About Me

My Educational Background

I was born in May 1989, in Serbia. I finished elementary and high school in my hometown, Čačak. In 2008 I moved to Novi Sad to study psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad.

During my bachelor studies, I was fascinated by social psychology and the psychology of art, and student life in general. I joined the organizational board of psychology students, “TraNSfer“, which still exists and it is more productive than ever. In 2011 I started my two-year master's specialization in clinical psychology. At the same time, I also started exploring my interests in psychotherapy by attending Gestalt psychotherapy training for two years, and within my university education, I also finished basic and advance courses in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).

This additional education allowed me to join the War Trauma Center, a non-profit centre with an aim to help war veterans and aid reconciliation between countries of former Yugoslavia. I spent four years in the Center, having many opportunities to be trained by leading psychotherapists to work with clients with a history of trauma of different severity. I also became engaged as a coordinator of the young psychologists assisting the clients via the phone line (i.e., first responders). Besides working in the War trauma center, during my master’s, I was an intern at the Psychiatric hospital in Novi Sad, conducting psychological assessments of patients with diagnosed psychotic disorders. That is where I followed the work of clinical psychologists also working in forensic cases and conducted an archival study inspecting aggression cues in the offenders’ psychological assessment and the severity of committed crimes. This research led to my master's diploma in clinical psychology (2013).

In 2015, I applied for the program “The House of Legal Psychology”, which was an internationally recognised doctorate program in legal and forensic psychology, developed in collaboration between Maastricht University (the Netherlands), University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom), and Gothenburg University (Sweden). This program allowed its candidates to enrol in a doctorate program at two universities at the same time, and attend courses, winter and summer school at all three institutions. I was one of the seven accepted and granted candidates, and I started my PhD education at Maastricht University and the University of Portsmouth.

The focus of my PhD research was on the detection of symptom fabrication in court (see Research page for more information). In September 2018, I defended my doctorate at the University of Portsmouth, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Lorraine Hope and Prof. Dr. James Ost, and soon after, in January 2019, I defended and obtained my Ph.D. diploma from Maastricht University, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Harald Merckelbach and Prof. Dr. Marko Jelicic.

And After School… More School

Right after finishing my PhD(s), I became a lecturer and soon after an assistant professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience at Maastricht University. I taught a variety of courses at the master's program in legal psychology and at the forensic psychology master within the forensic psychology section. In February 2020, I joined the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) at Erasmus University Rotterdam, to help create a brand new master's program in forensic and legal psychology. I coordinate courses Forensic Diagnostics and Treatment of forensic patients (see Education & Teaching page for more information). Our so-called “FLP” master program soon became the second largest psychology master program (after clinical psychology). The success of our program and students’ satisfaction are exceeding our expectations each year.

In 2021, I also decided to take on a more structural role at the university. I joined the University Council, where I represented the staff of ESSB to the best of my abilities for two terms. I participated in a variety of projects, and my attention was mostly devoted to the projects tapping into the issues regarding the social, psychological, and physical safety of both students and staff at EUR. Still, after two years, I decided to resign, providing an opportunity for a change and an influx of fresh energy and input into the organizations that impact the university staff work the most.

Contribution

As scientists, we owe to both the academic and general community our contribution to a better society. Regarding the academic field, besides supervising my PhD and master's students, and teaching, I am a review editor for Frontiers in Psychology (Forensic Psychology), a section editor for the Personal Injury and Law journal, and a guest editor for the Applied Psychology journal [Primenjena Psihologija]. I regularly act as a reviewer for a variety of journals in the domain of legal and forensic psychology, such as Applied Neuropsychology Adult, European Review of Applied Psychology, Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, Legal and Criminological Psychology, Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychology, Crime, and Law, Criminal Justice and Behaviour, Forensic Psychology Research and Practice, European Journal of Psychotraumatology etc.

Due to my highly applied expertise, I also try to devote my time to practice, by providing workshops to practitioners who might benefit of learning more about my research, such as medical doctors working for insurance companies or at clinical institutes. Further, I also strive to help create pathways for empirical knowledge about legal and forensic psychology to become accessible across culture and outside of a narrow academic circle. Thus, in 2020, together with my colleagues, Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar and Dr. Ivan Mangiulli, we started the Zoom Psychology & Law Symposium (ZPLS). ZPLS is an annual, carried out online (via Zoom), and completely free symposium with the purpose of opening the domain of legal and forensic research and practice to students, fellow researchers, practitioners, and members of the general public. ZPLS has been a success with more than 150 practitioners and researchers joining every edition so far. To see the presentations from all editions so far go to the following page: https://osf.io/tvxmr/.

…and Zizu

And if you need to remember anything about me, please choose the following information: I have the coolest, prettiest, and probably the most spoiled dog in the world - my black labrador, Zizu (Instagram @Dr.Fetcher). He often resents me for bringing him to the rainy Netherlands, but as long as we are together, everything is fine. My free time that is not devoted to Zi, I spend with friends, playing drums, painting, listening to podcasts, and trying to catch up on the reading for my book club.

In the pages Research and Education & Teaching above, you can find more specific information about my work. In case you have any questions, you can contact me either using any of the social platforms (see Follow me page), via email (boskovic@ess.eur.nl), or via the contact form (see Contact page above).

Thank you for Your attention,