prof.dr.ir. D (Dick) de Ridder

As life science research addressing challenges in the sustainable production of food, feed and fuel generates ever-larger volumes of measurements, biological data science has become an essential enabler. The Bioinformatics Group develops and applies novel computational methods to represent, analyse and integrate biological measurement data with already available data and prior knowledge, with a focus on the green life sciences. The group forms a hub for people, data and ideas at the forefront of bioinformatics, providing high-quality open resources to the life science community.

My own research and education in data-driven bioinformatics is concerned with computer algorithms and models to study the living cell at the molecular level. I am interested in how to integrate measurement data with prior knowledge about a problem to be solved by (machine learning) algorithms, and how to generate results instrumental for further experimentation. We apply these methods both ourselves and in collaborations with partners in academia and industry (in particular in green and white biotechnology), to answer a wide range of biological questions. I am a co-PI in CropXR, a Dutch research consortium launched in 2023 to contribute to improving agricultural production by making it less vulnerable to climate change.