About me
As of April 2024 I am working at Travers as a data analyst. Travers is a non-profit organization consisting of four labels: Domijn (childcare), ZwolleDoet! (voluntary work and informal care mediation), Travers Welzijn (local welfare work) and music venue Hedon. In my work I help the organization in the transition to make more data informed decisions and to find ways to assess the impact of their work.
As of October 2022 I also have a zero hour contract at Utrecht University allowing library acces and giving me the opportunity to do so research on the side.
I was born and raised in Nijmegen. There I also studied physics and mathematics at the Radboud University. One of the courses I took was on quantum probability, taught by Hans Maassen. This included a treatment of Bell's Theorem, which sparked my interest in the foundations of quantum mechanics. Klaas Landsman encouraged me to further pursue this interest for my Master's research project. The output of this project is available here, which has been awarded the Hanneke Janssen Memorial Prize.
After obtaining my Master's degree in 2009 (cum laude) I was determined to follow up with a PhD. While trying to find a way to secure a position, I worked in the packaging industry at Sealed Air. Working in shifts allowed to me have enough time to also work on my first published paper. Finally, in 2011, Jan-Willem Romeijn hired me to work in his NWO VIDI-project "What are the Chances?". Four years later I obtained my PhD and was able to follow up with several postdoc positions including one year at the University of Oxford.
Starting in 2018, I have been a postdoctoral researcher for three and a half years at the Freudenthal Institute as well as the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities at Utrecht University. I worked mostly on the philosophy/foundations of quantum mechanics as part of my NWO VENI-project "The Reality of the Quantum State". Other research interests include general philosophy of physics, philosophy of probability, philosophy of science and formal epistemology. A comprehensive list of my output is found on my Philosophy of Physics page.
My contract at Utrecht University ended in Spring 2021 during one of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Chances for prolonging my career in academia were slim and so I had to reflect on what other options there are in the world for me. The hiatus took up almost a year in which I did many job applications, followed online introductions on career opportunities and took online courses in coding and machine learning. Finally, in April 2022 I joined Rabobank in Utrecht as a Junior Model Validator. In a way, what I did there prolonged my style as an academic researcher: I got to use my analytic skills to critically examine the hard work of others. At the same time it was also the ideal opportunity to learn more about statistical analysis and coding, as you can never know enough.
My Erdös number is five.