Valéri Markine obtained his MSc Diploma in Mechanics from Gorky State University, Gorky (now Nizhniy Novgorod), USSR. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Delft University of Technology. The title of his Ph.D. thesis was 'Optimization of the Dynamic Behaviour of Mechanical Systems'. In 1998, he joined the Section of Road and Railway Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering of TU Delft. At present, he works as an Assistant Professor (tenure) at the Section of Railway Engineering.