Since 2021, I am a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam on a personal NWO Veni grant, examining the relationship between expectations in time and rhythm and beat perception in the brain. I am continuing the work I did on a personal ABC Talent grant at the University of Amsterdam (2016-2019), and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2020), supervised by Prof. Dr. Heleen Slagter. In June 2016, I obtained my PhD in the music cognition group at the UvA, supervised by Prof. Dr. Henkjan Honing. I hold both a Master of Science in Psychology (cum laude, 2011, University of Amsterdam) and a Master of Music (with distinction, 2009, Amsterdam Conservatory). In my research, I combine my fascination for the human brain and my passion for music in examining the neural underpinnings of rhythm and beat perception.

Before starting my PhD research, I spent over a decade on stage, as a performing clarinettist. I studied the clarinet with Herman Braune, Antony Pay (with a lot of thanks to the Prince Bernhard Culture foundation), and Yehuda Gilad, and I won several prizes (Princess Christina Competition 2001, elected “Dutch Young Musician of the year 2001”). I appeared on stage as a soloist, chamber musician, in several Dutch orchestras, and as a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO). During my studies and career as a clarinettist, I became more and more fascinated by the workings of the human brain. Therefore, after my graduation in psychology in 2011, I started a PhD in the neuroscience of music with professor Henkjan Honing. In my PhD research, I aimed to uncover some of the processes involved in the perception of rhythm and beat – a topic that continues to interest me in my postdoctoral research.

In addition to my work as a researcher, I am an enthusiastic educator. I taught courses at the bachelor and master level and I am asked as a public speaker on a regular basis to bring the science about the exceptional bond between humans and music to the public.