Alongside my historical research, I work as a certified specialist in gifted education and talent development. My focus, both in the Spezialist-thesis I wrote for the European Council for High Ability (ECHA) Diploma in 2024 and in the coaching practice that has grown out of it, is on a population that is curiously under-served by the field as a whole: gifted students in higher education and at universities of applied sciences (HBO, Fachhochschulen) — students for whom the infrastructure of identification, support, and challenge that exists at the secondary-school level largely disappears at the moment they need it most.
I should state at the outset that this work is professionally and methodologically distinct from my historical scholarship; the page below is intended for a different audience (students, parents, education colleagues, ECHA networks) and is written in a different register. For the historical research, see the Research areas and Projects.
ECHA Specialist Diploma
In 2024 I was awarded the European Council for High Ability (ECHA) Specialist Diploma in Gifted Education and Talent Development by the Internationales Centrum für Begabungsforschung (ICBF) at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. The thesis — Obtaining and Maintaining Execution Power: Exploring Learning Strategies and Motivation of Gifted (PhD-)Students in (Post-)Higher Education — was awarded the highest distinction (cum laude) and addressed precisely the under-served population mentioned above: gifted students in research universities, universities of applied sciences, and post-graduate programmes, with a particular focus on the executive-functioning challenges that often accompany high-ability profiles.
Coaching practice
Since 2023 I work, on a voluntary and increasingly formalised basis, with gifted students, children, and parents — typically around questions of academic motivation, executive functioning, identity, and the navigation of educational institutions that were not designed for high-ability profiles.
For coaching enquiries, please use the contact form and indicate “coaching” or “ECHA” in the subject line.
Book reviews on giftedness
I have written a number of book reviews on giftedness and high ability for specialist and education-professional audiences. The full list is maintained by Choochem, the Dutch centre for highly gifted adults. Please follow that link for the complete and up-to-date list.
Workshops and public talks
In addition to the academic presentations listed on the Presentations page, I offer workshops and public talks on giftedness in higher education for parent associations, schools, university teaching-and-learning centres, and ECHA networks. These include workshops offered through the Power2Improve programme.
For workshop enquiries, please use the contact form and indicate “coaching” or “ECHA” in the subject line.