黑料福利网

With his retirement on October 31, Paul Koenraad will fall just short of completing 40 years of service. September 15, 2025, marked 39 years since he joined the university as a PhD student. During that time, Koenraad has been involved in 黑料福利网 in all its facets: he rose to the rank of full professor, served as chair of his department for ten years, was vice dean of the Department of Applied Physics (now Applied Physics and Science Education), and Dean of the Honors Academy and the Graduate School.

He saw the university grow from a mainly regionally oriented institution with around 9,000 students to its international organization today, with around 14,000 students from all corners of the globe. He was also actively involved in the large-scale educational reforms that led to the current Bachelor's College and Graduate School.

From a medical doctor to physics and astronomy

With the characteristic twinkle in his eye, Koenraad explains that he came very close to not ending up at university, and certainly not in physics.

鈥淚 started studying physics and astronomy in Utrecht when I didn't get into medical school. However, the idea that I wanted to become a medical doctor turned out to be a temporary mistake, because when I could switch after two weeks of study, I didn't hesitate for a moment: I was completely in my element.鈥�

Emotion versus reason

After obtaining his bachelor's degree, he chose to continue in physics or astronomy. That was a choice between emotion and reason, he says.

鈥淲hile my heart was in astronomy, I was pessimistic about the job opportunities with that degree. I didn't think I was smart enough for an academic career,鈥� he says laughingly. Koenraad saw himself ending up at what was then Philips Natlab. So he decided to go for physics and only take astronomy courses for fun, without taking any exams.

鈥淚n the end, I was already 26 when I graduated,鈥� he says. 鈥淎t that time, you had to be established in industry by 30 if you wanted to build a career there. But my heart was really in science.鈥�

鈥淒uring my master's program, I wrote two publications and attended a conference. I wanted more of that. However, I was unsure about pursuing a PhD because I was afraid I would ruin my chances in industry if I didn't obtain my PhD within four years. My wife encouraged me to follow my heart this time. It was a success; in the end, I got my PhD in three years.鈥�

My wife encouraged me to follow my heart this time and pursue a doctorate.

Paul Koenraad

Start of chip development

In the late 1980s, Philips was working on the so-called MEGA chip project, in which the company, together with Siemens and with government support, wanted to build a megabit chip. Cleanrooms were built in Nijmegen and Eindhoven for this purpose.

鈥淚 wanted to be involved in that,鈥� says Koenraad. 鈥淢y professor in Utrecht, Rik Zijlstra, pointed me in the direction of Joachim Wolter, and I heard that his group in Eindhoven was going to grow III-V semiconductor materials (composed of elements from groups 3 and 5 of the periodic table, ed.). My thesis ultimately focused on quantum Hall effects, which had been awarded a Nobel Prize the year before.鈥�

Crucial step

After obtaining his PhD, the physicist secured a KNAW fellowship. 鈥淚n that context, I went to IBM Research for a few months to work in the group led by Huub Salemink and Heinrich Rohrer. That step was crucial for my future career, because it was there that I came into contact with cross-sectional Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, an invention by Nobel Prize winners Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer. I immediately thought: Wow, imagine what I could study with this technique!鈥�

Ultimately, Koenraad built his research and later group around this microscopy technology. 鈥淲ith cross-sectional STM, we had a technique that virtually no one else had, partly because IBM discontinued this research fairly quickly. We used this technique to visualize the growth of semiconductor structures such as quantum dots and other nanostructures and to study individual dopant atoms (impurities deliberately added to change the material properties, ed.).鈥�

Exciting developments

During the nearly four decades that Koenraad has been active in the semiconductor field, he has seen it change radically. 鈥淥ver time, we have gained more and more control over the behavior of quantum systems. My colleague Erik Bakkers can grow materials from an indirect to a direct band gap, allowing you to make silicon-germanium material emitting light, for example.鈥� This has long been a holy grail in the semiconductor world: because the inherent material properties of silicon prevent it from emitting light, it was impossible, for example, to integrate lasers into electronic chips based on this material.

Another development he views with satisfaction is the transformation from the old-fashioned departmental model with a single professor at the top to the current PI model, in which multiple principal investigators in the same group collaborate on a broader field of research.

The PI model is the ideal way for a scientific group to work. There shouldn't be just one alpha at the top of the food chain.

Paul Koenraad

鈥淚 implemented this partnership model early on in my group, because for me, this is the way a scientific group should work. In principle, everyone should be able to become a full professor based on the quality of their work, and there shouldn't be just one alpha at the top of the food chain. Together, you can take on bigger plans and investments and provide education in a specific area of expertise.鈥�

Passion for education

Throughout his entire career, Koenraad has had a special interest in education. As early as the 1990s, he experimented with design-based education with Andr茅 Duif at the Department of Applied Physics.

鈥淚n hindsight, that was Challenge-Based Learning in its embryonic stage,鈥� he says with a laugh. Students were presented with an open question and were then able to set up their own research. 鈥淯nfortunately, we had to stop that experiment because it took too much of our technicians' time.鈥�

Foundation for the Bachelor's College

His efforts to innovate education did not go unnoticed in the upper echelons of the university. So when plans were made to set up a minor-major system, Koenraad was asked to coordinate it. 鈥業n doing so, we essentially laid the foundation for the Bachelor College.鈥�

At the same time, there was a national program to improve technical education. To this end, universities had to set up an Honors Academy with at least 100 interested students. He also took on that task as Dean of the Honors Academy. 鈥淭here, we further developed the idea of Challenge-Based Learning.鈥�

Fostering enthusiasm

What does he like so much about Challenge-Based education? He doesn't have to think long about that. 鈥淚t revolves around open problems that can be closely related to research, in which people from different backgrounds work together, and that lead to surprising results. But above all, this form of education leads to a deeper understanding among students and greater enthusiasm for learning new things.鈥�

Challenge-Based Learning leads to a deeper understanding among students and greater enthusiasm for learning.

Paul Koenraad

It is precisely this element of sparking enthusiasm that motivates Koenraad most deeply. 鈥淚 get a lot of pleasure out of lighting that spark in others.鈥�

With that same mission in mind, he embarked on his latest venture eight years ago as Dean of 黑料福利网's Graduate School. 鈥淎t a certain point, you've scored enough impressive publications and invited talks in your research. I was looking for a new challenge and found it in taking on more administrative responsibility.鈥�

Graduate School

He also looks back on that period with gratitude. 鈥淒rawing up a new strategy for the master's programs, for example, was very valuable. I also enjoyed setting up EuroTeQ Engineering University together with international partners. When it comes to PhD students, I am glad that I was able to contribute a lot to the social side, for example, by setting up a competency profile.鈥�

But Koenraad is most proud of the development of the EngD programs. 鈥淚t's good that we have created more room for this type of program at the national level and modernized its accreditation system.鈥�

鈥淭oo few people realize that no less than one-fifth of all our post-master's graduates receive an engineering doctorate title: we deliver four hundred PhDs and one hundred EngDs yearly. Companies contribute almost eight million euros to these programs.鈥�

鈥淎t 黑料福利网, we are committed to talent development, scientific development, impact, and innovation. For the latter category, EngDs are crucial at a technical university. My argument is that 黑料福利网 would not be complete without EngD.鈥�

黑料福利网 would not be complete without EngD.

Paul Koenraad

Legacy

When asked about his legacy, education is the first thing that comes to his mind. 鈥淚 hope that my efforts have contributed to students now enjoying their time at 黑料福利网 more, and that we are better supporting postgraduate students' development.鈥�

If anything, the physicist is a teacher at heart. 鈥淟ooking back, the coolest moments of my career were when I opened people's eyes to recent research and showed them how something really works.鈥�

That is also why he spends his free time as the chairman of the Galaxis weather and astronomy association, teaching astronomy courses for beginners. 鈥淚 would also like to teach a course for advanced students. Maybe now I'll have time for that.鈥�

Countless plans

Last spring, Koenraad saw the northern lights with his own eyes for the first time. 鈥淚 immediately set out to learn how this phenomenon works, and it turns out to be very different from what was long believed.鈥�

After a brief lecture on how a plasma is created that changes the Earth's magnetic field, causing charged particles to be shot into the atmosphere, he returns to his plans for after retirement.

Back to school

鈥淢aybe I'll re-enroll as an astronomy student in Leiden,鈥� he dreams aloud. But I also have an interest in human history. Immediately after my farewell speech, my wife Anne-Marie and I will travel to the Dordogne, where she will take a painting course and I will look at cave paintings. Fascinating! Those drawings are 35,000 years old, you know. And they are so vivid, as if they were painted yesterday.

Enthusiastic collector

Oh, and I collect antique maps of Den Bosch and Brabant. My goal is to have fifty editions; I currently have thirty. However, so far I have mainly done the collecting bit online. I attended a so-called map fair for the first time a few weeks ago. I intend to do that much more often. People there know everything about how those maps were printed, how they determined how to indicate different types of areas, how the printing technique was adapted, ...

For those who were still wondering: no, Paul Koenraad is anything but afraid that he will get bored. But he will certainly miss this daily contact with students and colleagues.