This is the 2^nd edition of the electronic VLAG FLASH, substituting the hard-copy periodical which focused primarily on PhD students. This newsletter is directed towards the VLAG community as a whole.

We ask your attention for the news items that can be found under the heading 'Management Information', namely the information about the 2nd International Advisory Board Meeting, Mid-term review, Contact Persons meeting, and the visits of the scientific director to the VLAG partners. Information about the 2^nd edition of the Socrates Intensive Programme 'Food & Health' can be found via VLAG events. Note this course is free of charge for PhD students!

We hope you will contribute to the further development of this newsletter by letting us know if it meets your expectations. We encourage you to use this tool to share information with the VLAG community.
The deadline for submitting information for the 3^rd VLAG FLASH is June 7^th.

During this meeting International Advisory Board (IAB) will focus on educational activities offered by the graduate school, setup of the midterm review and discus VLAG research priorities (2007 - 2010). During their stay in the Netherlands IAB members will visit the Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute Maastricht (NUTRIM), NIZO Food Research and three research groups at Wageningen University, namely BioProcess Engineering, Organic Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science. With educational activities being one of the core activities and agenda points IAB members will meet representatives of VLAG PhD council in order to discuss the quality, diversity, revenue and other aspects of VLAG curriculum.

In the Netherlands all publicly funded research is evaluated once every six years. Once every three years research units have to produce a self-evaluation serving as an internal mid-term evaluation and preparation for the external evaluation. The three main Dutch organisations responsible for publicly funded research, Association of Universities, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), have defined a Standard Evaluation Protocol for practical use in all coming research evaluations conducted under their auspices.
Planning of the self-evaluation and consequent mid-term review of the graduate school will be an important discussion point during the meeting with the International Advisory Board. According to the guidelines IAB is responsible for the evaluation and approval of self-evaluation document as an input for the external evaluation. VLAG will produce necessary documentation in the course of this year aiming at the mid-term evaluation in January 2007.

Next meeting of VLAG Contact Persons, previously referred to as Location Managers, will take place on June 27, staring at 3 PM. During this meeting Ms. Annelies Vandamme from FEVIA Vlaanderen will present a short lecture about project 'Functionality in FOOD'. Moreover Professor Johan Sanders will present his research area within the lecture titled 'Bio-refinery: The bridge between Agriculture and Chemistry'.

In the context of maintaining, and where needed improving, the communication between VLAG management and participating university research groups and research institutes Prof. Tiny van Boekel, VLAG scientific director, will visit all graduate school partners this year. Depending on the possibilities the visits will be scheduled before the summer.

• M. Alewijn (Martin) The formation of fat-derived compounds during the ripening of Gouda-type cheese. 03-05-2006, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J.T.M. Wouters, Dr. E.L. Sliwinski • A. Steensma (Aukje) Bioavailability of genistein and its glycoside genistin. 17-05-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. I.M.C.M. Rietjens • D.A.M. Goossens (Dominique) The effect of the probiotic L.plantarum 299v on the intestinal flora; methodological studies in health and disease. 18-05-2006, 16:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. R.W. Stockbrügger, Dr. D.M.A.E. Jonkers, dr. M.G.V.M. Russel • V.B. Schrauwen-Hinderling (Vera) Skeletal muscle lipid metabolism: a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. 23-05-2006, Maastricht Prof. J.M.A. van Engelshoven, Prof. K. Nicolay, Dr. M.E. Kooi • K.R. Apaiah (Radhika) Designing food supply chains - a structural methodology: A case on Novel Protein Foods. 29-05-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M.A.J.S. van Boekel, Dr. A.R. Linnemann, Dr. E.M.T. Hendrix • E. Naumann (Elke) Functional food components and cardiavascular risk markers: effects of plant stanols, B-glucan and conjugated linoleic acid 31-05-2006, 14:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. R.P. Mensink, Dr. J. Plat • F.J. Zandbergen (Fokko) Characterization of the two PPAR target genes FIAF (Fasting-Induced Adipose Factor) and G0S2 (G0/G1 switch gene 2). 12-06-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M. Müller, Dr. S. Kersten

• E.P.M. Pellis (Linette) Folate metabolism in the human colon: cellular responses identified through in vitro studies. 13-06-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. J. Keijer, Dr. E. Kampman • D. Patsouris (David) Transcriptional regulation of nutrient metabolism by PPARα,γ and LXRα 13-06-2006, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M. Müller, Dr. S. Kersten • O.D.T. Sessink (Olivier) Bioprocess-Engineering Education with Web Technology. 19-06-2006, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J. Tramper, Dr. H.H. Beeftink, Drs. R.J.M. Hartog • M.W. Kuiper (Melanie) Occurrence of Legionella pneumophila and Hartmannella vermiformis in fresh water environments and their interactions in biofilms. 20-06-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. D. van der Kooij, Dr. R.R. Beumer, Dr. H. Smidt • K.A.N.D. Nijs (Kristel) Optimizing the ambiance during mealtimes in Dutch nursing homes. 21-06-2006, 14:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.A. van Staveren, Prof. F.J. Kok, Prof. C. de Graaf • M. Manders (Marleen) Nutritional care in old age: the effect of supplementation on nutritional status and performance. 21-06-2006, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.A. van Staveren, Prof. W.H.L. Hoefnagels, Dr. C.P.G.M. de Groot • G.H. Goossens (Gijs) The renin-angiotensin system in obesity: metabolic and hemodynamic effects. 28-06-2006, 14:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. W.H.M. Saris, Dr. M.A. van Baak, Dr. E.E. Blaak

•	Master class Nutrigenomics 18-19 May 2006, Maastricht Nutrigenomics is in the practical sense is a multidisciplinary science which involves molecular nutrition, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and genetics. Bioinformatics is the medium to extract knowledge from all experimental observations.
•	2nd European Intensive Programme ‘Food & Health’ 28 May - 11 June 2006, Warsaw (Poland) During this advanced course PhD students will be confronted with a new interdisciplinary approach covering the multidisciplinary relation food-nutrition-health. All travel, full board, lodging, and course costs will be financed by the IP.
•	Summer Course Glycosciences 6-9 June 2006, Wageningen This course combines general introductions in the field of polysaccharides and glycoproteins with in depth parallel sessions.
•	Innovation in Biopharmaceutical Process Development and Manufacturing 10-14 July 2006, Wageningen The program of the summer Course will be directed at the latest innovations in process development, including principles of quality systems. It will focus on the most critical unit operation in biopharmaceutical development and manufacture, namely the upstream part of the production process.
•	Management of Microbiological Hazards in Foods 18-22 September 2006, Wageningen The aim of this course is to further improve the knowledge of course participants regarding the management of micro-organisms that may compromise the safety of foods. The course programme combines lectures and group work ("case studies") with plenary discussions.
•	Biocatalysis in the Food and Drinks Industries 24-26 September 2006, Wageningen This international symposium aims to give an overview of the latest developments of the use of biocatalysts for the production of tastier and healthier food and drinks. Abstracts should be submitted before 8 May 2006!

•	Scientific Writing - 4 May (visit Centa)
•	Project- and Time Management - 9 May (visit WGS)
•	Presentation Skills - 29 May 2006 (visit Centa)
•	Information Literacy - 13 June (visit WGS)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 27 June (visit WGS)
•	The Art of Writing - 5 September (visit Centa)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 12 September (visit WGS)
•	Career Orientation - 6 October (visit WGS)
•	Professional Communication Strategies - 22 November (visit WGS)
•	Career Perspectives - autumn 2006 (visit WGS)

•	The NWO Rubicon programme for postdocs at the start of their career read more
•	Grants are available for participating in 'Fatty acids and lipotoxicity in obesity and diabetes', Bejing, 17-19 October, including a site-visit for 4 weeks, deadline: 1 July 2006.
•	The European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) has support-grants. Grants are available for organising practical and lecture courses, workshops and conferences, deadline: 1 August 2006. (visit EMBO)