In a world full of sophisticated productivity apps, elaborate note-taking systems, and increasingly complex digital workflows, one of my favorite tools remains remarkably simple: the humble text file. No fancy interface, no synchronization dashboards, no tags or plugins; just plain…
This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands. These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those…
Email management habits can become surprisingly inefficient. Two common patterns stand out in particular: people who keep everything in their inbox, and people who carefully move every message into elaborate folder systems. Both approaches feel organized in the moment, but…
Over the years, I have written quite a bit about PhD defenses around the world (and even published some research on the topic, and a book). The final step of the doctoral journey is very different depending on the country…
As I've been working on my think days, I've made it a habit to share the generalized prompts here for anyone who may want to go through this exercise. I design the prompts together with ChatGPT and tailor them then…
I’ve always seen myself as a researcher. My academic journey has been driven by curiosity, data, writing, and mentoring students. University administration? That felt like something for “other people”: the kind of work that happened behind the scenes while I…
Over the past few years, I’ve been actively working on diversifying my funding sources, which means I've been writing a lot of proposals. And while I’ve gotten better at structuring my ideas and tailoring my writing to different calls, there’s…
As I've been sharing the generalized templates of my think days, today I want to share one today on an important topic, which is social safety. Think Day — Social Safety & Ethics in Academic Work (1.5 hours) Purpose This…
I was recently appointed as vice dean for research at my institution, and I am learning as much as I learned in the first months of my PhD. Stepping into this position has made me realize just how much there…
I’m delighted to share that four of my poems have been published in The Optimist! This milestone didn’t happen overnight; it’s the result of working on my writing over time. I’ve been writing and revising poetry consistently, submitting my work…
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