Van der Heijden, trained as a particle physicist, conducted her PhD research at CERN in Geneva, focusing on quarks and their interactions in the NMC experiment. Following a three-year postdoc in particle physics at the Dutch institute NIKHEF, she transitioned to science journalism and writing. She led the science desk at Het Parool and served as a science editor at NRC, covering mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Additionally, she created 'De Kleine Wetenschap,' the children's page in NRC's science section.

From 2012 to 2024, she was a part-time lecturer at Amsterdam University College, teaching physics courses such as 'Electrons, Waves, and Electricity' (with Davide Ianuzzi), as well as the physics components of Climate and Energy courses and cosmology in 'Life, Evolution, and the Universe.' She also taught writing courses, including 'Advanced Research Writing.'

Margriet van der Heijden, trained as a particle physicist, is also a part-time professor of science communication at Eindhoven University of Technology and a distinguished science reporter and author. Her passion for physics, its history, and its interconnection with disciplines as diverse as mathematics, biology, language, sociology, cosmology, and philosophy is evident in the numerous newspaper articles she has written. 

Beyond nonfiction children's literature, she has authored several books on the history of science over recent years. Her dual biography 'Denken is verrukkelijk,' which chronicles the lives of Tatiana Afanassjewa and Paul Ehrenfest, was nominated for the Nationale Biografieprijs 2022, the Libris Geschiedenisprijs 2021, and the Boerhaaveprijs 2024. An English version is set to be released by Oxford University Press in the spring of 2025. Her work 'Ongekend. Over vrouwen in de natuurwetenschappen die over het hoofd werden gezien' received the Cosmos nonfiction prize in 2023.

To gain insight into her work, here is a selection of recent papers and books and of books and papers currently in progress:

• Charbonneau, P., Frank, M., Monaldi, D, Van der Heijden, M. (Eds) (2025). Women in the History of Quantum Physics: Beyond Knabenphysik. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Blaauboer, M. and Van der Heijden, M. (2025). ‘H. Johanna van Leeuwen, he other scientist behind the Bohr-van Leeuwen theorem’. In: Women in the History of Quantum Physics: Beyond Knabenphysik, P. Charbonneau et al. (eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Van der Heijden, M. and Blaauboer, M. (2025). Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen, Die Wissenschaftlerin hinter dem Bohr-van-Leeuwen-Theorem. Physik Journal 24:7, 42-44.
• Van der Heijden, M. (Expected end 2025). The Delight of Thinking. The lives of Paul Ehrenfest and Tatiana Afanassjewa. Translated from the Dutch by Brendan Monaghan. Oxford University Press
• Heij, S., Stoepker, I., Cramer, J., Van den Heuvel, E., Van der Heijden, M., Van Vulpen, I. (manuscript for submission; OSF preregistered), ‘Mapping science communication in the Netherlands: perception and practices amongst physicists.’

To gain insight into her activities, here is a selection of recent invited talks:

• Invited keynote lecture and panellist at the 'Women in the History of Quantum Physics'at the 5th International Conference on the History of Quantum Physics - HQ5 in Brasil, August 9-14, 2025.
• Lecture 'Women in the History of Quantum Physics' at the WNP (women in physics network) meeting at the TU/e, Eindhoven, 9 May 2025.
• Invited lecture 'Women in the History of Quantum Physics' at the DPG-EPS-meeting 'Göttingen25', 31.03.2025, Göttingen.
• Invited lecture 'Jo van leeuwen, the other physicist behind the Bohr-Van Leeuwen theorem' at the  'World Meeting of the American Physical Society' 19.03.2025, Anaheim, California.
• Invited lecture Women in the History of Quantum Physics at the DPG-Lehrerfortbildung 'Geschichte der Quantenphysik/Quantenphysik im Alltag' 22.10.2024, Physikzentrum Bad Honnef.
• Lecture 'Science (mis)communication' at the Opening of the Academic Year of the Academy of Franeker, October 12, 2024.
• Co-chair and presenter of/at invited session 'Beyond Knabenphysik - Women in the History of Quantum Physics' at the annual meeting of the European Society on the History of Science in Barcelona - September 3-7 2024.
• Jury Member 'Huibregtsenprijs' in 2023, 2024, and 2025. 
• Speaker at morning session at ‘Feit en F(r)ictie’, Nationale Wetenschaps-communicatiedag, 9 October 2023.
• Invited lecture at the conference ‘New and Enduring Themes in the History and Philosophy of Quantum, Statistical, and Thermal Physics’, University of Minnesota, 8 November 2022.
• Co-organiser with Elise Crull (CUNY) and Guido Bacciagaluppi (UU) of the workshop 'Grete Hermann and friends' for the International working group ‘Women in the History of Quantum Physics’, Utrecht University, 7-9 July 2022.
• Opening lecture in the newly established Tatiana Afanassjewa Lecture series, Leiden University, 19 February 2021.
  
  

Margriet van der Heijden currently serves as a member at large for the Forum on the History and Philosophy of Physics of the American Physical Society, chairs the international working group Women in the History of Quantum Physics (WiHQP), and is a columnist for the NRC newspaper; her columns can be found here:  Margriet van der Heijden - Margriet van der Heijden is natuurkundige en hoogleraar wetenschapscommunicatie aan de TU Eindhoven - NRC. She is a member of the College van Friese Hoogleraren van de Academie van Franeker and of the Koninklijke Hollandse Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities).