Dhruv Mittal

L6.25, LAB 42,

Science Park,

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hi, I’m Dhruv, a physicist-turned-computational-social-scientist trying to make sense of how people behave, decide, and occasionally surprise us all. I started off in the lab, experimenting with collectives of atoms and molecules. These days, I study collectives of people, modeling how ideas spread, norms shift, and societies (sometimes) change for the better.

I’m currently doing my PhD at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), blending agent-based modeling, network science, and behavioral economics to explore how individual quirks scale up to social patterns. My research is driven by a big-picture question:

How can societal change bring us back into balance with the ecological systems we depend on?

I’m especially interested in the feedback loops between social behavior, policy, and the environment and in designing interventions that nudge us toward more sustainable futures. When I’m not busy simulating societies or chasing down weird emergent behaviors, I’m probably reading a travel memoir, hiking somewhere green, or deep in a prog rock song that’s at least 7 minutes too long.

Let’s decode collective behavior — and maybe help the planet while we’re at it.

news

Mar 27, 2026	PhD Defence I will defend my PhD thesis, Tipping the Social Balance: Computational Perspectives on the Dynamics of Collective Behavior, Social Transitions and Policy Interventions, on Tuesday, 7 April 2026. Event details Date: Tuesday, 7 April 2026 Time: 13:00 Venue: Agnietenkapel, University of Amsterdam

Mar 27, 2026

PhD Defence

I will defend my PhD thesis, Tipping the Social Balance: Computational Perspectives on the Dynamics of Collective Behavior, Social Transitions and Policy Interventions, on Tuesday, 7 April 2026.

Event details

Date: Tuesday, 7 April 2026
Time: 13:00
Venue: Agnietenkapel, University of Amsterdam

selected publications

Tipping the social balance: Computational perspectives on the dynamics of collective behavior, social transitions, and policy interventions

D. Mittal

2026

Abs URL

Tackling wicked problems like the climate crisis requires an integrated approach that addresses supply and demand-side dynamics. While individual behavioral choices play a critical role, our understanding of the mechanisms driving these decisions and how they shape collective outcomes remains incomplete. This work focuses on the role of social influence amid evolving environmental signals and inherent uncertainty, and how these forces interact with population heterogeneity and social structures to shape the dynamics of collective behavior. It further explores how policy interventions can be effectively targeted to bring about social transitions by accounting for these complexities. Using game-theoretical and utility-based frameworks, this research develops theoretical insights and demonstrates how empirical data can inform and validate models, illustrated through modelling the global dynamics of mask-wearing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Agent-based models, complemented by analytical formulations, bridge the gap between individual-level behavior and emergent macroscopic dynamics. Altogether, this work contributes to a mechanistic understanding of social systems and supports the development of evidence-based policies aimed at stewarding collective behavior toward socially beneficial outcomes.