Femke van den Bos

Femke van den Bos graduated from her Bachelor’s degree programme in Econometrics and Operations Research with an Honours predicate (summa cum laude) and she will finish her Master's degree in Econometrics, Operations and Actuarial Studies with excellent marks. But alongside her regular studies, Femke is also active on several different fronts. She was chair of the Groningen Student Athletics Association (GSAV Vitalis), she sat on various committees in both GSAV Vitalis and the VESTING study association, was a research assistant and a teaching assistant, works as a language and integration coach at refugee foundation Stichting Vluchtelingenwerk Groningen and has worked for the Landelijk Coördinatiecentrum Patiënten Spreiding (National Coordination Centre for Patient Distribution). This Centre predicts the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and issues advice regarding the allocation of hospital beds, IC capacity and the dispersal of patients around the Netherlands.

The jury was impressed by the way that she used her pitch to provide insight into the meaning of statistics, and how they are used in her work as a data scientist at the above-mentioned Coordination Centre, for example.

Femke says that she is keen to make a difference to society. In order to do this, she intends to deepen her knowledge of Development Economics by following a second Master’s degree at the University of Oxford. She has already been offered a place there for the MSc in Economics for Development.