After graduation in Dutch literature and linguistics, Sylvia Vink worked at the Institute for Dutch as a Second Language. As a member of the state committee  Dutch as L2, her focus was on testing. In 1999, she started at ICLON as educational advisor, in particular for medical education. Within a curriculum innovation project in the Faculty of Medicine at Leiden University, Sylvia supported teachers and eductional managers in the implementation of  this student-centered and multidisciplinary curriculum. However, both faculty and Sylvia Vink noticed that teachers had a hard time to work in an interdisciplinary way. This was the immediate cause of the research project that Sylvia Vink is conducting since 2005.