Prof. P. de Boeck (1947) has been named professor of Principles of psychology and psychometrics at the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences.

Paul de Boeck's research has mainly focused on the interface between fundamental psychology and psychometrics, applying existing and new psychometric approaches to gain a better understanding of psychological data. His research is based on the principles of explanatory item response models. De Boeck's psychometric research centres on the following substantive domains: intelligence, personality, emotion and psychopathology.

De Boeck will be continuing his research during his tenure at the UvA. He will do so on the basis of newly developed models for latent structures, offering an even better understanding of human behaviour in both test situations and other behavioural conditions. De Boeck has also specialised in empirical research on mimesis and the conditions under which people respond positively to feelings of fear, sadness and pain evoked by works of art. He has lectured on psychometrics, differential psychology and psychological assessment, and will continue to teach psychometrics and methodology during his tenure at the UvA.

De Boeck was employed at the K.U.Leuven since 1977, where he served as a researcher, senior university lecturer and - since 1993 - as a professor. He has also held various board-level positions at the same university. In addition to two terms as chairman of the psychology department, he served as vice-president for research. De Boeck served as president of the Psychometric Society in 2007-2008. He has published numerous articles in a range of scientific journals, including Psychometrika, Psychological Review and Applied Psychological Measurement. He served as action editor of the Application Reviews & Case Studies section of Psychometrika from 2003 to 2008.