Valery Visser
I obtained a Bachelor and Master in Biomedical Engineering at the Technical University at Eindhoven, graduated my PhD at the University of Zurich at the end of 2024 and have since then pursued a PostDoc at ETH Zurich. My research has a strong focus on soft-tissue biomechanics, mainly in the cardiovascular domain. If you’re interested in my research, check out my other platforms!
In a world where communities become more polarized, what brings me closest to others is hearing their stories. It becomes a million times easier to understand someone’s motivations when you hear where they come from. Hearing these stories may also help you to think about things you did not think about before. This curiosity is not new to me. My favorite book in primary school was “Het wereldje van Beer Ligthart” by Rien Poortvliet, about a boy who turns blind and has to navigate a world that he now experiences completely differently. Following this interest, I did a tiny investigation during high school, for which I interviewed blind people. The most fascinating thing I found was not about the study. It was that someone halfway through the interview suddenly got up, and shouted: “Oh no, I forgot to turn on the lights!”. Who realized blind people save money on their electricity bill that way .
In a world where communities become more polarized, what brings me closest to others is hearing their stories.
But my interest also comes from the seemingly daunting choices I have to make about my career. One insecurity I’m sure many women can relate to, is the well-known glass ceiling. I know female professors have treaded the floor of high-end committees, boards, and influential meetings, being perhaps even the only women in the room. And even though many initiatives have achieved major improvements, and many feminists have proven we’re able to do anything, it’s still hard to imagine myself in high positions. In other words, even knowing others have been able to do it before doesn’t really explain to me what that life would look like on a day-to-day basis. Hearing how other women have tackled problems or handled these moments helps me to see a future in it for me.
One of the things I’m curious about at the moment, is what a life with a young family looks like. Coming from the privileged position of having two academics in the relationship, I wonder how one would manage that. How can you manage to find suitable academic positions reasonably close to each other (geographically), combine grant writing plans, and start a family life? We have some exciting ideas on who to ask, but welcome any suggestions on who to talk to!
Another interest I have comes from my enthusiasm as a trial-runner. I see how many training hours go into this sport, and I cannot imagine how semi-profesional athletes manage to keep up with their many training hours. Thus, I’d love to see how anyone with high athletic ambitions combines it with busy weeks working in research.
Valery wonders how people….
Example PostDoc Calendar
My current calender is quite regular. Around 7:30 I get up, get some food and go to the office by bike or tram. At 11:30 sharp my colleages come to fetch me for some lunch and afterwards the longer afternoon starts. I sometimes run home, or take sports classes close to my office, and other days I do my run close to our house.
My commute home passes by the grocery shop, where I fetch the last ingredients I forgot or couldn’t buy on my larger weekly grocery run on the weekend.
Some work of my previous projects is still running, and as I don’t want to spend too much time on these projects during office hours, I do them in the evening or on a weekend day. This is not always fun, but I argue in the end it’s good for me if it’s published. Besides, I’m already proud of the project, which makes it acceptable to be working on the weekend. However, admittedly, this is the part of my calendar I struggle with the most. Opening my laptop after my runs or sports classes during a weekday costs a lot of energy, and on the weekends I of course prefer to go and do something else. However, regular check-ins with my supervisors, who are relentlessly enthusiastic about this project, help me to keep up the work!
Weekends are naturally something I look forward to! Running with your face in the sun, soaring through the snow or just taking a swim at the lake. It’s not uncommon for us to spend the whole days in the mountain, sometimes eating there and sometimes arriving home late and too tired to still cook.
Example PhD Calendar
My calender looked a bit different during the PhD. Partly because the work I did was a lot different, and partly because my priorities were different. The main differences were that I excercised less, and had way less regular hours.
My PhD work combined computational and experimental (in-vitro) work. This experimental work demanded more flexibility in hours, as some long experiments needed to be finished in one day, or if an experimental setup was not cooperating. In addition, some experimental setups required regular check-ins, also over the weekend. I always tried to make the best of these situations, for example, by running to and from the office, if I had to go on the weekend. Luckily, my working situation allowed me to use the flexibility as well. I could, for example, start a bit later on Mondays if I worked on the weekends.