A special type of mirror to reflect X-rays has more possible applications than space research. Targeted radiation therapy for cancer, for example. Next to his full-time job, physicist David Girou mapped out the possibilities. He received his PhD on 14 June at Leiden University.

David Girou calls the six years he spent doing his PhD research 'an interesting challenge'. He is a so-called external PhD student, not paid by the university, and did his research alongside a full-time job. As a researcher and project manager at Cosine Measurement Systems in Sassenheim, his work is indeed related to his research topic, but that does not necessarily make it any easier. Girou: 'Projects, deadlines and customers always take precedence. I had to develop coping strategies, and be very intentional with how I spend my time.'

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