Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Fernando van der Vlist, PhD, is a scholar, graphic designer, and educator specialising in digital media and technology, with a focus on critical internet and platform studies. He is currently Assistant Professor in Critical Data & AI in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), where he also coordinates the Master’s programme in Cultural Data & AI. 🔍 His research focuses on the critical study of digital platforms and apps, their ecosystems, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) in culture and society. 🔍📦 He is PI of the NWO Veni-funded project ‘AI Power: A Critical Platform Analysis’ (2025–2029) and co-directs the App Studies Initiative. 👥 He is also affiliated with the UvA’s Digital Methods Initiative and the Public Data Lab. 📚 Fernando’s work has been published in leading journals such as Big Data & Society, New Media & Society, and Social Media + Society, and he is co-editor of Governing the Digital Society: Platforms, Artificial Intelligence, and Public Values (AUP, 2025) and the ASI Sprint Report Series. His research has been supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), amongst others. 🕓 Prior to his current position, Fernando worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the ‘Governing the Digital Society’ focus area at Utrecht University and the DFG (German Research Foundation)-funded Collaborative Research Centre 1187 ‘Media of Cooperation’ at the University of Siegen. 🎓 He received his PhD from Utrecht University in 2022 with the dissertation The Platform as Ecosystem: Configurations and Dynamics of Governance and Power. 🧑🏫 He has also taught in media and culture studies and digital methods at the UvA, UU, and Utrecht Data School (UDS). 📐 Alongside his academic work, Fernando has professional experience as a graphic (information) designer. (🔗 More at fernandovandervlist.nl—or find him on 𝕏 (Twitter), Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Scholar.)
📦 Project: NWO Talent Programme | Veni “AI Power: A Critical Platform Analysis”. Project (funding period 02/2026–07/2029) funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), directed by Dr. F.N. (Fernando) van der Vlist, University of Amsterdam. 🔗 https://www.nwo.nl/en/news/200-researchers-receive-veni-grants 🔗 https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/f.n.vandervlist#-AI-Power-NWO-Veni-20252029 🔗 https://doi.org/10.61686/AHWQW77464
of the new Master’s Cultural Data & AI (MA Media Studies), offered by the Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, starting in the 2024–25 academic year with approx. 140 international students. 🔗 https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/programmas/en/masters/cultural-data-ai/cultural-data-and-artificial-intelligence.html 🔗 https://www.uva.nl/en/discipline/media-studies/media-studies.html
in the Critical Data & AI (formerly Archival Sciences & Information Cultures and Digital Humanities) group at the Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, and in the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) at the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR). 🔗 https://www.uva.nl/en/discipline/media-studies/media-studies.html 🔗 https://aihr.uva.nl/ 🔗 https://asca.uva.nl/
🌌 Network (since 2017) directed by Dr. A. (Anne) Helmond, Dr. D.B. (David) Nieborg, Dr. F.N. (Fernando) van der Vlist, and Dr. E.J.T. (Esther) Weltevrede. 🔗 https://appstudies.org/
🔗 https://www.fernandovandervlist.nl/
in the focus area “Governing the Digital Society” (special interest group “Governing the social media and data economy”), the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON), and at the Department of Media and Culture Studies, Faculty of Humanities. 🌌 Focus area (since 2020) directed by Prof. Dr. J. F. T. M. (José) van Dijck, Prof. Dr. (Janneke) J. H. Gerards, Prof. Mr. Dr. A. (Anna) Gerbrandy, Prof. Dr. A. J. (Albert) Meijer, and Dr. M. T. (Mirko Tobias) Schäfer. 🔗 https://www.uu.nl/en/research/governing-the-digital-society 🔗 https://www.uu.nl/en/research/governing-the-digital-society/special-interest-groups/governing-the-social-media-and-data-economy 🔗 https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/department-of-media-and-culture-studies 🔗 https://www.uu.nl/en/research/institute-for-cultural-inquiry
at the Department of Media and Culture Studies and in the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON), Faculty of Humanities. 🔗 https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/department-of-media-and-culture-studies 🔗 https://www.uu.nl/en/research/institute-for-cultural-inquiry 🔗 https://www.uu.nl/en/research/governing-the-digital-society
in the DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Media of Cooperation” [German: DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich 1187 „Medien der Kooperation“]. 📦 Project: DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Media of Cooperation” [German: DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich 1187 „Medien der Kooperation“]. Faculty I: Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Project (funding period 01/2016–present) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and directed by Prof. Dr. T. (Tristan) Thielmann, professor of Science and Technology Studies, University of Siegen. Participating universities include the University of Siegen, University of Amsterdam, and University of Cologne. 🔗 https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/ 🔗 https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/projects/a03/