Marc J.E.C. van der Maarel (1968) obtained an MSc degree in Applied Biology at the Radboud University (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) in 1991 and a PhD degree in Microbial Physiology at the University of Groningen in 1996. From 1995 to 1999 he was a junior university lecturer in molecular microbial ecology at the University of Groningen. In 1999 he joined the Carbohydrate Technology department of TNO Nutrition and Food Research, a contract research organization, as a junior research scientist. In 2006 he was appointed honorary/visiting professor in Carbohydrate Bioengineering at the University of Groningen. From 2009 to the end of 2011 he worked as manager product and application development at the Food Innovation Center of AVEBE, a potato starch processing company located in Veendam, The Netherlands. At the end of 2011, Marc van der Maarel was appointed full professor in Aquatic Biotechnology and Bioproduct Engineering at the University of Groningen.