Niels Bovenschen studied Medical Biology at the Free University in Amsterdam. After obtaining his PhD in 2003 at Sanquin Research at CLB Amsterdam, he worked as a postdoc in Leiden (TNO, Gaubius Laboratory). In 2004, he moved to the department of Pathology at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht). In 2006, he received a prestigious VENI grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for his work on serine proteases (i.e. granzymes) in the cytolytic granules of cytotoxic lymphocytes. In 2009 he became group leader (Assistant Professor) at the department of Pathology (UMC Utrecht). In 2012, he was appointed as Associate Professor at the same department. His research group now focuses on the effector immune response in eliminating tumor cells and virus-infected cells. These aims fit within the UMC Utrecht focus areas Immunity & Infection and Cancer. He is in charge of the UMC Utrecht Pathology Research Laboratory and head of the Laboratory of Translational Immunology core facility Proteins. In 2017, Niels Bovenschen was appointed as Senior Fellow of Utrecht University. His mission is to engage undergraduate students in science by creating synergy between education and scientific research already at the early undergraduate level. He is examiner and coordinator of several (bio)medical educational programs at the faculty of Medicine, Utrecht University. In 2019, Niels Bovenschen won the Outstanding Teacher Award of Utrecht University.