About

I am a mathematician studying the foundations of computer science. My areas of research are category theory and type theory. I mainly study monads, and I especially love proving when and why monad compositions are impossible 😈

My research is on the boundary of maths, logic, and computer science, so you may also call me a logician or a computer scientist. Sometimes I even pose as a physicist.

Biography
I studied Physics and Mathematics at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and received a BSc. in both topics. I then studied at the University of Amsterdam, where I completed the Master of Logic. I moved to the UK for my PhD, doing a DPhil in Computer Science at the University of Oxford. I passed my viva on the 18th of December, 2020. After a short stay in Switzerland during Covid times, I now work as a postdoc at the IT University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Upcoming events:

• 23 May 2024: I will give an invited talk at the monthly Chocola meeting at the ENS de Lyon.
• I am a PC member for the 12th ACM SIGPLAN Workshop on Higher-Order Programming with Effects (HOPE ’24).


Past events:

Overview of my past activities: academic talks, public engagement, PC memberships, and other.

Academic Talks:
2024:
• 4 April 2024: I gave an invited talk for the WG6 meeting of EuroProofNet. video slides
• 23 Feb 2024: I gave an invited talk for the 10th Logic Mentoring Workshop. slides
• 21 Feb 2024: I presented my paper “What Monads Can and Cannot Do With a Bit of Extra Time” (joint work with Rasmus Møgelberg) at the 32nd EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic 2024 (CSL’24), in Naples. slides

2022:
• 31 March: I gave an invited talk in the colloquium series of the Topos Institute. video slides
• 10 March: I gave an invited talk in the combined seminar series of the Logic & Semantics group and the Compositional Systems and Methods group at Tallinn University of Technology.
• 2 March: I gave an invited talk in the Lectures on Logic and its Mathematical Aspects (LLAMA) seminar series at the Institute for Logic, Language & Computation (ILLC) of the University of Amsterdam.

2020:
• I gave an invited talk at the Online Worldwide Seminar on Logic and Semantics (OWLS).
Title: “Distributive Laws in the Boom Hierarchy”. video slides

2019:
• I gave a talk at the 6th Symposium on Compositional Structures (SYCO6), at the University of Leicester.
Title: “Composite Theories: how to prove an open question from 1969 in ≤ 5 min”.
This talk won the Best Student Presentation Award.
• I gave an invited talk at the Postgraduate Conference in Category Theory and its Applications, at the University of Leicester.
Title: “Composite Theories and how to use them in proofs of No-Go Theorems”.
• I presented my paper “No-Go Theorems for Distributive Laws” at the 34th Symposium on Logic in Computer Science (LICS2019), in Vancouver.
• I gave an invited talk at the seminar series of the Programming Principles, Logic, and Verification group at University College London.
Title: “Don’t try this at home: No-Go Theorems for Distributive Laws”.
• I gave a talk at the 3rd Symposium on Compositional Structures (SYCO3), at the University of Oxford. Title: “Don’t try this at home: No-Go Theorems for Distributive Laws”. video slides
This talk won the Best Student Presentation Award.

2018:
• I gave an invited talk at the category theory seminar series of the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, Cambridge University.
Title: “Don’t try this at home: No-Go Theorems for Distributive Laws”.
• I presented my preliminary results at the 7th Workshop on Mathematically Structured Functional Programming (MSFP2018), in Oxford.
Title: “Some No-Go Theorems for Distributive Laws (extended abstract)”.

Public Engagement:
2022
• I was a lecturer for the Forskningens Døgn, a Danish science festival. During the last week of April, people could book available researchers to give a lecture on their favourite topic. My lecture on infinity and Cantors diagonal argument was booked by a pension fund, a library, and a school. It was fun to teach this subject to such a wide range of people!

2021
• I made a short YouTube video pointing out the counter-intuitive behaviour of logical implication, as part of a “one minute science video” contest organised by Veritasium. For all submissions and some amazing science communication, search the hashtag #VeritasiumContest on YouTube and TikTok.

2020:
• I made a guest appearance on MAT livestream #017 with Dr. James Munro, where I explained some computer science questions from the MAT entrance exam. This exam is used by universities throughout the UK to gauge the mathematical level of incoming students.
• I was interviewed by Oxford Sparks, as part of their #scienceathome series during the pandemic. During this interview, I explained how my research is turning algebra upside down.

2019:
• I gave a talk at the Women in Science day for Welsh students, organised by Jesus College in Oxford on 12 June 2019.
• I was a volunteer at the Oxford Maths Festival, a two-day extravaganza of mathematical curiosities for all ages and backgrounds, organised by the Department of Mathematics, University of Oxford in May 2019.
• I gave a talk at the Women in Sciences day at Jesus College in Oxford on 20 Feb 019.
• I gave a talk at “It All Adds Up”, a three-day mathematics conference for girls aged 14-16, at the Department of Mathematics, University of Oxford in Jan 2019.

2018
• I was a volunteer at the Curiosity Carnival, a festival showcasing the human side of scientists as well as their scientific work. This was organised as part of the European Researcher’s Night on 29 Sept 2018.

2017
• I talked about my research in a pub for an event called PubHD. Here is a link to my talk on Youtube.
• I made a YouTube video explaining categorical distributional semantics, a mathematical framework to teach computers how to interpret sentences.

2015
• I gave a talk explaining the Oxford college system to a group of visiting students from Radboud University Nijmegen, 6 Nov 2015.

PC memberships (peer-reviewing papers):
2022
• I was the PC member for the 10th Symposium on Compositional Structures (SYCO10) .
• I was a PC member for the 38th International Conference on Mathematical Foundations of Programming Semantics (MFPS 2022).
• I was a PC member for the 5th International Conference on Applied Category Theory (ACT 2022).
• I was a PC member for the 16th International Workshop on Coalgebraic Methods in Computer Science (CMCS 2022).

2021
• I was the PC chair for the 8th Symposium on Compositional Structures (SYCO8) .
• I was a PC member for the 9th Conference on Algebra and Coalgebra in Computer Science (CALCO 2021).
• I was a PC member for the 4th International Conference on Applied Category Theory (ACT2021).

2020
• I was a PC member for the 7th Symposium on Compositional Structures (SYCO7).
• I was a PC member for the 3rd International Conference on Applied Category Theory (ACT2020).
• I was a PC member for the 8th Workshop on Mathematically Structured Functional Programming (MSFP2020).

2019
• I was a PC member for the 4th Symposium on Compositional Structures (SYCO4).

Research visits:
From the 7th to the 18th of March 2022 I was on an invited visit to the Compositional Systems and Methods (TallCat) group at Tallinn University of Technology.

Other:
I was on (part time) maternity leave from 23 Jan 2023 until 31st Dec 2023.