are reliable. […] Read more
Fundamental Rights and Algorithms Impact Assessment (FRAIA) The Fundamental Rights and Algorithm Impact Assessment (FRAIA) helps to map the risks to human rights in the use of algorithms and to take measures to address these risks. […] Read more
Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA) The Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA) helps data analysts, project managers and policy makers to recognize ethical issues in data projects, data management and data policies. Developed in close cooperation with data analysts from the City of Utrecht, DEDA is a tool-kit facilitating initial brainstorming sessions to map ethical issues in data projects, documenting the […] Read more
DPG Media and Utrecht University’s Data School develop tool to support ethical use of data and AI in the media sector DPG Media and the Utrecht University Data School are jointly developing a ‘Data Ethics Decision Aid for Media (DEDA for Media)’. Starting in 2026, this analogue model will help media companies in recognizing and addressing ethical issues concerning digitalisation, data and AI projects. Development will be completed by the end of this year, after which […] Read more
AI and Human Values: International Marsilius Academy Summer School The rapid development and spread of large language models (LLMs) is increasingly penetrating all areas of life and significantly shaping modern society, raising questions about the underlying values and norms …
Iris Muis (Data School) in the Top 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2025 The Centre for Digital Humanities is proud to announce that Iris Muis, Team Lead at Data School, has been named in the list of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2025. This list has been released by the Women in AI Ethics Group based in New York. The Women in AI Ethics is a volunteer-led, […] Read more
Do you have a collaborative research project idea? Apply now for Impact Project vouchers! Data School has published a call to action for Impact Projects: support for impact-focused research projects in the humanities with societal partners. Impact Project vouchers are available with a fixed individual value of €8,000. For the past 10 years, Data School has been at the forefront of researching the impact of AI in society. Working across […] Read more
IEG Conference (hybrid): Data Ethics for Historical Research in a Digital Era The Leibniz Institut für Europäische Geschichte (IEG) is organising an international conference on ‘Data ethics for historical research in a digital era: Critical reflections and best practices’ in Mainz (Germany) …
Austrian Delegation visits Data School on Responsible AI Practices Last week, a delegation of high-ranking Austrian civil servants visited Utrecht University and various public management organisations across the Netherlands. The visit aimed to gain insights into the Dutch approach to responsible AI governance, as highlighted by the Netherlands’ top ranking in the 2024 Responsible AI Index. In recent years, Data School has supported Austrian civil […] Read more
Interview: OpenAlex, a big step towards Open Science? Utrecht University has published an interview with Open Science specialist drs. Jeroen Bosman (Utrecht University Library) about OpenAlex, the new database for scientific output offering more than 250 million works. Its focus on full openness and availability is why OpenAlex fits in well with the principle of Open Science: the striving for an academic world […] Read more
Upcoming Data School workshops for humanities staff & students Are you a staff member or student at the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University (UU)? Then this is your chance to join a free workshop hosted by digital humanities (DH) experts from the Data School team! As part of the CDH Education Programme, we are organising introductory workshops on data ethics, network visualisation and […] Read more
Self-Reflection Guide for Human-Related Big Data Research (MBDO) The Faculty of Humanities (Utrecht University) and the FEtC-H (Faculty Ethics Assessment Committee – Humanities) have introduced the mandatory Self-Reflection Guide for all researchers conducting MBDO. The Self-Reflection Guide has become a standard tool to help humanities researchers make informed decisions, ensuring their research is responsible and efficient. If you are researching big data from […] Read more
New study on the effect of GenAI in teacher-student relationships Jiahui Luo (Jess) of the University of Hong Kong has published a research article titled: How does GenAI affect trust in teacher-student relationships? Insights from students’ assessment experiences. Abstract Many observed that the rise of GenAI is causing an ‘erosion of trust’ between students and teachers in higher education. Such distrust mainly stems from concerns […] Read more
ERC Starting Grant awarded for UU research into data diversity in Natural Language Processing In September, Dong Nguyen received an ERC Starting Grant of €1.5 million for her research on the impact of data diversity on the quality of language models. In her DataDivers project, she aims to develop methods to accurately measure the diversity of a dataset and investigate how this diversity influences the behavior of a language model. The […] Read more
Report publication: FRAIA in action The report ‘FRAIA in action‘ summarises the results of the pilot in which Data School (Centre for Digital Humanities, Utrecht University) collaborated with the Rijks ICT Gilde (RIG) for the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Over the Fall of 2023 and Spring of 2024, a range of government bodies applied the FRAIA to […] Read more
Data School research in the media Data School often appears in the media with innovative and news-worthy data research. PhD candidate Joris Veerbeek (Data School) regularly shares interesting findigs from his data research in the independent and progressive Dutch weekly news magazine De Groene Amsterdammer. Recently, two more articles based on his research were published: More Data School in the media […] Read more
UU interview: Core team Human Artificial Intelligence An interview with Dr. Pim Huijnen and Dr. Evelyn Wan has been published on Intranet, the internal website for Utrecht University staff. Together with Dr. Tejaswini Deoskar and Dr. Dominik Klein, Pim and Evelyn make up the core team Human Artificial Intelligence. The interview is part of the series: ‘educational innovation through the eyes of the four […] Read more
Data School DEDA seminar: submission deadline May 31st Utrecht University’s Data School will host its first international DEDA seminar on September 25th, 2024. The deadline for submission is May 31st. The Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA), a toolkit developed by the Data School, maps ethical issues in data projects. It documents the deliberation process and stimulates accountability towards the various stakeholders and the public. This […] Read more
Data School joins Katapult consortium Data and Knowledge Hub Healthy Urban Living Over the next four years, Data School will be participating in the Katapult consortium Data and Knowledge Hub Healthy Urban Living. The hub is an independent and open public-private platform initiated by Utrecht University, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Economic Board Utrecht. Together with several other partners, as well as […] Read more
Mirko Schäfer member of new advisory committee for governmental institutions On March 17, 2023, the Analytics Advisory Committee (Adviescommissie Analytics) has officially started. This committee, consisting of academics and experts, will provide solicited and unsolicited advice to the Ministry of Finance, the Tax Administration, Customs and Service Surcharges on how to deal with risk models and algorithms. Risk models and algorithms can increase efficiency and […] Read more
