University of Groningen
The snowball principle for handwritten word-image retrieval
van Oosten, Jean-Paul
DOI:
10.33612/diss.160750597
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Publication date: 2021
Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database
Citation for published version (APA):
van Oosten, J-P. (2021). The snowball principle for handwritten word-image retrieval: The importance of labelled data and humans in the loop. University of Groningen. https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.160750597
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A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
When I started my PhD research, almost 10 years ago, I didn’t really know what to expect. I know I didn’t expect it to take so long, or that I’d finish a good portion of the work while working a full-time job (for anyone that’s reading this, and considering to do a part-time PhD while working: please reconsider!). However, there were quite a few marvellous people along the way that helped me on this interesting journey.
Of course, I want to thank my supervisor and promoter Lambert Schomaker. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to continue the research that we started with the Master’s project. The many hours that we’ve spent always seemed filled with interesting thoughts and even philosophical debates. It seemed that the more we got into the subject, the longer and deeper our discus-sions became. I’d also like to extend my thanks to the reading committee, Antal van den Bosch, Michael Biehl and Rolf Ingold. I’m also deeply thankful for the opportunity to travel to Japan and visit the Kyushu university. For that, I cannot thank Seiichi Uchida and Volkmar Frinken enough, for the invitation and the interesting scientific discussions, the amazing trips we took and the friendship. This is an experience that will remain a fond memory for a long time.
There are also the many colleagues at the ALICE institute, some of which I shared an office with. It is probably impossible to name everyone, but in particular, I’d like to thank Amir, Aswin, Bea, Ben, Charlotte, Faik, Harmen, Hedde, Jolie, Jort, Mahya, Michiel, Olarik, Robert, Sheng, Tapan, Tijn, and Trudy. A special thanks goes out to Elina for all her excellent help all these years! Then there are the many colleagues at Target Holding / Slimmer AI. I will not name everyone, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank
124 a c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s
Gert-Jan, for all the support and occasionally the kick in the butt, and JC for taking over the supporting role and kicks-in-the-butt these last two years.
Over the course of 10 years, there were a lot of friends that took an interest in my progress and are hopefully also excited for me to finally finish. Some people I’d like to thank in random order: Frank (for your programming wisdom, the great collaboration on Flexc++ and generally being a good friend), Robert and Marieke (all the support, the board games, being there all these years!), Richard and Marloes (also lots of board games, the support and the many hours on the phone while we’re physically distant), Bram and Carine (all the discussions deep into the night, all the support and love), Michiel and Kyuhee (for the hours of coding together), Ben and Charlotte (also lots of board games). My friends from high school and their loved ones: Maurits and Swi Yin, Maarten and Celine (hopefully we’ll be able to get back to escaping rooms soon!). Jilles kept not only my mind sane (with amazing movie nights!) but also my body (I really hope I can get back to kicking your ass!). At Target / Slimmer, I also met some amazing friends: Harma (for all the support and long talks about both our work and life), Marc, Mark and Tom (Passie = Bassie!) and Rolf (for your wisdom, grey hairs, amazing Linux bash-skills and computer history knowledge).
Thanks to Bente for the amazing drawing on the cover of the thesis.
Of course, I want to thank my amazing parents, Paul and Harda. They have always been there when things were a bit rough. Thanks for always believing in me! Thanks also to Reinier and Daphne (and Mees!), Oma, and everyone else in the family for the support and love!
Last but certainly not least: Mitsai. Without her support, this thesis would not have been finished. I would not only have lost my mind, but probably also gone hungry. The unconditional support and love is amazing, and I am forever in your debt for sticking it out with me through all these highs and lows. Thanks love, we made it!
