Jianbin (1978)
Ph.D. researcher in medical imaging
40 hours per week
A complicated background
Compared with most people, I think I have rather a complicated educational background. I majored in Chemical Engineering at a Chinese university. However, in the final year, I spent most of my time studying computer science. After graduating in Chemistry, I decided to work for Microsoft. Following a year in business, I came to the Netherlands with the dream of becoming a scientist and got my master’s degree in computational science (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam. It was during this time that I spent one year with Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven where I developed my interest in medical imaging. Thanks to a research grant provided by Philips, I am now studying for my Ph.D. at UMC Utrecht.
A focus on quality
I believe our institute is the top research institute in Europe in the field of medical imaging research. Here, my work focuses on improving the image quality of SPECT scans, which play a central role in the diagnosis of coronary heart diseases – still the number one killer in the Western world. Also, with two publications in the best journal in our field, I am now on a short list of 6 persons nominated to compete for the Young Investigator Award offered by the Society of Nuclear Medicine. This award is a big honour for young researchers in our field.
Freedom, equality and collaboration
I am always amazed that a country of this size can have such a great impact on the world in terms of science, technology, economics, and so on. Equality and freedom are the two social values I most admire here. I am not afraid to walk into my boss’s office and have a friendly chat. Before I say something in public here, I don’t need to give too much thought to its “political correctness”. I firmly believe that more international collaboration between Chinese hospitals and UMC will be mutually beneficial.