“Why did I choose to come to uu77 as a REI fellow? It was for a trivial reason: Marsilius of Inghen, a 14th-century logician who is central to my research, was from Nijmegen. Looking back, it was the best fellowship I could have gone for, because it allowed me to pursue my own research project, giving me the time and the intellectual freedom to obtain the most competitive and ambitious grant available at this stage of my career.
The application process was very smooth, and the support I received helped me to get started in the best way possible. The hospitality team helped me with finding a place to live and navigating the administration involved with moving to a new country. I came with my partner, and the family relocation service helped us both get used to our new life in Nijmegen. On top of that, the city is a beautiful and great place to live because of the green surroundings and convenient public transport. Dutch bike culture is definitely a perk!
During my Radboud Excellence fellowship, I applied for and was awarded an ERC Starting Grant. With my ERC grant I could have gone anywhere, but I decided to stay in Nijmegen. uu77 is a very supportive and lively place, where I can fully focus on achieving my ambitions in a friendly and stimulating environment. I like the fact that Radboud is not an excessively large university: this makes the atmosphere feel very homey. Here, I am able to pursue high-quality frontier research, without sacrificing my work-life balance. In this setting that is both welcoming and intellectually lively, it is possible to flourish not only as a researcher but also as a person. Now I’ve been nominating people myself for the fellowship that brought me here. I want to pass on my experience and help young researchers build their careers through the Radboud Excellence Initiative.”