Working at Hasselt University

UHasselt is both large and small. We have many people from many countries and there are collaborations with other universities. But UHasselt is also quite informal and people know each other. So UHasselt has both international connections, and connection among colleagues. That is what I love about UHasselt and that is why I stuck around after I finished my studies. These days, UHasselt feels like home. 

I've been working in Belgium for years, but I've never felt at home as much as I do at UHasselt. If you're having a bad day, for example, you can talk about it when you walk in because they will notice right away. You can just be yourself which is nice. 

I started out as a postdoc and thanks to the opportunities that I've been offered, I am now dean. In my role, I want to offer young people an opportunity to follow their ambition at UHasselt, just like me.

It is wonderful to behold how my career at UHasselt encourages young researchers, especially young, female researchers, to really follow their passion!

I do not only work on sustainable mobility, but I also work on sustainable jobs and lifelong learning, because we really want to avoid people being in the same job for 35 years. 

You won't be stuck in one place here, because we're increasingly using flex desks, focus spaces and collaborative spaces. 

I was meant to be an entrepreneur! My job revolves around entrepreneurship: every day I get the opportunity to inspire students about entrepreneurship as well as to be inspired by entrepreneurial students!

During my search for PhD topics, I was mainly looking for a unique subject. And that's exactly what I found at UHasselt. The synthetic diamond research really captured my attention, so I went for it … and now I can proudly say I’m a diamond-grower. Very few diamond growing labs exist across the world, so I’m really proud I can contribute to this groundbreaking research with lots of possible applications in the future.     

On the one hand, I very much like the interaction here on campus with colleagues and students. On the other hand, with young children at home, it is also nice that I am able to work from home. Ultimately, I come to the campus three days a week and on those days, I always come by bike. Then I take a shower here in the morning before I go to my office. The end of the day is also a moment of peace and I can clear my head before I return home to the rush in the evening.