From the age of twelve to twenty-two, I worked in a bakery. Among other things, I used the money to pay for my Chemical Engineering studies at TU/e. In 1997, flat broke, I was very excited to start a PhD. After that, in 2001, I left for Germany to familiarize myself with the field of chemical biology as a postdoc.

Subsequently I spent two years as a medicinal chemist at the Dutch pharmaceutical company Organon before setting up my own line of research as a group leader at a Max Planck Institute in Germany. I'm a full professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering since 2008. My passion is to educate young people through challenging research.

My columns will be about vacation, about raising the average, knowing what fell off the table, collaboration and excellence, responsibility towards your origins, giving and taking opportunities, the question ‘What problem does this actually solve?’, and why one should always smoke while drinking beer.