Eelco Dolstra started the Nix project as a PhD student at Utrecht University. He currently works at Determinate Systems. In 2003, Eelco Dolstra started Nix as a research project. Dolstra says that the purpose of the project was to achieve a system for correct software deployment. Previously was a PhD student and postdoc in the Center for Software Technology at Utrecht University, a postdoc at the Software Engineering Research Group in the Department of Software Technology, Delft University of Technology, and a computer scientist at LogicBlox.