He holds a PhD in mathematics and natural sciences (2001) and an MSc in computing science (1996) from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. In 2004, he was awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which funded a position as postdoc at the Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems, University of Stuttgart. He returned as a postdoc to the Institute for Mathematics and Computing Science, University of Groningen in 2006. Since July 2008, he is with the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology.