Professor Ting Li and Dr Dan Schley from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) have been elected new members of the Young Erasmus Academy as of January 2019. They aim to initiate and develop new opportunities and support existing research projects by collaborating with other motivated scholars from Erasmus University Rotterdam.


Two RSM researchers elected for Young Erasmus AcademyLeft to right: Dr Dan Schley & Prof. Ting Li


The Young Erasmus Academy (YEA) is a network of young scientists that was founded in April 2013 at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). It has 18 members, who represent a broad spectrum of scientific and scholarly disciplines and work at various schools and faculties of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Emerging opportunities

“Being a professor in digital business, I’m convinced that YEA brings together a group of highly motivated and excellent young scholars that will boost the ability of the Erasmus University,” says Prof. Ting Li, adding she aims to work together with other YEA members to help the university embrace the emerging opportunities and challenges.

“I’d like to use my contacts at YEA to initiate and develop multidisciplinary research projects among excellent young scholars. The new digital opportunities and challenges require new approaches to research, teaching, funding and valorisation. Bringing my experience and expertise, I foresee impactful research to emerge from the interactions among YEA scholars which contributes to the overall contributions that the Erasmus University can make to the development of novel insights and understanding about digital society in the Netherlands and of the world,” said Prof. Li.

Consumer behaviour

New members are nominated by the Deans. This year, eight new members were elected out of 14 excellent nominations Erasmus-wide. Li and Schley will be YEA members commencing 1 January 2019 for a period of five years. The evaluation committee was impressed by the track records and the quality of research of the nominations.

“I’m quite pleased with this. I hope this will open up new and interesting research opportunities,” says Dr Dan Schley. “My goal is to be an important support to existing YEA projects. Many of my YEA colleagues specialise in studying factors related to societal-optimal outcomes. You could describe this as ‘what consumers should be doing’. I study the factors related to how and why consumers make choices. You could describe this as ‘what consumers currently do’. Fundamentally, to shift consumers’ behaviour to what they should be doing, we need to identify the causes underlying their current behavior.”

Prof. Ting Li is an endowed professor of digital business in RSM’s Department of Technology & Operations Management. She is also the Co-Director of the Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics and the academic director of RSM’s MSc Business Information Management programmeShe is also the academic director of RSM’s MSc Business Information Management programme. She teaches in various RSM bachelor, master, and MBA degree programmes and teaches digital strategy and digital transformation in executive education programmes.

Dr Dan Schley studies how consumers make judgments and decisions in RSM’s Department of Marketing Management. This can involve simple decisions between inexpensive products or complex decisions with large financial products. He teaches courses in RSM’s MSc in Marketing Management, at MBA study trips, in the MSc International Management/CEMS and at Erasmus University College.

More information

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top 10 business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. Study information and activities for future students, executives and alumni are also organised from the RSM office in Chengdu, China. www.rsm.nl

For more information about RSM or this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, communications manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@rsm.nl.

Source: https://www.rsm.nl/about-rsm/news/detail/14584-two-rsm-researchers-elected-for-young-erasmus-academy/