Ilse, earlier we spoke extensively with your colleague Mirjam Siesling about the RegioDeal. But you're the one who can tell us all about the latest state of affairs. What is happening exactly?
Mirjam's work as project manager on this project is now largely over. I took over the baton from her and have been involved in the RegioDeal "MasterMinds" as project manager since 1 December. So I make sure the project is developing properly, that there is coordination between the parties and that we are working together towards the same goal. Communication has a major role in this. I make sure the right people are talking to each other. And that we keep to the agreements we have made. On the one hand, it's about coordination and organisation. On the other hand, I relieve the project of administrative burden. This allows the researchers the space to explore and inspire each other. They should be burdened as little as possible with things like reporting, administration and arranging meetings, for example.

Why is working on the RegioDeal important to you?
Because they are projects that involve both knowledge institutions and private partners from the industry or other organisations. You have the social need; a challenge. And you try to find an answer to a certain issue from the knowledge institutions together with the social partners. That combination literally gives me a warm feeling. Because wonderful things emerge from that. Connecting people is the best thing there is.

How are you making a difference as a project manager?
I think I always try to look at the bigger picture. Not only from the interest of MindLabs or Tilburg University. In this case, I always keep in mind the value for all partners in the RegioDeal. For all the knowledge institutions: Tilburg University, Fontys and ROC Tilburg, but also for the private partners. Ultimately, it's a team effort, pure and simple.

And what would you rather outsource?
That hasn't happened much yet, to be honest. At the moment, everything is still going well! But who knows? If you ask me in six months' time, I might have a different answer...

Can you take us through your work week? What does it look like at the moment?
For the MasterMinds grant application, the 5 projects have all been described. These projects are now being developed further. Together with our partners, we are coordinating how we want to further develop the projects, what research questions there are, who contributes what and which focus we want to apply. Because you can't do everything in four years. You need a focus. So right now I'm mostly arranging meetings and coordinating agendas. After all, we are in the early stages; good coordination is half the battle. In addition, we have to submit our first report to the municipality soon. And I happen to have just started organising the event on 4 February, where all the RegioDeal projects will be presented.

Tell us about the 4th; how, who, what, where and why?
On 4 February, we will present the MasterMinds projects to the public for the first time. In a situation without COVID-19, you could do that with a big event. But we have found a great alternative. We will present the projects during a webinar. Because it is cast in that mode, we can also show a number of interviews with partners, the PhDs appointed for the five subprojects and project leader Max Louwerse. And I'm hoping that after the summer we'll have the opportunity to do that kick-off live again.

February has been declared 'Month of the RegioDeal' at the MindLabs socials. Every week new videos of the projects will be put online in both Dutch and English. Which project video is a must see? Which of the projects are you most enthusiastic about?
That's a tricky one. Because all 5 are very different and have a lot of potential. On top of that, they are all interlinked of course: results from one project may inspire another and vice versa. Our projects differ from many other technology-driven projects because we look at artificial intelligence and human behaviour. If you use VR in training courses, for example, what does that do to the user's behaviour? And what happens when you go out into the ordinary world after a full day of VR training?

Our projects are also all very topical. COVID-19, for example, forces companies to look at new capabilities. We have a partner who can no longer do on-site maintenance worldwide, so now we are looking at the possibilities for using augmented reality to do remote maintenance. Or take our project with education, which involves working with intelligent, social avatars. Not to replace teachers, but rather to relieve the burden. And if you can get a well-known character to tell a story, I think it will stick much better than when Mister Twister tells it (or imagine Mister Twister as your avatar!). All very nice and interesting developments, but I don't really have a favourite. What a shame! It's true though!

What is your ultimate goal in terms of the RegioDeal?
That in four years time we will be where we promised to be, of course. That's the most important thing: a good conclusion to our projects, satisfied partners and a satisfied grant provider. But I would also be delighted if we could investigate how the five subprojects could cross-pollinate each other in terms of knowledge. That what you learn in one project can be used in another. That's also part of our goal. And it would be even better if we could use the RegioDeal as a small seed – or rather a very large seed, actually – from which a variety of new questions will emerge that we can answer in new projects. I hope that a kind of snowball effect will be created. That would be fantastic!