Ellen Hamaker is Full Professor at the Utrecht University. She founded and leads the Dynamic Modeling Lab at the Methodology & Statistics department of Utrecht University.

Ellen Hamaker received her PhD in 2004 from the University of Amsterdam and spent a year as a post doctoral fellow at the University of Virginia. Her research interests include time series analysis, longitudinal analysis, multilevel analysis, structural equation modeling, and Bayesian statistics. In 2005 she received a VENI grant from NWO (the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) for the project Time series analysis to study nonstationary psychological processes, and in 2010 she received a VIDI grant from NWO for the project Time for change: Studying individual differences in dynamics.

Since 2015, Ellen has been collaborating with Bengt Muthén and Tihomir Asparouhov to develop and implement dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) into Mplus version 8 (see: https://www.statmodel.com/). This innovation greatly simplifies the application of time series analysis and dynamic multilevel modeling. In 2019, Ellen obtain an ERC consolidator grant from the European Research Council for the project Connecting theory, measurement and modeling in cutting-edge psychology research, which has started in September 2020.

The overarching goal in Ellen’s work is to establish a connection between innovative statistical techniques and applied psychological research. She is particularly interested in how to interpret models in substantive terms, as this is where the true strength of statistics can be shown. Her most cited work is on the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM).

Ellen’s teaching includes Time Series Analysis, Structural Equation Modeling, Bayesian Statistics, and Multivariate Statistics.