Interview with Carolien Oppeneer, head of Legal Affairs at NWO-I

Training school

Carolien studied law at Tilburg University and specialised in business law. After several years of working for financial services provider Achmea, she began work as an in-house lawyer at health insurer CZ. Carolien: "There, I mainly focussed on the operational side of the health insurer's activities. I advised about governance issues, tenders and a wide range of contracts with asset managers or suppliers".

"CZ offered me the opportunity to specialise in contract law. I could subsequently make the switch to a CZ-related care innovation fund that invests in innovations to make care more accessible. That included 25 start-ups and scale-ups. I was the point of contact for legal questions, and became more broadly responsible for their development as well. It was a fantastic training school that lasted for ten years. I even had the opportunity, from scratch, to set up and manage an innovation fund for care for the elderly."

Energy

She recounts how the birth of her children (2021 and 2023) made her see the pursuit of a career in a different light: "I realised that I was more inspired by societal themes than by climbing the career ladder. As a child, I had already learned that the way our lives turn out is not entirely in our own hands. My eldest sister has a learning disability and is blind. I find it important to gain the right energy from my work." She discovered the vacancy at NWO-I: “I recognised the logo from my time at the care innovation fund and could feel the enthusiasm bubbling up within me. In addition, I also wanted to return to legal work, and I was attracted by the job advert's promise of 'the responsibility to set up a new team'."

Accessible helpdesk

Before Carolien's arrival, the NWO-I office knew many individual experts who worked on the organisation’s legal issues. The NWO-I board recognised the need to tackle legal affairs in a more structured manner and to and to make it more substantial by creating a team. Carolien is now busy recruiting new fellow legal experts.

Will institutes now approach the LA team of the NWO-I office more often? Carolien is convinced of that: "The world is becoming more legalised, there is ever more work that is becoming increasingly complex, and researchers, for example, find it increasingly difficult to assess contracts themselves. My predecessor, Wen Lim, also took the initiative to work on location at an institute and opened a helpdesk there. That worked well because the colleagues on location discovered that they could easily go there for quick and professional advice, which does not come at the expense of their budget. All institutes will benefit from our team being available for legal services."

Huge puzzle

It often concerns requests for advice about or help with contracts, partnerships, the procurement of services or agreements with contractors. Partnerships can be public-private or in a consortium that receives funding from NWO. Carolien: "How do you record that partnership in an agreement if your institute does research with other partners? Sometimes, private parties are involved. How can you satisfy the conditions of the granting body in such cases? What should the result be and what happens when the deliverables do not correspond with the agreements? It is often a huge puzzle. Then you have to negotiate with many parties, each of which has their own legal expert."

"My work is very varied. There are also policy-related issues, such as intellectual property or the application of new legislation. During a tour of NIOZ, I suddenly found myself among the wood and metal of the workshop where tools for research were made that could be interesting to other parties. I had never previously realised that NWO-I should also draw up contracts for the use of such discoveries by third parties."

Focus in 2024

Does the LA year plan contain other points of focus, besides the creation of a team and the consolidation of the relationship with the institutes? Carolien: "Quality management is important. We need to standardise and develop best practices. There is not yet a structured archive or a standard knowledge tool. Another need is a system for contract management. Everyone manages contracts in their own way. This process needs to be digitalised." 

Setting a good example

Does this position meet Carolien's need for more legal content? Carolien: "That is certainly the case. I also enjoy the fact that I can use my management skills in this job. At my previous employers, I learned how personal development can make a team stronger. I view myself mainly as a member of the LA team and I feel that knowledge about the fields in which I would like to develop further should be shared with others too".

"First and foremost, each of us is human. What you experience in your private life also influences your work. I feel it is normal to show a genuine interest in that, an interest that is not just for the sake of form. As a member of the management team, you need to set a good example. Will somebody present something during a meeting? Then you should show respect by preparing for that. When you call for a more open atmosphere, you yourself need to have the courage to be vulnerable too, especially if you are line manager."

Who is Carolien?

Carolien (40) grew up in Zeelandic Flanders and studied at Tilburg University. She lives with her husband, son Julian (3) and daughter Sophie (1) in the village of Teteringen close to Breda. The family experienced a difficult year with hospital admissions and Sophie's operation. The latest news is that everything has gone well. Now, Carolien and her husband hope to have time for eating out, discovering Breda and enjoying their children together with their family. In a 'really nice' additional function, she is a supervisor at a care institution for disabled people.

Text: Anita van Stel

Newsletter Inside NWO-I, April 2024
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.