De Loef loves to talk about adolescents and their curious brain.
Aletta Smits is also writing the book ‘The adolescent brain - a manual’ as a result of her lecture. It contains the stories from the lecture, as well as new stories and the latest research. Cheerfully and accessibly written down. It will probably come out in fall 2025. If you would like us to notify you when the book comes out, please leave your email address here.
Dr. Aletta Smits has toured The Netherlands since 2009 with her presentations on the adolescent brain. As a little girl, she dreamed of being on stage as a comedian. However, her singing voice (or lack thereof) prevented her from being admitted to art school. This is actually just as well, because giving presentations is awesome work and she considers herself lucky every time she gets to stand in front of a group of people and talk about adolescents and their curious brains.
Aletta studied English linguistics at the University of Amsterdam, and for a long time taught at several high schools and at the teacher training program of Leiden University. Writing her dissertation required learning about psychology and software engineering, however, and that, along with her teaching experience, put her on the trail of the adolescent brain.
In addition to her presentations, she works as a lecturer and researcher on human-AI interaction HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.
