Could you say a little about the job you do now ?
I work at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, as Education Communication Officer. My main focus is study information. I organise information activities and study check days for our faculty, and deal for example with written communication via the website and brochures. This also includes making videos, developing information material, managing social media, visiting fairs and ‘hosting’ universities or groups visiting us. Finally, I am the first point of contact for questions from study-goers via the study information mailbox.
What do you like about your profession and what makes working in your field so interesting and/or relevant?`
I chose to work in this field because during my Medical Biology studies, and my time at Radboud University, I noticed that I got a lot of energy from conveying information and providing education. I myself served on the Student Educators Team as a student, and through that I helped study students and shared information about my experience in (Medical) Biology. I found my studies extremely interesting, but found out partly through internships that I did not want to do biomedical research myself. In the Master's, I then chose the Science in Society specialisation and started looking into science communication. Partly because of this and because I enjoyed providing information so much, I started looking for a job that would combine my biomedical background with communication and/or information work in practice. And I succeeded!
What knowledge and skills did you learn during your Master’s that are really useful to you now?
During my studies (and also side job), I gave a lot of presentations and discovered that I really enjoyed doing this. Now, presenting is also part of my work. I still love being at open days myself! In addition, I learned more general skills such as planning, working together and keeping an overview in projects you are only responsible for. Although I am not directly involved in biomedical content myself, my study background does help enormously in making the translation to a different audience. In addition, I think I was able to master the topics in the faculty, broadly speaking, faster.
How did you experience this programme at Radboud University? What did you think made this programme special?
I experienced the Biology programme as very instructive and interesting. What I think makes the programme special, and what I also really liked, is the funnel structure. You start in the full breadth of biology. Halfway through the second year, I chose the Medical Biology direction, which focuses on the human body. The other direction, Biology, focuses on plants, ecology and microbiology. I found it fascinating to learn more about how the human body works, and after that broad base, to increasingly choose your own subjects. I particularly liked the electives in neurobiology, but also embryology, for example.
Do you have any tips/suggestions for prospective students?
Choose from your interests and think about which subjects you want to learn more about (for both Bachelor's and Master's studies). In my opinion, what you will do with it follows later, because you will also gain practical experience through internships, for example. Here you can find out what you like to do, inside or outside scientific research, besides the content and/or theory a study is about.