Fellow Feature: Henk Cremers
Every year, the Netherlands eScience Center shares a call for applications for our Fellowship Programme. The Programme is aimed at members of the academic research community who are passionate about acting as ambassadors for the use of research software. It is for individuals who have the ambition to promote or improve the use of research software within their organization or discipline. Our 2024-2025 fellows are currently halfway through their fellowship yeaEvery year, the Netherlands eScience Center shares a call for applications for our Fellowship Programme. The Programme is aimed at members of the academic research community who are passionate about acting as ambassadors for the use of research software. It is for individuals who have the ambition to promote or improve the use of research software within their organization or discipline. Our 2024-2025 fellows are currently halfway through their fellowship year. What better time to showcase their progress over the course of their programme.
We will present you with interviews with each of the Fellows. From creating tutorials to organizing interactive seminars, our Fellows are at the forefront of shaping the landscape of research software practices.
Keep reading to learn more about the progress of the project, ‘Mental Health Research Software ’ led by Henk Cremers, Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam.
What is the goal of your project?
The goal of my project is to create, promote and bring together software tailored to mental health research and practice.
What role does research software play in your daily activities?
My research has transitioned more towards software development and design in the last few years. Now, it has become an active ingredient, and I am working on the opportunities it can give for mental health research and practice.
What initially inspired you to apply to the Fellowship Programme at the eScience Center?
I have known the eScience Center for many years and given my move towards software development in the last few years, I thought it would be a great time to apply for the fellowship. It helps to be in a software development environment that is very different from my usual work setting.
How is your Fellowship helping you promote the use of research software in your own community?
It has helped me understand better what it takes to develop and maintain software; this is very helpful as it is new terrain in my community and they rely a lot on external, commercial consultancy.
What have you enjoyed, thus far, during your Fellowship at the eScience Center?
It has been great talking to my supervisor and others on the challenges and choices that come with research software development. Especially since they have the expertise that I normally don’t encounter in my own work environment. In addition, it has been very nice meeting the other fellows and learning about their projects.
What do you hope will change in the use of research software in your community after your Fellowship?
The biggest challenge has been to shift focus within my projects. One project didn’t develop the way I was expecting, and I decided to therefore shift focus on another project. But I am happy with the way things turned out now.
Keeping this project in mind, what do you hope to do after your Fellowship?
I hope to continue working on softwre development and keep on developing my skills in that regard. Also, I would like to continue community building in my area, as there is little infrastructure at the moment.
What do you hope will change in the use of research software in your community after your Fellowship?
I hope it can help make data more accessible, where it can reach a point that in can support clinical decision making.
What would you say to people who are interested in applying for future Fellowship Programmes?
Apply!
Who are we?
The eScience Center is a research organization dedicated to applying research software to answer research questions in any scientific domain through project collaborations. It has the largest concentration of dedicated, high-level research software expertise in the Netherlands. The eScience Center also has a fellowship programme and makes all of its software and training materials openly available online. For more information about what we offer, visit esciencecenter.nl.