Niels Kerssens is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University. His research critically examines the platformization of public education and the future of digital autonomy in European schooling. In his NWO Veni project (2021–2024), "Platformization of Primary Education: Public Values at Risk", he explored how platform logics reshape education as a public good. His current work focuses on emerging Digital Autonomy Innovators (DAIs) across Europe who are reclaiming democratic agency over digital infrastructures in primary and secondary education. At Utrecht University, Kerssens is the academic lead of the Special Interest Group Platformisation of Education, an interdisciplinary forum – part of the Governing the Digital Society interdisciplinary research platform directed by Prof. José van Dijck – that brings together national and international stakeholders to reflect on platform power, public values, and digital sovereignty in education.