Prof.dr.ir. P.H.A.J.M. (Pieter) van Gelder

Profile

Prof.dr.ir. Pieter van Gelder is Professor of Safety Science at TU Delft. He is also head of the Safety and Security Science section and member of the MT of the Department of Values, Technology and Innovation. He is chairman of the ESRA Technical Committee on Natural Hazards (European Safety and Reliability Association) and Advisory Board member of TNO Defence, Safety and Security and ANVS (Authority on Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection). He has published a large number of highly cited papers in the field of infrastructure safety. His background is in the statistical modelling of high impact low probability events and the consequent decision making processes, with applications to natural hazards and infrastructures. 

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Research

Van Gelder’s research focuses on probability analysis (including data analytics, QRA, BBN, uncertainty analysis, sensitivity analysis, safety chain (proaction, prevention, repression), fault tree -, event tree -, attack tree -, decision tree analysis, game theory, inspection strategies and – optimization, penetration testing, stakeholder analysis, risk norms, risk optimisation, risk compensation, accident investigation, forensic engineering, resilience – and vulnerability analysis). Furthermore, his interest is on modelling conflicting values (such as safety vs. security, privacy, economic costs, durability, etc). Finally, he studies the impact of new threats (incl. urbanization, ageing, budget cuts, climate change) on safety and security, as well as the impact of new technologies (robotics, remote sensing, digitization, social media, artificial intelligence) on safety and security.