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Roland Geraerts is a researcher and part-time lecturer at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences. In recent years, he has been strongly committed to more appreciation for valorisation: “Three elements are important for an effective valorisation policy: time for researchers, recognition and grants. It is nice to see that at university level people are working on a better culture of recognition and reward.”

What is your research about?

“Events are becoming increasingly large-scale, and organisers have to deal with safety elements that are difficult to test. With my team I design software to simulate masses of people and to investigate realistic audience behaviour. For example, we study the walking behaviour of groups of people and how these groups proactively and realistically avoid collisions with each other and with obstacles in their environment. The demo for the engagement program contains information such as roads, bicycle paths and buildings, and is also dynamic. For example, we could have a bridge collapse.

“In 2015 the Tour de France started in Utrecht. The city expected 800,000 to a million visitors and was quite concerned about these numbers. I played an advisory role in the run-up to the event. After that I got more commissions."

Were you able to combine those assignments with your full-time job at the university?

“No, that became increasingly difficult. Because the focus was on research and education, I actually only had time to work on the software and assignments in my spare time. Then I decided to follow a program at and to apply for some grants at , which I received. Currently, I have a start-up as well as a position as part-time assistant professor at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences.”

Has the university encouraged or supported you?

“As a researcher, recognition often comes from receiving grants and the publication of scientific articles. A while ago I sent an email to the Executive Board of Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� in which I explained my view on valorisation. I was invited to give a presentation with tips for valorisation, after that I even served on a national valorisation committee with Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands. Perhaps that helped. Appreciation for valorisation has become a lot better. The department gives me a lot of freedom to work on valorisation activities, which I am very glad about.”

“Three elements are important for an effective valorisation policy: time for researchers, appreciation and grants. It is nice to see that at university level people are working on a better culture of recognition and reward. ”

Do you have tips for fellow researchers who want to spend more time and attention on valorisation?

“Not really, except: just do it. By designing the software and spending time on engagement activities, my visibility has increased enormously. That has led to an effective network and fruitful collaboration with other researchers and social partners.”

Read more about Roland’s and .