Van Vugt has affiliate positions at the University of Oxford, Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology (ICEA).
He is also the first recipient of the Juda Groen award in the Netherlands for his contributions to evolution, evolutionary psychology, and human behavior.
Van Vugt has received several grants for his research, including from national and international science foundations, and from private partners.
[citation needed] His research has been discussed in many national and international popular science media outlets as the Nature, Huffington Post New Scientist, The Times, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, ABC, Trouw and the Volkskrant.
He led, together with Robin Dunbar of the University of Oxford, a series of lectures for the Economic and Social Research Council highlighting the role of Darwinian and evolutionary psychology in solving societal problems such as poverty, environmental protection, charity, war and peace.