Reseach column: Tim Huygh

Tim was a research associate at the faculty. Currently, he is a professor in Digital Strategy & Governance at Open University of The Netherlands. Find out more about his journey below.

September 2007

The moment my journey at the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) of the University of Antwerp started. That year I started as a student in the Bachelor of Business Engineering in Management Information Systems. In the final stage of the Master’s programme, I selected professor Steven De Haes as supervisor of my Master’s thesis. That moment would later prove to have a major impact on my future career.

Somewhat unexpectedly, I really enjoyed doing research and writing my Master’s thesis. At the end of this process, Steven and I started talking about the possibility of doing a PhD. After giving it some thought, I decided to enroll in an advanced Master’s programme at the KULeuven, called ‘Master of Advanced Business Studies’. Given the fact that this study programme included a healthy chunk of courses related to business research methods, the idea was that this would be a good preparation for academic research. Moreover, during this study programme, I could simultaneously develop a research proposal for a PhD grant.

December 2014

In 2014 I graduated from KULeuven and submitted my PhD proposal to the FWO. A few days before Christmas 2014, the good news arrived that I was awarded with a personal PhD grant. This was probably the best Christmas present I ever received (although I also like socks).

1 January  2015

This was officially my first day as a PhD student. This was the start of a challenging, but very interesting journey. Under supervision of Steven, I worked on a theoretical foundation for the evolutionary dynamics of IT governance. In other words, we investigated how and why an organisation’s IT governance changes over time.

5 December 2019

This was the day of my public defence. This is the day that the PhD journey officially comes to an end, the day that you become a doctor. Such a day is hard to put in words. That is why I would advise you to have a go at it, and experience it yourself.

Not everyone who graduates as a PhD pursues an academic career. In fact, one of the most common misconceptions of a PhD study programme is that it is only valuable if you want to pursue an academic career. This is certainly not true. On my first day as a PhD student, my plan was certainly not to pursue an academic career. I wanted to become a management consultant. However, plans can change, and opportunities can pop up.

Epilogue

On 1 February  2020 I joined the faculty of the Open University of The Netherlands as an assistant professor. Being involved in teaching and research in the areas of ‘IT governance’ and ‘Strategic Management of Information Systems’ I can continue to pursue my passions.

University of Antwerp, thank you for the journey, it has been a privilege!