Key details
Dr Jana Uher
Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Research
Dr Jana Uher is Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Research, working in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Greenwich. She is Science Dialogue Lead, Founding Member and Co-Leader of the Science Practice Hub (SciPHub) as well as Steering Committee Member of the Centre for Research and Enterprise in Language (CREL). She is Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society as well as Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Jana Uher is named amongst the World's Top 2% Scientists Globally (2026) by Stanford University and Elsevier. She is an internationally renowned expert of the epistemological and methodological fundamentals of measurement and quantification across the sciences. Her transdisciplinary line of research integrates and transcends concepts and approaches from the physical sciences, metrology (physical measurement), the life sciences, social sciences and psychology. It pinpoints the most basic criteria and principles of measurement that are applicable to all disciplines and that guide the design of discipline-specific methods to appropriately match the specific nature of the respective study phenomena.
Her transdisciplinary explorations opened up fundamentally new perspectives on elementary research problems and gained international recognition. Jana Uher published comprehensive critiques of psychology's overreliance on statistical modelling, psychometrics and standardised rating scales at the expense of epistemologically grounded processes of genuine measurement and quantitative data generation. Her in-depth analyses showed that psychology’s crises in replicability, generalisability, validity and confidence are not due to questionable research practices (QRPs), as currently believed. Rather, these are just surface-level symptoms of far more profound issues that are still hardly explored—psychology’s Questionable Research Fundamentals (QRFs).
Jana was invited to present this line of research in several international keynotes, amongst others at the Second Biennial Conference of the Society for the Study of Measurement, hosted by the University of Edinburgh in 2026.
With colleagues from different fields and countries, she was also invited to edit special issues on novel research approaches in psychology, most recently “Critical Debates on Quantitative Psychology and Measurement: Revived and Novel Perspectives on Fundamental Problems”. Furthermore, Jana serves as Associate Editor of Quality & Quantity. International Journal of Methodology, Frontiers in Psychology and other international peer-reviewed journals.
Jana Uher's research received several awards and prizes for its originality and intellectual rigor, for tackling fundamental research problems, and for promoting and enabling interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborative research.
She has been nominated for various Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs) and received the Highly Commended Supervisor of the Year Award from the Students Union at the University of Greenwich.
Since 2004, more than 80 reports and interviews about her research have appeared in the public media in various formats including TV.
Personal website: janauher.com
Other external profiles:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jana-Uher
Jana Uher - Web of Science Researcher Profile
Posts held previously:
- 2015-2017: Senior Researcher and Marie Curie Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Department of Social Psychology
- 2010-2014: Head of Research Group ‘Comparative Differential and Personality Psychology’ and Principal Investigator of research project funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG), Free University Berlin
- 2011-2013: Visiting Scholar, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council of Italy (ISTC-CNR) in Rome
- 2011-2012: Lecturer in Psychology, Free University Berlin, Department of Psychological Assessment, Differential and Personality Psychology, and Psychological Intervention
- 2009-2010: Principal Investigator, Free University Berlin
- 2006-2008: Lecturer and Researcher at Humboldt-University of Berlin, Department of Personality Psychology
- 2005: Project Leader in Management Development in the U.K. headquarters and plants of an international steel-working company
- 2003-2005: Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVAN), Department of Comparative and Developmental Psychology, and the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center (WKPRC) in Leipzig
- 2002: Researcher in Computer-Human Interaction (CHI), Department of Engineering Psychology, Humboldt-University of Berlin and Daimler Chrysler AG
Responsibilities within the university
- Science Dialogue Lead, Science Practice Hub (SciPHub)
- Founding Member and Co-Leader, Science Practice Hub (SciPHub)
- Steering Committee Member, Centre for Research and Enterprise in Language (CREL)
- Module Lead, Personality and Individual Differences (for all BSc Psychology programmes, BSc Psychology and Sociology as well as MSc Conversion Psychology)
- Supervisor of BSc, MSc, MPhil, EdD and PhD research projects
Awards
Honours and Prizes
- 2026 – Named amongst the World's Top 2% Scientists Globally (2026) by Stanford University and Elsevier
- 2026 – Accessible Teaching Award, Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs), Nominee, Students Union, University of Greenwich
- 2021 - Inspirational Teaching Award, Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs), Nominee, Students Union, University of Greenwich
- 2019 - Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs), Shortlisted Nominee, Students Union, University of Greenwich
- 2018 - Highly Commended Supervisor of the Year Award, Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs), University of Greenwich
- 2012 - Excellent Teaching Award (shortlisted nominee), Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Free University Berlin
- 2010-2011 - Selected participant of the ProFiL-Program, an excellence-based and equity-oriented programme supporting women scientists pursuing professorship, funded by the Berlin Universities and the European Social Fund
- 2009 - 2010, European Commission, Selected participant of the 12-month ProFiL-Programme for the Advancement of Junior Leaders in Science, funded by the Berlin Universities and the European Social Fund
- 2008 - First Prize for Outstanding Oral Student Presentations, XXII. Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS) in Edinburgh, Scotland
- 2007 - Award for the Best Diploma Thesis on Personality in the years 2005-2006, German Psychological Society (DGPs) in Vienna, Austria
- 2007 - Award for the Best Diploma Thesis of the Year 2006, Psychological Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin
Funded research projects:
| Year | Details | Awarding Body |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Competitive Research Funding | Institute for Lifecourse Development |
| 2018-2021 | Vice Chancellors Scholarship | University of Greenwich |
| 2015-2017 | Awarded 2013, European Commission, Principal Investigator | Marie Curie Research Fellowship |
| 2010-2013 | Principal Investigator | German Science Foundation (DFG), Research Grant (incl. P.I. and RA positions) |
| 2010 | EAPP, Travel grant award | European Association of Personality Psychology |
| 2009-2010 | Post-doctoral Research Grant, Principal Investigator | Free University Berlin |
| 2008 | EAPP, Travel grant award | European Association of Personality Psychology |
| 2007 | Travel grant award | Humboldt University of Berlin |
| 2007 | Research Scholarship | Humboldt University Berlin |
| 2006 | Travel agent award | Humboldt University Berlin |
Recognition
External examination of dissertations and theses
- Sciences, Norms, Democracy, Sorbonne University, Paris
- Cognitive Sciences, University Paris Cite
- Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Estonia
- Centre for Philosophy of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal
- Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Greenwich
- Social Psychology, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
- Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, Tallinn University, Estonia
- Languages of Emotion, Cluster of Excellence, Free University Berlin
- Neurobiology and Behaviour, Free University Berlin
- Development and Culture, Psychology Department, University Osnabrück
- General Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Research leadership
- 2010-2011, Selected participant of the ProFiL-Program, an excellence-based and equity-oriented programme supporting women scientists pursuing professorship, funded by the Berlin Universities and the European Social Fund
Invited Editorship for Special Issues
- Critical debates on quantitative Psychology and measurement: Revived and novel perspectives on fundamental problems. Compiled and edited by Jana Uher, Jan Ketil Arnulf, Barbara Hanfstingl (2025). Frontiers in Psychology.
- From "modern" to "postmodern" psychology: Is there a way past? Compiled and edited by Barbara Hanfstingl, Jana Uher, Peter Edelsbrunner, Ulrich Dettweiler and Timo Gnambs (2023). Frontiers in Psychology.
- Diverse perspectives on diversity: multi-disciplinary approaches to taxonomies of individual differences. Compiled and edited by Irina Trofimova, Trevor W. Robbins, William H. Sulis and Jana Uher (2018). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Editorship
- 76 papers edited Web of Science
- Frontiers in Psychology: Developmental Psychology
- Frontiers in Psychology: Educational Psychology
- Frontiers in Psychology: Positive Psychology
- Frontiers in Psychology, Quantitative Psychology and Measurement
- Frontiers in Psychology, Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
- Journal of Comparative Psychology (APA)
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- SAGE Open - Social Sciences
- Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science
- Quality & Quantity. International Journal of Methodology
Journals - Ad hoc reviewer
140 reviews Web of Science; Acta Psychopathologica; Annals of Behavioural Science; Animal Behaviour; American Institute of Mathematical Sciences: Neuroscience; American Journal of Primatology; Behaviour; Behavior Research Methods; Behavioral Ecology; Behavioral Sciences; Biology Letters; Biology & Philosophy; Biological Reviews; Cornell Hospitality Quarterly; Culture and Psychology; Current Issues in Personality Psychology; Diagnostica; Environmental Values; European Journal for Philosophy of Science; European Journal of Personality; Frontiers in Education: Educational Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Comparative Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Health Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Evolutionary Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Personality and Social Psychology; Frontiers in Psychology: Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology; Humanities and Social Sciences Communications; Information Society; Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science; International Journal of Primatology; Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour; Journal of Anxiety Disorders; Journal of Comparative Psychology; Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology; Journal of Ethology; Journal of Intelligence; Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research; Medicina; Nature - Scientific Reports; Naturwissenschaften - The Science of Nature; New Ideas in Psychology; Oikos - Synthesising Ecology; Personality Science; Personality and Individual Differences; PLoS ONE; Proceedings of the Royal Society - Biological Sciences; Psych; Psychological Science; Quality & Quantity. International Journal of Methodology; Royal Society - Open Science; Science; Social and Political Sciences Journal; Sustainability; Symmetry; Synthese; The Science of Nature; Theoretical Economics Letters; Theory & Psychology; Universities Federation for Animal Welfare Journal; Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung.
Funding agencies - External Reviewer
- European Research Council (ERC)
- ERC Synergy Grants
- Dutch Research Council (NWO)
- Talent Programme – Vici scheme (senior researchers)
- Talent Programme – Vidi scheme (experienced researchers)
- National Science Centre Poland (NCN)
- Research Councils UK (RCUK)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF)
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
- Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF)
- The Leakey Foundation
- Christian-Vogel-Fund
Book editors - External Reviewer
- Oxford University Press
- Social Science Books, Emerald Group Publishing
Professional memberships
Research / Scholarly interests
"Alongside a focus on behavioural studies in real-life settings, my line of research is centrally concerned with restoring the match between psychical phenomena and the methods used for their investigation as this match was lost in the last half-century in which quantitative assessments and questionnaire tools became established as standard methods in many areas of psychology, the social sciences and applied contexts. "
Over the last decade, Jana has been developing a line of transdisciplinary research that cuts across several fields of psychology, biology, medicine, social sciences, physics, metrology and philosophy of science. It focuses on the philosophical, metatheoretical and methodological foundations of holistic research on individuals, their personality, behaviour and social relationships. A central concern is to critically analyse, improve and redevelop research frameworks, approaches and investigatory tools for better understanding and help finding solutions for real-world problems.
In her empirical research, Jana applies evidence-based approaches to explore how people actually interpret and use standardised questionnaires and how they form their judgements of individuals. She investigates implicit biases derived from stereotypical beliefs about gender and ethnicity, and the role that standardised survey scales, such as personality questionnaires, may play in their manifestation in empirical enquiries.
Jana has also been developing comprehensive research frameworks for taxonomic research on individual differences across human cultures and across different species. Together with international colleagues from Cambridge University (UK) and McMaster University (Canada), she edited a Theme issue on integrated taxonomies of individual differences, their neurobiological underpinnings and expression in psychopathology. They have brought together leading scholars from experimental neurophysiology, psychiatry, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, psychogenetics, developmental, differential, personality, clinical and comparative psychology, nonlinear dynamics modelling and evolutionary theory. This theme Issue was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences.
Jana employs a broad portfolio of methods, including behavioural tests and observations, audio-visual and computerised methods for the detailed analysis of individual behaviours, standardised and open-ended surveys as well as in-depth interviews involving first-person videos. Her empirical studies involve people of different ages and sociocultural backgrounds as well as various species of nonhuman primates, especially the great apes.
For more information:
Recent publications
Article
Uher, Jana , Arnulf, Jan Ketil, Hanfstingl, Barbara (2025), Editorial: Critical debates on quantitative psychology and measurement: revived and novel perspectives on fundamental problems. Frontiers Media | eISSN 1664-1078. In: , , , . Frontiers Media | eISSN 1664-1078, Frontiers in Psychology, 16: 1661765 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1661765).
Uher, Jana , Arnulf, Jan Ketil, Barrett, Paul T., Heene, Moritz , Heine, Joerg-Henrik , Martin, Jack , Mazur, Lucas B. , McGann, Marek , Mislevy, Robert J. , Speelman, Craig (2025), Psychology's Questionable Research Fundamentals (QRFs): Key problems in quantitative psychology and psychological measurement beyond Questionable Research Practices (QRPs). Frontiers Media. In: , , , . Frontiers Media, Frontiers in Psychology, 16: 155302 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1553028).
Uher, Jana and , (2025), Statistics is not measurement: the inbuilt semantics of psychometric scales and language-based models obscures crucial epistemic differences. Frontiers Media. In: , , , . Frontiers Media, Frontiers in Psychology, 16: 1534270 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1534270).
Uher, Jana and , (2024), What are constructs? Ontological nature, epistemological challenges, theoretical foundations and key sources of misunderstandings and confusions. Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge. In: , , , . Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge, Psychological Inquiry: An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory, 34 (4) . pp. 280-290 ISSN: 1047-840X (Print), 1532-7965 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2023.2274384).
Hanfstingl, Barbara , Uher, Jana, Edelsbrunner, Peter A., Dettweiler, Ulrich , Gnambs, Timo (2023), Editorial. From "modern" to "postmodern" psychology: is there a way past?. Frontiers Media S.A.. In: , , , . Frontiers Media S.A., Frontiers in Psychology, 14: 1091721 . pp. 1-5 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1091721).
Uher, Jana and , (2023), What’s wrong with rating scales? Psychology’s replication and confidence crisis cannot be solved without transparency in data generation. Wiley. In: , , , . Wiley, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17: e12740 (5) 1751-9004 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12740).
Uher, Jana and , (2022), Rating scales institutionalise a network of logical errors and conceptual problems in research practices: A rigorous analysis showing ways to tackle psychology’s crises. Frontiers Media S.A.. In: , , , . Frontiers Media S.A., Frontiers in Psychology, 13: 1009893 . pp. 1-46 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1009893).
Uher, Jana and , (2021), Functions of units, scales and quantitative data: fundamental differences in numerical traceability between sciences. Springer. In: , , , . Springer, Quality and Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, 56 . pp. 2519-2548 ISSN: 0033-5177 (Print), 1573-7845 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01215-6).
Uher, Jana and , (2021), Problematic research practices in psychology: Misconceptions about data collection entail serious fallacies in data analysis. SAGE. In: , , , . SAGE, Theory & Psychology, 33 (1) . pp. 411-416 ISSN: 0959-3543 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543211014963).