Plans for 2025

I figured it would be good to commit some of my thoughts, wishes, and hopes for the new year to paper, just like I did last year. Having written the same post last year also lets me reflect a bit on what I did (and did not) do.

Last year, I wrote:

I hope to graduate and formally obtain my doctorate later in 2024.

At that time I was a bit in-between things: I had not yet finished my PhD, and I was not sure yet about where to go next. Finishing the PhD is happening with my defense in March 2025. Until September 2025, I am employed on a short postdoc position at the Rotterdam School of Management. Thereafter, I aim to found a company over the summer. A year late, since I also had the same idea last year:

I am (re)starting my own business this year.

But that was before I learned about the postdoc position. I did manage to do quite a bit of contracting work last year, most of it related to routing and optimisition. That is something I might want to get back to as my main source of income in the second half of 2025.

Last year I also had great plans with this blog:

This year I want to write more in this place, not necessarily just about routing or OR-related things.

Clearly this did not happen: I wrote exactly zero new blog posts last year. For this year I make no commitment - although I enjoy writing well enough, finding the time to write an interesting piece remains a problem.

Finally, I commented on PyVRP last year. I will write a separate post in a few days to summarise some of the development, as well as plans for the next few months or so. The project is doing very well, with academics and practitioners increasingly relying on it for route optimisation. I expect that PyVRP will remain a big part of my work going into 2025.