Girls' Day: why science is also fun for girls

On Girls' Day, 10 April, 150 girls from class 1 and 2 from local Dutch secondary schools will spend a day browsing around Hanze’s science, technology and IT programmes. Janine Postmus, second-year student Bioinformatics, thinks Girls' Day is very important. "Science studies are also for girls and a lot of fun."

Text: Loes Vader 

What exactly is bioinformatics?
“Bioinformatics is learning to program DNA. DNA determines who you are and what you look like. In every living cell of your body there are coiled strands of DNA. It is a code of letters that tell your proteins what to do. In bioinformatics, we learn to program very large datasets of DNA. That data can come from anywhere, from people, from animals, from plants, from soil. We learn to analyse, manipulate and everything that comes with it."

How did you become interested in bioinformatics? Was there anyone who inspired you?
"Before this, I did the Chemical Analyst course at Noorderpoort. We had a lesson about DNA in the middle of the Covid period, which didn't make much sense to me. A biology teacher then took all the time to explain it to me properly and he pointed me in the direction of the Bioinformatics course. He has been a huge source of inspiration for me."

What do you like most about your studies?
"I like to combine programming with biology. You actually make all kinds of small puzzles and eventually you have the puzzle ready and then it does something magical. Then a graph or picture comes out from which you can deduce whether someone is sick or not. I find that very interesting."

How many girls are there in your class?
"Four girls and eight boys. In the first year, at least ten of the 27 students are female."

Can you give an example of an interesting project or research you have worked on?
"At the beginning of this year, we were able to work with real patient data from the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). These were people who may have had a variant of cardiomyopathy. This is a condition of the heart muscle that can cause your heart to not work properly. We were allowed to find out whether we could find out which variant they had in the patient's genetic material, and whether they had it at all. I found that very interesting, because it is something I want to do later on. And I thought it was very special that we as second-year students were allowed to work with real patient material."

How do you deal with difficult subjects or moments when you don't feel like it anymore?
"Learning to program is quite intense, especially in the first year. But because you're not the only one who finds it difficult, it's easier to bear. In addition, the Bioinformatics programme is small-scale, which means that the lecturers have a lot of personal attention for everyone. That makes the learning environment very safe. You are allowed to fail and you are allowed to make mistakes."

How do you think bioinformatics can improve the world?
"Bioinformaticians, for example, do research into cancer. To help find exactly where the cancer is, which gene plays a role and what good medication is. This allows the medication to be tailored to the individual patient, rather than to a broad group. As a researcher, you can also mean something for the future."

What are your plans for the future? Are the jobs there for the taking?
"At UMCG they are eager to take us on, our teachers say. Bioinformatics really is the future in diagnosing diseases."

What would you like to say to girls who are hesitant about choosing a science study programme?
"If you like solving logical puzzles, are curious and inquisitive, you should choose a science programme. If you are unsure but you do enjoy it, you can do it! Science studies are also for girls and a lot of fun."

Girls’ Day 

During Girls' Day, hundreds of companies throughout the Netherlands open their doors to introduce 10,000 girls aged 10 to 15 to science, technology and IT. With hands-on activities and meetings with female role models, the girls discover the versatility of science and technology.