LONELY-EU is run by a consortium of researchers, practitioners, and communicators from across Europe. Seven work package leaders shape the direction of the project.
- Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), is the project coordinator. Besides coordinating research and network activities in the consortium, she leads the development of interactive databases.
- Judith Merkies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands), is the project’s policy expert. She leads the formulation of evidence-based policy recommendations through the Evidence-to-Action (E2A) Board and the SIL network, bridging research and policy.
- Rob Blaauboer, Fioti (Netherlands), leads communication. Drawing on his background in media, he translates academic research into practical tools, digital platforms, and public campaigns on social connection.
- Prof. Patrizia Catellani, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan (Italy), works in social psychology and advanced statistical modelling. She will help identify the socio-economic causes and consequences of loneliness using probabilistic models optimised by machine learning.
- Prof. Cristiano Vezzoni, University of Milan (Italy), is an expert in survey methods and political sociology. He leads work on longitudinal surveys and comparative research and will help build a framework to monitor loneliness across the EU.
- Dr. Hans Rocha IJzerman, Annecy Behavioral Science Lab (France), is a behavioural scientist who specialises in social connection, social isolation, and loneliness. He leads the work on experimental methods and co-leads the development of the EU monitoring framework.
- Prof. Katarzyna Growiec, SWPS University (Poland), works in social psychology and quantitative methods. She directs the work on demographic and socio-economic disparities in loneliness, with a focus on marginalised populations and gendered experiences.
