There are multiple areas of research that I am interested in.
As part of the Database Research group, Databases are my primary focus. So far, within this area I have mostly focused on property graphs on the one hand, and SQL on the other. Traditional Database research focuses on improving speed and computational efficiency, but I am more interested in the usability perspective.
Even before starting university, I have been involved in education. Even now, a big part of my workload involves education. My experiences include tutoring, mentoring, exam trainings, grading and (instructies leiden). My research interest in education is primarily focussed on improving education in any way possible. On the one hand, there is the need to make Computer Science more open to female students, requiring research on where the decision not to study CSE is made.
On the other hand, a lot of research is required to support the interaction between novices and Databases. Explorations over various age groups, genders, query languages and experience is required to solve this problem.
Over the past few years, I have leant a lot about designing interfaces. Sources of information arise from all types of materials, from many different disciplines. I like the challenge to build a system that provides a very good user experience, and the process of user-centered design to further improve such ideas.
Much has been written on how visual representations of text can both increase and decrease the cognitive load on system users. In my opinion, complex topics such as databases and query language can profit from visual representations.
Although it is a different branch of science than the one I’m in, I have a love for anything related to Citizen Science. There is tremendous power in an initiative picked up by many people (in small communities or around the globe). From such data, a wide array of insights can be generated, which can be used to form solutions, inform governments, and many other applications…