Meet our RM CCN Alumni

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Bastiaan Boh

Bastiaan Boh (Brunssum, 1985) completed a BSc in Biological Psychology 2008 and a research MSc in Neuroscience in 2012, both at Maastricht University. During his research internship at the University of Muenster, he investigated the mismatch negativity event-related potential in the context of complex auditory sequences. After a grueling final year, he completed a PhD in May 2017, at the Clinical Psychological Science department of Maastricht University, studying the ecological momentary assessment of (un)healthy eating and co-developing an e-coach app to provide real-time cognitive behavioral therapy to people trying to lose weight. In 2015, he also started working as a guitarist in an extreme metal band. He left academia in 2017 and combined an intensive touring/ performance schedule with independent work as a study/ thesis coach, mainly working with master’s students struggling with severe procrastination, impostor syndrome and statistics. When COVID-19 hit, his work as a performer ended abruptly and has since never really recovered. Since April 2023, he is working full-time as a data scientist at Statistics Netherlands, focusing on the international trade in goods, and touring/ performing only sparingly.  

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Romain Hollands

Romain Hollands was born and raised in the south of Limburg. He obtained his Research Master in Drug Development and Neurohealth at the University of Maastricht in 2018 after gaining his BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience also in Maastricht. During his internship at Hoffman – La Roche in Basel he investigated a novel target for human epilepsy treatment in mouse and rat models. Afterwards, he started working as a teacher and project leader at the University of Maastricht. Instead of working as he researcher himself, Romain chose to work for and with researchers. Currently he is a scientific consultant and international account manager at Noldus IT.

Noldus IT is the world leader in scientific hard- and software solutions for behavioral (neuro)scientific research in animals and humans. Founded 35 years ago in Wageningen, The Netherlands, it currently serves 10.000s of researchers in over 100 countries worldwide. In his position, Romain visits research institutes throughout the world, providing insights and assistance for their current and future research needs

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Saara Martinmäki

Saara Martinmäki completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of Glasgow, including a transformative year abroad at the University of California San Diego. Inspired by her experiences there, in particular working as a research assistant in various posttraumatic stress disorder projects, she discovered her passion for applied research.

Her academic pursuit led her to attend the Research Master in Psychopathology in Maastricht (2015-2017). Post-graduation,
she delved into the world of trauma research, starting as a junior researcher and policy adviser at ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre in the Netherlands. There, her work took a strong focus on the mental health and wellbeing of individuals in high-risk occupational groups. Her PhD project focused on the mental health of humanitarian aid workers, and she also worked on creating guidelines for supporting first responders in the aftermath of a terrorist attack or other violent incidents. She currently still works at ARQ, now as a researcher and policy adviser focusing on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of people affected by war, disasters, and the aftermath of traumatic events in low- and middle-income countries.

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Marilien Marzolla 

Marilien Marzolla grew up in a small town in the south of
the Netherlands. She completed her BSc in Psychology
at Maastricht University in 2017, where after she completed
the Research Master in Neuropsychology. She did her research internship at Oxford University, working on neurofeedback for stroke rehabilitation at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging. Her internship led her to a full-time research assistant position in the same research group, where she worked until 2020. She applied for PhD positions back in the Netherlands and got a job as junior researcher in the Neuropsychology & Psychopharmacology Department at Maastricht University. With a new grant, she was able to turn this into a 4-year PhD position and is now working on sensory hypersensitivity after brain injury within the Limburg Brain Injury Center. Being in the final year of her PhD, she is now mainly working on finishing her last study and writing her thesis. Next to her research activities, Marilien is teaching at FPN and working with patients at the memory clinic in the hospital.  

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Lisa Schuetz 

Lisa Schuetz grew up in Austria and early on got fascinated
with the complexity of human medicine, and chose to do
a Bachelor's in Molecular Medicine (Medical University Innsbruck, AT). While staring through a microscope during a summer internship, she decided to start the Research Master Fundamental Neuroscience in 2018. She did her internship on microglia in synaptic pruning at Humanitas University in Milan, but due to a well-known virus outbreak had to stop the internship after four months. Leading to new uncertainties,
Lisa put her academic career on hold and work at a COVID-19 PCR lab close to her hometown.

By reaching out to a previous UM supervisor, she found a joint position as a junior researcher at Hasselt and Maastricht University on an immunology-focused topic. In a team effort, funding for a PhD position was gathered and now she is focusing on understanding how inflammation in the adipose tissue is linked to Alzheimer’s disease during obesity.
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