Mariska Kret receives Dr Hendrik Muller Prize 2025
Professor of Cognitive Psychology Mariska Kret has been awarded the Dr Hendrik Muller Prize by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) for her pioneering research into emotions. Kret: ‘This prize offers a wonderful opportunity to give a boost to emotion research.’
In her work, Mariska Kret explores the biological and evolutionary roots of emotions. How do humans and animals express emotions? And how do they recognise these in one another? Using non-invasive techniques such as eye-tracking and touchscreens, she studies emotions in great apes as well as during blind dates. She discovered that bonobos pay more attention to the emotions of unfamiliar members of their species, whereas humans mainly focus on the emotions of those they know.
Mariska Kret: ‘I am incredibly happy with this prize and deeply honoured. It offers a wonderful opportunity to give emotion research a boost.’
A bridge between disciplines
According to the jury, Kret’s work stands out because of its exceptional interdisciplinary approach. In her research she combines psychology, behavioural biology, primatology and neuroscience. This results in new insights into the function of emotions. The jury is also impressed by Mariska’s commitment to knowledge sharing. Together with her team, she conducts research in a wide range of settings and brings these insights to festivals, zoos and schools. She also contributes to open-source platforms and mentors young researchers.
The Dr Hendrik Muller Prize
The biennial Dr Hendrik Muller Prize is awarded to a mid-career researcher working in the Netherlands who has made an outstanding contribution to the humanities or social sciences.
Prize ceremony
The Dr Hendrik Muller Prize will be presented during a festive public ceremony on 4 December 2025 from 3.30 pm to 5.15 pm at the Trippenhuis, Kloveniersburgwal 29, Amsterdam.
The prize ceremony will be followed by the symposium Science with Emotion: the reality of research and motherhood, in which five members of Mariska’s team will speak about their work and the challenges of motherhood in academia. This symposium will have both Dutch and English speakers.