I.M.E. (Irene) Douwes-van Ark

Irene Douwes-van Ark has a background in pedagogical sciences and international relations (University of Utrecht and Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain). For a couple of years, she worked for a child-welfare organization in the Hague and in 2016-2018 she was working as a researcher and educational developer at innovative educational projects at the Graduate School of Medical Sciences (UMCG). 

Since January 2019, Irene works as an Educational Developer at the University of Groningen. She started her PhD-trajectory in December 2021 at the faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. Her main area of research is academic professional development, with a special interest in teachers' self-efficacy beliefs. 

Irene studied and lived in Spain, Costa Rica and the United States and has several language skills: Dutch (native), English (C1 level), Spanish (C1), French (B2) and Polish (A1).