Vanessa Evers on her first months as CWI director: it is a gift to work with so much talent

How were your first few months at the CWI? 

“It was very good, and enjoyable to get to know everyone. What talent we have here, it is overwhelming. And it feels like a gift to be able to support all this, but at the same time a big task: to ensure that all that talent is fully appreciated. I have also noticed that there is a good atmosphere of mutual trust among colleagues, and I also experienced this during the first meetings with the other institute directors.” 

In addition to being director of the CWI, you are also a professor of Human Media Interaction at the University of Twente. How do you combine these two positions? 

“In principle I am a professor one day a week now, which gives me the time to supervise PhD students and thus also help develop the field. We have built up a nice, mature research group in Twente, and it is great that it can continue. Here at the institute, I also have an academic role, but in a different form, of course. I am also now still finding my way and properly formulating my principal task, and who knows, maybe in the future that will also open up room for my own research on the interaction between AI and humans." 

You have also been "chief science advisor" to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science since 1 November. What does that role entail? 

“I am still figuring that out! I am the first to be given this role and it is part of my job to shape that position. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science strives to ensure it is well informed by science for its policy. I consider it a great honour to have been appointed, as I am not the biggest heavyweight when it comes to hardcore AI. But in my research I have always been concerned with the relationship between humans and AI and robotics, through my knowledge of AI applications in healthcare and education, for example, I can bridge the gap between science and society.” 

What are your ambitions for the CWI in the next few years?

"Our strategy runs until 2027 but the world has changed enormously in the past five years, of course. International conflicts, the population getting older, climate change, AI transformation, for instance. We are focusing on the scientific underpinnings of solutions in AI, cryptography, quantum, and algorithms. The changing world requires a reorientation: what role do we have for a society struggling with these new issues? There are also challenges in relation to public opinion. Misinformation and filter bubbles, for example, are major issues. At the same time, traditional resources and political goodwill are under pressure. We will have to get creative. Strengthen international networks, and continue to look for good partnerships.” 

As an internationally renowned scientist with an impressive CV, you are a role model for female researchers. How do you see that yourself? 

“Oh am I? I don’t think I’m a standard role model then. I was never good at learning as a child, my marks were low. It was only somewhere mid-way through my university studies that a light went on, as if I suddenly started to understand the ‘language’ at that point, and I was captivated. So I know how it feels when it does not work out and you have to fight for it. I also know what it is like to work as a woman in a man’s world. At my father's insistence, I started studying computer science. My uncle also did ‘something with computers’ and he had made a fortune from it. I was one of three girls among 100 first-years at university. As a girl, you are definitely a bit alone in such a man’s world in a study that seems made for men. If you want to attract women, you must also be willing to adapt the content, make it more appealing to them. We can take an example here from interdisciplinary studies that are now quite popular and are also about responding to social issues. We could also do bit a more of that in, say, the study of mathematics or computer science, you don't have to focus only on abstract things. So it’s not only role models you need, in my view, you also need to adapt the content to a diverse audience, make it more inclusive.” 

How do you shape diversity at the CWI? 

“We are very conscious of the need for diversity policy. Like many STEM institutions, we struggle to find enough women at senior level, especially for the foreseeable future. That is something we want to change. That is why we now have a new senior researcher vacancy specifically open to female candidates. We talked about that for a long time, but we stand by it as an institute, with support from NWO and the other institute directors. We also join with NWO-I’s diversity policy and contribute to the ERGs [Employee Resource Groups, ed.] and stand together with colleagues who actively promote diversity. I also think that every institute has to find its own way, bottom-up. The CWI aspires to play a pioneering role in this.” 

Your research is characterised by a focus on the human interaction with and societal impact of AI and robotics. Do you think that applicability is also important for the research at the CWI? 

“Marcel Levi recently said, ‘I am not much of a believer in the separation between applied and fundamental,’ and he has a point. Ultimately, perhaps only after a long time, even fundamental discoveries often do find an application in practice. I also do not know if we can afford to engage only in fundamental research. Nor do we: for example, our researchers in fundamental mathematics and computer science also deal with all kinds of issues from logistics, think rail schedules or ambulance journeys. Of course, at the CWI we also stand for the fundamental underpinnings of the fields of mathematics and computer science, and we continue to believe in the importance of that, but we certainly do not close our eyes to the problems in the world.” 

What do you like to do outside of work? 

“I have many jobs, but I still have a good work-life balance. I spend a lot of time outdoors, for example walking the dog and horse-riding together with my daughter. I also really value socialising with colleagues. I love the fact that we help each other and can be there for each other. I live in Enschede. In 2011, I was appointed professor in Enschede, while still living in the Jordaan area at the time. Initially I wanted to return to Amsterdam as soon as possible, but I was gradually captivated by the beautiful, peaceful, green surroundings.” 

Text: Annemieke Arendsen

Newsletter Inside NWO-I, December 2025
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.