Practicing patience in academia
If there’s one trait I didn’t expect I’d need so in academia, it’s patience. Academia unfolds on a slow timeline. Experiments take months to set up. Papers can take a year or more to see the light of day. Proposals…
Expanding collaborations
When I think about how my academic journey has evolved over the years, one theme keeps resurfacing: collaboration. Not just as a buzzword, but as a deliberate way to grow, learn, and contribute meaningfully to my field. Expanding collaboration has…
What I do to keep motivated
When a heavy semester hits, it is tempting to feel overwhelmed and contemplate opening a patisserie. But, daydreams of meringues and cookies fresh from the oven aside, stuff needs to get done, classes need to be taught, and work needs…
What’s more important than being a top 2% scientist
As I'm in my fifth year of being ranked as a top 2% scientist, I am of course happy with the recognition, but also very aware of the limitations of these rankings. I find myself thinking more often about what…
What I do when faced with a heavy semester
Fall 2025 is one heavy semester for me: between teaching at two universities (and taking on a fair number of BSc thesis students), applying for funding (every time more, because stuff is not coming through), deliverables of my big projects…
My fifth year as a top 2% scientist
The August 2025 data-update for “Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators” has just been released. I am glad to see my name in the career-long list for the fourth year in a row, and in the single-year list…
What is making this semester challenging
My fall semesters have been quite challenging in the past years, due to a combination of circumstances: I teach for Ecuador mid August to mid December, my course for TU Delft runs from September through November (including lots of sessions…
What has changed in blogging in the past 15 years
When I started blogging back in 2010, it was with the simple intention of documenting my PhD journey. I had kept a blog on MySpace before (consider me Old), and I had a blog about my experience as an international…
Second chances
In 2023, I participated in the elections for Vice President of IABSE for the first time. I didn't make it that time, but this year, I threw in my hat for the second time as one of 8 candidates for…
PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Developing interdisciplinary proposals and projects
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…