Parents and caregivers: an interview with Aimée Sakes and DirkJan Veeger

Family caregiving is part of the fabric of life. Many scientists, both male and female, have children or are starting a family at the same time as maintaining and building a career. Juggling teaching, publishing, finding a new (or permanent) job, relocating, attending conferences, and actually doing research sometimes requires more hours in the day than exist. So, how do colleagues combine this with parenting? Where do they find support? And what can the organisation do to create a more inclusive working environment where parents can grow and flourish in their careers? DEWIS is talking with scientists with caregiving responsibilities, and we aim to start a dialogue around how we can make changes within the TU Delft to support those scientists who are also parents. In this interview we talk with Aimée Sakes, Assistant Professor at the Department of Biomechanical Engineering at the Faculty of 3mE and her supervisor Professor DirkJan Veeger at the Department of Biomechanical Engineering at the Faculty of 3mE. Aimee received Veni funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in August for her research on catheter technology. DirkJan is the former Department Chair and Director of Education at the Faculty of 3mE.