I am a Professor of Digital Media and Society in the Strategic Communication Group at Wageningen University & Research (WUR). My research explores how digitalization affects society and democracy, with a particular focus on data-driven political targeting, social media and polarization, online political communication, news consumption, and digital journalism.
I am the Principal Investigator of an ERC Starting Grant (2021–2026) on the impact of online political targeting and an NWO Vidi Grant (2025–2030) on the effects of social media on political polarization. From 2020 to 2023, I coordinated an international NORFACE project on data-driven campaigning, leading research and impact activities across four universities in four countries.
My international experience includes visiting appointments as a Visiting Researcher at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, United States), a Visiting Researcher at the Faculty of Communications, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (Santiago, Chile), a Research Fellow at the University of Vienna (Vienna, Austria), and a Visiting Faculty Member in the AI & Society program at Sciences Po (Paris, France).
I am also the co-founder and director of the Data Driven and Democracy Lab, a member of the Gravitation Program “Public Values in the Algorithmic Society (AlgoSoc)”, and coordinator of the Human Factor in New Technology Sector Plan at WUR.
Currently, I serve as a board member of the Social Sciences Council (Sociaal-Wetenschappelijke Raad, SWR) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, KNAW), as a board member of the Catharina van Tussenbroek Foundation (Stichting Catharina van Tussenbroek), and as a member of the editorial boards of several leading international academic journals, including Human Communication Research, The International Journal of Press/Politics, Digital Journalism, Media and Communication, and Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap. I previously served on the editorial board of the Journal of Communication and have guest-edited special issues for Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, and Media and Communication.
My work has been recognized with several national and international awards, including the KNAW Early Career Award, the ICA Herbert S. Dordick Dissertation Award, and the NeFCA Young Scholar Award
Prof. dr. Sanne Kruikemeier 