title: Eppo Bruins
text: # Eppo Bruins
  
  Eppo Egbert Willem Bruins (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch politician and physicist who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the Christian Union (CU) from 2015 to 2021.
  
  Prior to his service in Parliament, Bruins was director of the Technologiestichting STW [nl] from 2007 until 2015. Since 2022, he has chaired the Adviesraad voor wetenschap, technologie en innovatie [nl] (AWTI).
  
  ## Early life and education
  
  Bruins was born on 19 September 1969 in Apeldoorn, Gelderland. He attended high school at the preparatory scientific education level at the Myrtus College in his hometown between 1982 and 1987.
  
  Bruins subsequently went to the Utrecht University, where he graduated with an Master of Science (MSc) degree in physics in 1991.
  
  Afterwards, he became a doctoral researcher at the Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie [nl] (Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter, FOM) for four years. In 1995, he obtained his PhD degree in mathematics and physics from the Utrecht University with a thesis entitled "The magnetic form factor of the neutron".
  
  ## Career
  
  Bruins later lived in the United States, where he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1995 to 1997. He then returned to the Netherlands, where he was a project coordinator at his former training institute FOM between 1997 and 2004, as well as subsequently director of the Leiden Institute of Physics of the Leiden University from 2004 to 2007, before his time as director of the FOM between 2007 and 2015.
  
  ### Politics
  
  Bruins was a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), but switched over to the socially more conservative Christian Union in 2011. In the parliamentary election of 2012, Bruins was placed as number six on the Christian Union list but was not elected.
  
  On 2 December 2015, he became member of the House of Representatives, when he replaced former party leader Arie Slob who had resigned as a parliamentarian. Bruins had previously served as editor-in-chief of the magazine of Christian Union's scientific institute.
  
  In the parliamentary election of 2021, he was placed seventh on the party list, failing to win reelection. In 2023, following the resignation of then party leader Gert-Jan Segers as a parliamentarian, a seat in Parliament was proposed to Bruins, who declined to return. The seat went to Nico Drost instead.
  
  ## Personal life
  
  Bruins became religious at age 18. He first belonged to the Reformed Association in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands and later became a Baptist. Bruins is the second Baptist member of the House of Representatives, preceded by Janmarc Lenards [nl].
  
  