Vera, you're the person who can tell us all about MasterMinds. Fire away: what exactly does it entail? 
MasterMinds is a combination of 5 innovative research projects in the field of artificial intelligence. They are the projects included in the RegioDeal; they receive a subsidy from the national government to stimulate local economies and innovations through collaborations between knowledge institutions and companies. MasterMinds' 5 projects revolve around the use of virtual reality in aviation, maintenance and education, data science for predicting behavior and the use of serious games for complex decision-making in logistics.

What is your role within MasterMinds?
I have been working for Tilburg University 3 days a week since July of this year and spend all those 24 hours supporting the MasterMinds projects. I mainly focus on internal and external communication. I make sure that all project partners involved stay connected. And I work on more external exposure, including through events around the projects. For example, during the opening of the new MindLabs building, I had a role within the coordination of the MasterMinds presentations and demonstrations in the labs.

Why do these activities suit you so well?
I think because I'm nice and practical. I just want to get started and then be busy all day. And I am very results-oriented. Very useful in this job. Just like my urge to create an overview by always making lists. Because yes: my job is quite a happening and sometimes it is incredibly busy and a lot at once. But then I finish my to do's in Trello and it immediately feels a lot more manageable. A little shuffling, a little ticking: wonderful!

Were you already familiar with the overarching theme of the project?
I hadn't worked in the field of AI before. So the theme is quite new to me. I've been reading up on it over the past few months and getting updated on the topic and the specific projects. Luckily, knowing everything about AI and technology is not necessary in my role. But it is extremely interesting to learn more about it. If only because I now believe that AI will bring a lot to our society.

What surprised you most during that process?
I knew broadly what the MasterMinds projects entailed, but didn't fully know the content. By being present a lot at consultations and partner meetings, I now get everything very substantive and can get a much better picture of it. The same goes for the exact role of the project partners. When I found out what all is involved in the research - the programming, the research, the materials, the technical issues, you name it - a whole new world opened up for me. It's all much more complex than I initially thought. And although AI is still not entirely tangible to me, I now understand the need for the complete technical labs much better, for example.

Is there a project that has your special interest?
No, as far as I am concerned, not one stands out very much. I especially find the overarching idea of using VR to train incredibly interesting. Whether it's maintenance workers, pilots or avatars in education. The projects have great common ground, but are all slightly different. That is precisely what makes the combination of the 5 a wonderful whole.

Have you been able to celebrate any great highlights in the meantime?
As for the projects, they are all still running for about a year and the final experiments have yet to take place. So there are already some nice interim results, but no final conclusions yet. So in that respect, there are still a lot of highlights ahead. But one great moment that I did get to celebrate was the aforementioned opening of the MindLabs building. In the run-up to that day, I had a coordinating role for the MasterMinds presentations and demonstrations. And on the day itself, I was present to keep everything on track. Above all, it was a very nice day with nothing but positive reactions from visitors. So that really can be called a highlight!

And how to move forward?
With about a year left on the clock, it becomes increasingly important to start sharing more. What exactly the projects are about, what they have produced and why those outcomes are so relevant to society. It would be an eternal shame if they were soon completed and then followed by a 'this was it'. So we are now working toward new initiatives and collaborations that emerge from all that we are doing and have done. The MindLabs opening alone has given us a lot of opportunity to communicate about this. In addition, people were able to experience very concretely what VR is all about; experience was central. And they were able to see the latest state of the art. So a great start to the future.