After taking the long track in high school (graduating VWO, after MAVO
and HAVO), Stephan studied Biotechnology at the University of Amsterdam,
with the still well appreciated support from his parents. He graduated
after 6 years, which included a 9 month internship at the NKI and
another one at the AMC under the supervision of prof. Frank Baas. He
continued his work at the AMC, however not as a PhD student, but as a
research fellow. These were two fruitful years resulting in no less than
4 publications! This got the attention of the Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore (USA) and he was invited to work for them.
One 'small' issue had to be overcome though, since his girlfriend could not get a visa, unless they got married. So, as a married couple, they arrived in the US where his work under supervision of prof. Kirby Smith eventually led to a publication in Nature Medicine.
When their visa expired after 3.5 years, Stephan and Barbra decided it was time to go back to Holland where Stephan found a job at the AMC again. They moved to Delft where both their families live, which is very important to them. In 1999, Stephan received his PhD with the results from the research from Johns Hopkins and the AMC. Only one year later, he was awarded a VENI. The only criticism on his VENI application was that it had taken him 6,5 years to get his PhD. ‘This was due to my honesty,’ he explains. ‘I had included the time since the end of my studies until I got my PhD on the application.’ After he changed that from the combined time spent in Baltimore and at the AMC, more grants came rolling in. With among others two 'Prinses Beatrix Fonds', one 'Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds' and both a VENI and VIDI, this PI is doing very well. His group started to get shape when his first technician arrived and a medical PhD student flowed into his project in 2005. Another technician and PhD student started in 2007 and his 3rd PhD student in 2009, making him the leader of a group of 6 people, including himself. And now, since January 2010, Stephan is a PI. ‘I am very proud of my group. We really are a team and the spirit is good.’, Stephan says. ‘The strength of the group is that we all have different fields of expertise and support each other’s projects’. ‘We do true translational research by combining fundamental research aimed to understand the disease with clinical research and even therapeutic trials’
No walk in the park
This all sounds more or less like a walk in the park and that Stephan had everything going for him. However, we all know that succeeding in science can be a struggle and this was no less true for him. One thing that was difficult for him to cope with was that in Baltimore Stephan was used to working with 10 people on the project that got him into Nature Medicine. Back at the AMC he found himself working alone on that same project, with merely some technical support in the laboratory Genetic Metabolic Diseases. But since the focus of his research was already high on the agenda of both the AMC and prof. Ronald Wanders he did get a lot of support and interest eventually.
Stephan encountered a turning point in his career in 2006, where he basically put his future in science in the hands of the VIDI committee. In that year, his first daughter was born, they were renovating a house, he was writing a VIDI application and the 3 hours of commuting every day became quite a challenge. It was all getting too much and it even forced him to stay at home for a few weeks due to health issues. ‘I had decided that if I would not get the VIDI, I would change my job to work closer to home,’ Stephan tells me. ‘Unfortunately,’ as he proclaims with a big smile, ‘the VIDI ended high up in the rankings and my work at the AMC thus continues.’
Another important change
Moreover, he made another decision which turned out to be very important for him: he gave up his separate office and moves into the room where the PhD students and technicians work, next to the lab. ‘I noticed that many times when I walked into this room, my technician and PhD students were discussing their research. I missed out on many of these discussions,’ Stephan explains. Since he is now in the same room, he can be more involved in the daily issues of the ongoing research, which of course has become a less important part of his daily work. ‘I struggle to still work a bit in the lab, but realize that this is merely as a technician instead of continuing my own line of research.’ Gladly, his group does not feel like they are being watched since Stephan moved into their room, but quite appreciate the short line of communication they now have together.
Balance
Since the birth of his second daughter in 2008, Stephan also takes parental leave, working at home half a day and sometimes commuting by car, which cuts down his travel time to Delft. He arrives at work around 7:30 in the morning, comes home around 17:00 to still see his daughters, have dinner together, bathe them and tuck them in. And sometimes in the evening he works on his papers or the fine-tuning of a grant application. And this balance, between work and spending time with his family, is truly what keeps him going. ‘I have to feel that my work and my private life are in good balance.’
What keeps him going?
Another important factor that drives him is the fact that ever since he started to work on X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy in 1993, he really has the feeling that he contributes something to understanding this disease. He also maintains a website. Here we can clearly see a bit of his one year education in advertising prior to his biotechnology studies. He is still very particular about the layout and design of posters and presentations of the people in his group, which he says is his most annoying peculiarity. The thing Stephan loves about his work is that as a scientist in academia you are basically your own boss. He has a lot of fun at work, enjoying the combination supervising his research group, working in the lab, teaching and working with patients. This combination is what gives him the energy to continue.
Tips & tricks
So does this PI have some good advice for us? Stephan mentions that he always points out to the people in his group that they should ‘idiot-proof’ everything. ‘For example, number your samples consecutively throughout your research. Do not start over numbering each experiment at sample no. 1.’ His second tip is that when doing an experiment, realize that you may be interrupted, so that when you continue you still know where you were in pipetting that 96 well plate. Lastly, put your files (data and drafts of papers) in chronological order by starting filenames with yymmdd. This makes life a lot easier when looking for them!
Something that he learned from Frank Baas and Kirby Smith in the years before he became a postdoc, was that often it is a lot more efficient to do an experiment than to come up with a hundred reasons why you should not do the experiment, but still keep wondering about the outcome.
Future plans
So where does this successful PI see himself ten years from now? ‘To be honest? I haven't got a clue’. So far, there has not been strict career planning. Stephan followed his interests and used opportunities that came on his path. Of course, having skill in writing successful grants helped a lot on that path. Maybe this skill has something to do with the fact he thinks it is very important to also be able to explain your research to your neighbor in plain and simple language. This is also how Stephan thinks science should be communicated to the public. Good examples are tv shows like Mythbusters, Jules Unlimited and Zoeklicht. ‘Do not treat the audience like kids, but try to explain science in common language. Be aware that your audience is not 16 million people. The people that are watching are probably at least a bit interested and thus most likely have some background.’ And what about the decreasing amount of funding? On this topic, Stephan is very clear. ‘I agree with the plan that Plasterk has made, transferring 100 million euro from the university to NWO. This stimulates researchers to think more about their projects.’
Final thoughts?
Looking back, Stephan realizes that it might have been better to just put your foot down sometimes. But still, he has done very well and will most likely continue to do so in the future. ‘I seem to have a knack for writing successful grant applications.’ But what if somehow his career in science ends? ‘I just may take over my parents' pub!’
