果冻传媒

鈥淢any scientists have been working for decades to understand the glass phase, but the mystery has not yet been cracked,鈥� says Liesbeth Janssen in her office in Flux. However, Janssen is not discouraged by this. 鈥淚t is a multi-year plan, a project that is constantly changing. Scientific innovations and new methods, such as the rise of machine learning, bring new insights and possibilities. That's what makes this subject so fun and diverse.鈥�

It gives her energy when she works on this challenge with her Non-Equilibrium Soft Matter group at the Department of Applied Physics and Science 果冻传媒. 鈥淭he PhD candidates and students in my group are excellent, and working with them feels like a privilege. Everyone has their ideas to take our field further.鈥�

Janssen believes it is essential to constantly argue why fundamental research is so desperately needed. 鈥淔undamental research is the basis of all innovation. However, I am also consciously looking at possible future applications of this research. This is not only because I believe that the taxpayers鈥� money invested in this should yield something for society but also for myself, my field, and my students. I can鈥檛 ask them to dedicate a few months of their lives to this research if I can鈥檛 explain what they are doing it for.鈥�

She clarifies: 鈥淚t is difficult to predict how curiosity-driven fundamental research can eventually be applied. However, the resources are too scarce to see that as a license to investigate something arbitrarily.鈥�

I consciously look at possible future applications of this research.

Liesbeth Janssen

鈥淚t is worthwhile to think in advance about possible applications of fundamental research. Based on that, you can estimate which fundamental lines of research could become the most interesting or impactful.鈥�

Cancer

Janssen is very enthusiastic about the possible application of the knowledge about the glass phase in biology, such as tissues. 鈥淭en years ago, I could not have imagined that it could help to better predict the risk of cancer metastases at an early stage. In this way, a new domain and perspective constantly opens up.鈥�

Role models

The Athena Award is awarded to two outstanding female researchers who have also made exceptional efforts to, for example, team science, diversity & inclusion, or as role models. In addition to Janssen, Professor Hannah Dugdale of the University of Groningen also won this year's Athena Award.

鈥淚t is a great honor for me, especially because I know who has won this award before,鈥� says Janssen. She mentions 果冻传媒 professor Adriana Creatore, who won the Athena Award in 2021. And colleague Daniela Kraft from Leiden University, who received the prize in 2019. 鈥淭hese are inspiring women and role models for me. It is very special that I am now on this list. By the way, I also have many male role models. Almost all of them are scientists.鈥�

Diverse teams

Janssen says she has mixed feelings about the award because it revolves around women. At the same time, she sees diversity as being much broader than gender. For her, it鈥檚 all about building a diverse team of scientists.

鈥淕ood science requires different ideas, creativity, and new perspectives. For that, you need different people in all dimensions. Think of gender, ethnicity, neurodiversity, background, skills, and differences in the topics they work on. With a diverse team, you can innovate more easily, switch faster, and respond better to important developments.鈥�

The need for diversity is as obvious to me as the need for a laptop or a desk - it is simply a requisite to get good work done.

Liesbeth Janssen

鈥淒iversity is not a goal in itself 鈥� it is a requirement to achieve things in science. I think it鈥檚 a shame that diversity is sometimes reduced to a political must. The need for diversity is as obvious to me as the need for a laptop or a desk - it is simply a requisite to get good work done. Diverse teams take you further.鈥�

Prize money

Janssen wants to use the prize money of the Athena Award, fifty thousand euros, to pay more attention to neurodiversity. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a crystal-clear plan yet, but I would like to learn more about how neurodivergent people process information. In the workplace, but also in education.鈥�

鈥淪tep one is to listen to the group that is underrepresented. You must put your ego aside and accept that you have a huge blind spot. This is a difficult but essential step because your viewpoint isn鈥檛 necessarily applicable to others. It is vital to gain more understanding of each other's perspectives. There is much to be gained there for students, the staff, and everyone.鈥�

Well-being first

When Kees Storm became dean of the APSE department two years ago, Janssen was asked to succeed him as chair of the Soft Matter and Biological Physics section. This includes her own research group. In both leadership roles, Janssen focuses on mental well-being and keeping the workload manageable.

鈥淲e all do this work because we are so passionate about it. We want to work on big scientific questions and contribute our part to that. We strive to conduct top-level research, excel in teaching, and contribute to the organization. The bar is set high here.鈥�

Room to set your own course

Janssen is aware that this unbridled ambition carries the danger of excessive work pressure. 鈥淚 try to look within my group at what is essential and what is not. And I give people room to set their own course and follow their preferences and interests.鈥�

鈥淗ealth always comes first, and I think it鈥檚 important that everyone finds a modus operandi in which they don鈥檛 get overworked. And take a break in time. We pay attention to that in our group because I don鈥檛 want people to constantly take up more than they can handle.鈥�

鈥淎t every staff meeting, I ask how everyone is doing. Is there something going on, privately or at work? We are a close-knit community and try to help each other where we can. There is a positive vibe in our group. I want everyone to enjoy working.鈥�

There is a positive vibe in our group. I want everyone to enjoy working. And everyone should be able to work in a way that suits them.

Liesbeth Janssen

Working from home? No problem

Working from home is always negotiable for Janssen. 鈥淥ur work mainly takes place on our laptops. If you prefer to work from home and get your work done, be my guest. A PhD student in my group with a young family worked abroad for almost two years. He obtained his doctorate with honors. Everyone should be able to work in a way that suits them.鈥�

For example, Janssen urged a postdoc who had recently become a father to take parental leave and encouraged him to work from home when necessary. 鈥淚 still set high standards for my people but give them freedom, trust, and responsibility. That works perfectly.鈥�

Evening worker

鈥淚 prefer to work in the evenings and wish I could do that more often. But with all those meetings, that is not convenient,鈥� says Janssen, who works from home in Utrecht a few days a week so that someone is home for dog Bree. Her partner, a professor in Amsterdam, mainly works as an experimental researcher in the lab and is less able to work from home.

鈥淔or years, I have traveled back and forth from Utrecht daily. Nowadays, I ask myself, 鈥楬ow important is it that I am in Eindhoven every day?鈥�. This is the new reality since the Covid pandemic; the world has changed. We have to deal with that, just as we have to be aware of it when an individual's life changes.鈥�

Support

Janssen's partner knows better than anyone what it is like to work in the competitive world of academia. 鈥淲e support and encourage each other enormously. When I got the chance to apply for a job in the United States, he said, 鈥楧efinitely go for it鈥�. Having such support from your environment is so valuable. This applies to everyone, but especially to women, who are more likely to drop out of such a challenge because they think they won鈥檛 succeed anyway. I鈥檓 happy to have someone who doesn鈥檛 try to slow me down but helps me keep going.鈥�

Bold with guts

Not that Janssen needs much encouragement to continue working on her research with enthusiasm. In the nomination for the Athena Award, APSE dean Kees Storm stated: 鈥楽he is bold, has more guts than many scientists鈥�.

The fact that something is difficult is no reason not to start. Then I say: Let's do it!

Liesbeth Janssen

Janssen: 鈥淗e is referring to my work on the theory of glass transition. When I wanted to work on it as a postdoc in New York twelve years ago, my supervisor warned me not to take up that difficult subject.鈥�

Janssen ignored the sound advice of her supervisor and, as a postdoc, resolutely dived into research aimed at addressing this still unexplained phenomenon. She continued this with undiminished enthusiasm in Eindhoven with her group, Non-Equilibrium Soft Matter. 鈥淚f I believe something is important, I will never choose the easy road. Then I say: Let鈥檚 do it!鈥�