MULTIDISCIPLINARY
DECISION-MAKING (MDM)
Lunch
The aim of the MDM is to create a platform for researchers from various groups across the Donders Institute and Radboud University to meet, interact, and explore collaborative opportunities. This initiative is generously supported by RCDS and the Donders Stimulation Grants for Focus Groups, and provides an opportunity to share work, discuss methodologies, and build connections under the common goal of advancing decision science.
Since September 2024 we organized several events, each dedicated to a specific subtopic within decision science. These meetings include short presentations from multiple speakers, open discussions, and networking opportunities during lunch. Their design is meant to facilitate communication and create a feeling of community.
Join us in our next lunch meeting! Below see the dates for this year's events and you can scroll down for past events.
The topics and locations will be announced about a month in advance.
Monday, Sept 21st, 12.30 - 13.30
Monday, Oct 19th, 12.30 - 13.30
Monday, Nov 16th, 12.30 - 13.30
Monday, Dec 14th, 12.30 - 13.30
For more information please email us (centerfordecisionscience@ru.nl).
Coming Up
TBA
Monday, 21 Sept 2026, 12.30 – 13.30,
Monday, 19 Oct 2026, 12.30 – 13.30,
Monday, 16 Nov 2026, 12.30 – 13.30,
Monday, 14 Dec 2026, 12.30 – 13.30,
TBA
Past MDMs
Number of past MDMs
14
2026
Cross-Cultural Decision-Making
In this MDM lunch meeting we brought together three perspectives on the promises and pitfalls of cross-cultural research. We discussed how cultural assumptions embedded in task design can compromise measurement and what more rigorous approaches to cross-cultural experimentation might look like.
2026
Decision Making across the Lifespan
In this MDM lunch meeting we tracked how decision-making develops from infancy to older adulthood. Three researchers presented work spanning reversal learning in babies, neuroendocrine trajectories in teenagers, and exploration-exploitation trade-offs in visual foraging, all showing important shifts across the lifespan.
2025
Public Policy and Decision-Making
In this MDM lunch we try to address the link between decision science and public policy, which is rarely straightforward, as researchers, policymakers, and citizens bring in different time horizons, standards of evidence, and accountability structures to our shared problems.
2025
Language, Communication and Decision-Making
Language is not just how we describe decisions; it actively shapes how we evaluate options, signal commitments, and interpret what others mean. This session links economics, linguistics, and behavioural science to examine how words influence choice.
2025
Decision-Making under Uncertainty
In this MDM session we explored uncertainty from neuroscience, psychology, and economics perspectives, revealing both shared principles and discipline-specific tools for navigating not knowing.
2025
Decision-Making in Clinical Populations
This MDM lunch brought together neuroscience, clinical psychology, and clinical ethics to examine how disease, memory processes, and value conflicts shape decision-making in real patient care.
2024
AI and the Future of Decision-Making
This MDM lunch examined how AI changes decision-making by shifting agency, friction, trust, and oversight, with perspectives spanning human–AI acceptance, ethical governance, and predictive models of perception.
2026
Moral Decision-Making
This meeting examined moral decision-making from psychological and organisational perspectives, presenting meta-analytic findings on how emotions shape moral responses and a virtue ethics-based framework for how workplace structures enable or constrain moral agency.
2026
AI and Decision Support
This MDM session explored how AI can support decision-making in various settings. Our speakers examined open questions around explainability, data privacy, and how we can and should design decision support that centres user/patient values without missing the human connection.
2025
Poverty, Stress, and Decision-Making
This MDM session examined the mechanisms linking poverty and stress to decision quality, and what this means for effective interventions.
2025
Decision-Making under Pressure
In this session we focus on how pressure can take many forms, from the physiological arousal of the acute threat to the institutional constraints of political crises.
2025
Decision-Making Outside the Lab
Collecting behavioural data outside the lab enables sample sizes and ecological validity that are hard to achieve in controlled settings, but it also amplifies challenges around task comprehension, noise, exclusions, and inference.
2024
Decision Science and Public Policy
This MDM lunch focused on how decision science can inform public policy, with talks on inclusive education, sustainable food choice, and stakeholder engagement strategies for translating research into practice.
2024
Computational Modelling Approaches to Decision-Making
This first MDM lunch brought together four perspectives on how computational modelling is used in decision-making, spanning work in decision neuroscience, learning models, cognitive control, and clinical neuropsychology.