Susan Hommerson - Policy officer for medical/device research at the Eindhoven University of Technology

Susan Hommerson is a policy officer for medical research and medical devices at the Eindhoven University of Technology. She followed the master Neurosciences from 2006 until 2009 after which she had several jobs consisting of coordinating and managing research projects until she landed her current job at the TU Eindhoven.

Who are you and what exactly does your job detail?

I am a policy officer for medical/device research. It’s a job which did not exist in 2018, but it was created because new legislation was implemented which resulted in new obligations for technical universities. Nowadays, many technical universities do a lot of medical research or research into medical devices. Prototypes and technologies are being developed that hopefully have a medical purpose in the future.

The university wanted to appoint someone who could coordinate these investigations and look at which parts of the legislation might apply to them. Furthermore, this person could help to ensure that the researchers are compliant with these legislations for example when they write documents for a medical ethical review.

Do you need to check regulations for every project?

For every project it is worth checking what is applicable and what is not. Most of the projects follow the same path, but for some projects you do have to look closely and be a little bit more precise.

When did you start working at the TU Eindhoven?

I started around 2018-2019 and after a while, I was working on the development of policies for the university. I have a lot of contact with the researchers, so it is my job to work as a policy officer and, also keep track of the individual research that is done. In addition, it is very important to train the researchers as best as possible. For example, if you are going to work in a hospital and do a clinical study, you must go through a good clinical practice training. This is currently not mandatory for technical researchers, but we started to set this up, because behind these data are human beings. This comes with a responsibility.

Is this already embedded in master programs?

No, but you can see that departments, such as Biomedical Technology, do see that it is becoming increasingly important. This is also the case for the topics: data management and privacy. Furthermore, we do a lot of research into Artificial Intelligence and then you deal with large data sets accompanied by many privacy rules. Research on medical devices at the TU is very diverse, so you need to know a lot about the laws that are applicable.

Did you start this all by yourself or do you have a team of people you do this with?

I set up the medical part myself with help off my supervisor. The university really wanted someone who could pioneer because most of the tasks were not defined yet.

So, you had no guidelines or job framework?

No, but I did collaborate closely with a colleague who was setting up an ethical review board for non-medical research. Together we have been asked to improve the communication and registration of studies with humans, or patients in my case. So, in that sense no one has the exact same job, but our jobs very much look alike when we’re working together.

Maybe we can take a step back? What was the application process like for this job? Were you really looking for something like this yourself or was there a vacancy?

Yes, at that time I was working at the Medisch spectrum Twente in Enschede, and I was looking for a new job in Eindhoven where I grew up and wanted to go back to. I saw this vacancy and emailed the contact person. Then I applied and was invited to an interview. The first round was with the deputy director and the director of the department of Biomedical Technology. Then I was allowed to go to the second round, where I had a conversation with three professors who were working in the medical research field.

Was it a challenge to talk to three professors?

It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t an interview where they wanted to know my mathematical knowledge or technical skills because I didn’t apply for a PhD position.

Do you have any tips to prepare for a job interview?

Learn about the position, so take a good look at what is expected of you. Try to read as much as possible about the organization and the field they operate in. Also, try to ask specific questions about the organization. I think checking if you fit in the organization is especially important. Ask yourself: ‘does this conversation give me confidence?’. If the conversation is going well, you often notice that it becomes a dialogue instead of a one-sided conversation.

Since this was a new position, you do not really know what to expect, and you also do not know whether your future colleagues have the same expectations. What I found especially important, was that the people in the second interview had the same ideas about the job as the people in the first interview. This gave me a lot of confidence because everything was probably well thought of.

Have you noticed that not having a PhD was a problem? Not just for this job but also before your application?

No, what I did notice is that in pharma, where I also worked for a while, your career steps are bigger or faster with a PhD. It really depends on where you’re applying, of course. It will probably open a few more doors and a little faster.

Did your expectations match the expectations of your job after the application?

After 3 years I still don't have a 9 to 5 routine, there are still surprises. There will always be things that you don’t expect because you are working with novel technologies, and you need to adapt to these situations. I personally like that a lot. The working atmosphere here is very good, so that also makes it easier for you to handle those kinds of things.

What kinds of things about the work atmosphere do you like?

People here are very collegial but also solution oriented. If something is complicated people always look for solutions and they don't get hung up on the problem. In addition, you also have a lot of freedom at this university.

As a researcher, do you also have a lot of freedom in the research department? Or especially outside of that?

I think it applies to both. During research you, of course, have papers that you must write, which means that there is a bit more pressure at certain times.

If other students want to follow your direction, how can they best get there?

I’m working in a very specific field. You can follow the clinical monitor training if you are working in pharmaceutical or med-tech companies, in which you get a lot of knowledge about regulations for research. With that background, I ended up at this job. I didn’t know that I would be doing this after my master’s but landed here because of the steps I had taken before that.

Did you know you wanted to go this way?

All I knew is that I didn't want to work in a lab. During my studies I had internships in the lab, which were tough as I was clumsy. Working with animals did not appeal to me and the clinical setting, doing research myself, wasn’t my cup of tea either.

What did you do immediately after your master’s degree?

After my studies I spent some time in Berlin learning German and then got the idea to go into the pharmaceutical industry. After that, I did some epidemiological health research but went back to managing clinical trials at a hospital. After that, I went to the TU/e. I found out, it was very convenient to have both worked in a company and in a hospital beforehand.

Is there anything else that we need to know? Do we need to know something for ourselves before we start looking for a job ourselves?