SSH/PSP Faculty of Psychology, Speech Therapy, Sexology and Family Sciences (PSY)
SSH/IPSY Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY)
Alexandre Heeren is a Research Professor at UCLouvain and a Senior Research Associate at the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS). His work lies at the intersection of behavioral science, emotion, mental health, and global environmental and societal change. He studies how individuals perceive and respond to uncertainty and global threats, how these responses shape mental health and behavior, and which processes support adaptation or contribute to maladaptation.
Initially trained as a clinical psychologist (UCLouvain) and as a behavioral therapist (UCLouvain/University of Geneva), he began his research career during his PhD, investigating the causal role of cognitive biases in anxiety and its disorders through experimental behavioral approaches. He then completed postdoctoral training at Ghent University in the affective neuroscience of threat processing in anxiety, and at Harvard University in data science applied to mental health. He later broadened this interdisciplinary foundation through further training in environmental science and sustainability at the University of Namur.
His current work combines data science approaches with in situ behavioral experiments to examine the dynamic interplay between emotion, mental health (with a particular focus on anxiety), behavior, and societal challenges. He also works on methodological development, with a particular interest in graph theory and statistical network models, as well as on the sustainability of research practices — including a recent contribution in Nature advocating a “data-sufficiency mindset”. More broadly, his approach is increasingly, and deliberately, "indisciplined": it crosses conventional boundaries — behavioral science, environmental science, data science — to address questions that no single field can adequately capture on its own.
At UCLouvain, he teaches affective and behavioral science, environmental change and mental health, and data science for the behavioral sciences. He also helped develop an an interdisciplinary continuing education program on ecological transition, where he now serves on the scientific committee and teaching team. Bringing together the humanities, social sciences, life sciences, and engineering, the program treats ecological transition as both a technical challenge and a transformation of cultures, worldviews, and our relationship with the living world.
Beyond research and teaching, he holds several institutional and interdisciplinary roles. He is involved in UCLouvain's Interdisciplinary Research Group on the Ecological Crisis (GRICE) and contributes to initiatives promoting open, sustainable, and ethically responsible research — notably as a member of the Louvain Open Science Steering Committee (Comité de pilotage Open Science) and as a Data Ambassador at UCLouvain within the interuniversity network of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. He also engages actively in public debate through invited lectures, public talks, policy-oriented events, and media appearances.
Alexandre Heeren has received several scientific distinctions over the years. For instance, in 2020, in recognition of his contributions to understanding the basic mechanisms of anxiety, he received the STAR Early Career Award, given by the Stress, Trauma, Anxiety, and Resilience Research Society. He also ranked within the top 5% of scientists in Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry in the 2020 PLOS Biology database, and within the top 2% in its 2023 update.
His team's work has been recognized too. For instance, In 2025, former doctoral researcher Yorgo Hoebeke received the triennial Psychology Prize from the Royal Academy of Belgium, awarded to the best doctoral thesis in psychological sciences defended at a Belgian university over a three-year period. That same year, former doctoral researcher M. Annelise Blanchard received the 2025 McKinsey & Company Scientific Award, administered by the F.R.S.–FNRS, recognizing doctoral research with strong societal relevance or practical applicability. Together, these distinctions reflect the team's commitment to rigorous research, high-quality doctoral training, and the development of early-career scientists.
Social networks
- LPSY2168 - Introduction to systemic thinking and network science
- LPSP1339 - Psychologie du Développement Durable et de la Transition
- LPSYS2735 - Psychologie clinique des émotions
- ECOL2FC - Certificat d'université en Transition écologique : approche systémique et enjeux culturels, philosophiques et psychologiques
Five representative recent publications
The five publications below offer a representative snapshot of the research currently conducted within Alexandre Heeren’s research team. They include publications on which he is first or sole author, as well as studies led by doctoral or postdoctoral researchers under his supervision, for which he served as last senior author. For empirical studies, links to the corresponding open-science resources are systematically provided.
Heeren, A. (2025). Encouraging a ‘data sufficiency’ mindset is key for responsible research. Nature, 643(8073), 913. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02318-y
Journal metrics: IF2025= 56.1; Q1; ranked 1/140 in Multidisciplinary Sciences
Heeren, A., & Clayton, S. (2026). Searching for the Goldilocks zone of climate anxiety. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 30, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.11.007
Journal metrics: IF2025 = 20.3; Q1; ranked 1/57 in Behavioral Sciences and 1/104 in Psychology, Experimental.
Blanchard*, M.-A., Contreras, A., Kalkan, R. B., & Heeren, A. (2023). Auditing the research practices and statistical analyses of the group-level temporal network approach to psychological constructs: A systematic scoping review. Behavior Research Methods, 55, 767–787. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01839-y
Open-science resources: Preregistration | Open data, R code, and study materials — Journal metrics: IF2023= 6.24; Q1; ranked 1/13 in Psychology, Mathematical.
Contreras**, A., Blanchard, M.-A., Mouguiama-Daouda, C., & Heeren, A. (2024). When eco-anger—but not eco-anxiety nor eco-sadness—makes you change: A temporal network approach to the emotional experience of climate change. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 102, Article 102822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102822
Open-science resources: Preregistration | Open data, R code, and study materials — Journal metrics: IF2024= 10.3; Q1; ranked 3/185 in Psychology, Clinical.
Mouguiama-Daouda**, C., & Heeren, A. (2026). From mitigation to adaptation: Network models of their interrelations with climate anxiety, future anticipation, and intolerance of uncertainty. Climatic Change, 179, Article 32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-026-04130-7
Open-science resources: Preregistration | Open data, R code, and study materials — Journal metrics: IF2025= 5.2; Q1; ranked 17/114 in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences.
* Denotes work led by a PhD student under Alexandre Heeren’s supervision.
** Denotes work led by a postdoctoral researcher under Alexandre Heeren’s supervision.