As the summer seems to be losing ground the activities within VLAG office have been gaining momentum. We are in the process of visiting all research groups and institutes affiliated with the graduate school aiming at 'keeping the finger on the pulse'. Next to exchanging information, discussing new developments and mutual expectations, interesting new ideas for research programmes and advanced courses are generated.

There is more to PhD life in Wageningen then meets the eye. Two international organic chemistry PhD students, Milena Vasić from Serbia and Michel Rosso from France, got married on Tuesday 15th August. VLAG wishes them the best of luck and a prosperous life together.

The deadline for submitting information for the 5th VLAG FLASH is October 10.

As of July 2006 VLAG Board has two new members from Maastricht University: Prof. Piet van den Brandt (Epidemiology) and Prof. Ronald Mensink (Molecular Nutrition with emphasis on lipid metabolism).
For more on VLAG organisation structure please visit: http://www.vlaggraduateschool.nl/organisation.htm

Next meeting of VLAG Contact Persons, previously referred to as Location Managers, will take place on November 6th staring at 3 PM in the lecture room 319 in Biotechnion. As usual we will invite an inspiring guest speaker. Further details will follow.

Since VLAG can not always offer the courses needed by the diverse PhD community the students are encouraged to attend courses organised by other parties (in the Netherlands or abroad). When this happens the PhD student can be confronted with course fees that are much higher then within VLAG. The International Advisory Board had advised to develop instruments to remove financial constraints obstructing participation in such courses elsewhere. In the past, VLAG assisted PhD students who reported such situations on an ad-hoc basis. From September 2006 to September 2008 the graduate school will provide a budget to facilitate the participation in external courses.
Terms of reference concerning this subsidy will be placed in the PhD section of the VLAG website in September 2006.
For other sources of financial assistance for the realisation of a TSP please visit: http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/uk/informationfor/PhD+programmes/Funding

During the last edition of VLAG Contact Persons meeting Ms. Annelies Vandamme, from FEVIA Vlaanderen, presented Flanders' FOOD initiative and database for scientific expertise in food- and food related sciences. Goal of setting this database is providing concise information concerning available expertise to Flemish food companies. In the mean time the graduate school has received to form which can be submitted by research groups involved in VLAG.
Flanders' FOOD website (in Dutch): http://www.flandersfood.com/
For additional information please contact Vesna.Prsic@wur.nl.

•	A.P.P. Kayodé (Polycarpe) Diversity, users' perception and food processing of sorghum: Implications for dietary iron and zinc supply. 13-09-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M.A.J.S. van Boekel, Dr. M.J.R. Nout, Dr. A.R. Linnemann
•	N. Vogels (Neeltje) On the weighty issue of obesity: Physiological, behavioral and genetic aspects. 22-09-2006, Maastricht Prof. M.S. Westerterp-Plantenga, Prof. E.C.M. Mariman
•	S.J.P.M. Eussen (Simone) Mild cobalamin deficiency and cognitive function in elderly people. Efficacy of oral supplements. 16-10-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.A. van Staveren, Prof. W.H.L. Hoefnagels, Dr. C.P.G.M. de Groot
•	M. Fox (Martijn) Pulsed electric field inactivation in a microreactor. 16-10-2006, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. P. Bartels
•	M. Fischer (Morten) Limiting factors for the enzymatic accessibility of soybean protein. 23-10-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Gruppen, Prof. A.G.J. Voragen
•	N.C. Khan (Nguyen) The role of plant food sources in controlling vitamin A deficiency in Vietnam. 31-10-2006, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J.G.A.J. Hautvast, Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. P. Deurenberg, Prof. Ha Huy Khoi
•	N.P. Creusot (Nathalie) Enzyme-induced aggregation of whey proteins with Bacillus licheniformis protease. 13-11-2006, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Gruppen
•	G. Miliauskas (Gidrius) Screening, isolation and evaluation of antioxidative compounds from Geranium macrorrhizum, Potentilla fruticosa and Rhaponticum carthamoides. 20-11-2006, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. E.J.R. Sudhölter, Dr. T.A. van Beek, Dr. J.P.H. Linssen

The 3rd Asian edition of this course was organised by the Graduate School VLAG in cooperation with the division of Human Nutrition-WU and the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
read more in Dutch

On 4 October the first introduction lunch for new VLAG PhD students will be organised. We intend to organise this lunch every 3 months. This meeting is intended for new PhD students to meet the people from the VLAG office and hear more about VLAG, TSP, courses etc. All PhD students who started after 1 April 2006 will be invited for this lunch.
For more information please contact Yvonne Smolders (Yvonne.Smolders@wur.nl).

On the 10th of May representatives from the PhD Council had a meeting with the International Advisory Board (IAB). The topics that were discussed during this meeting were among other things the variation and quality of the educational program and the Training & Supervision Plan (TSP). Three topics that came out of this meeting that need additional attention are:

•	Curriculum and Training & Supervision Plan (TSP)
•	Do we need to improve the 'VLAG feeling'?
•	Emergence of Research Masters and Graduate Schools "New Style"

read more

The next meeting of the PhD Council will be held at August 29, 2006 at 16:00 at the canteen of the Biotechnion, Wageningen. If you think that your research group is under-represented and you are interested in joining the PhD council you can contact the VLAG office or Jeroen Knol (Jeroen.Knol@wur.nl)

•	Management of Microbiological Hazards in Foods 18 - 22 September 2006 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.
•	Master class Dietary Influences on Blood Pressure 27 - 28 September 2006 This Master class will focus on dietary influences on blood pressure and combines lectures with expert panel discussions and poster presentations. The course is at postgraduate level and aims at professionals from various fields (e.g. nutritionists, food scientists, physicians, health policy makers, nutrition educators, health promoters) interested in the subject.
•	Biocatalysis in the Food and Drinks Industries 24 - 26 September 2006 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. Registration is still possible.
•	VLAG PhD-week 30 October - 2 November 2006 This activity is a compulsory part of the VLAG education programme and it is meant for PhD students that have recently started their PhD study. The aim of the PhD week is to combine training skills with lectures on interesting scientific topics. Registration deadline: 1 September 2006, based on 'first-come, first-served' principle.
•	Industrial proteins 6 - 9 November 2006 This course provides insights and routes to systematically design new protein-based products, to solve problems arising in the isolation and processing of industrial proteins and to realise desired functional properties.
•	Advanced Course on Applied Genomics of Industrial Fermentation 13 - 17 November 2006, organised by Kluyver Centre, BSDL and VLAG This course aims to familiarize industrial and academic research professionals with the modern concepts of genomics, their use in microbial research and development, and their utility in contemporary biotechnological industry.
•	Reaction kinetics in food science 11 - 15 December 2006 The aim of the course is to acquire in-depth knowledge about kinetic modelling, and to apply and use kinetics in food science problems using modern software.
•	Systems biology course: Statistics of ~omics data analysis 11 - 14 December 2006 This course will focus on the principles underlying processing, analysis and visualisation of large datasets derived from transcriptomics and metabolomics experiments.
•	Ecophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract 26 February - 2 March 2007 The course consists of a series of lectures, workshops and demonstrations, and includes an opportunity for presentations of the participants' own work. After the course participants have a thorough overview on the current state of knowledge on the ecophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.

•	The Art of Writing - 5 September (visit Centa)
•	Project- and Time Management - 12 September (visit WGS)
•	Personal Efficacy - 27 September (visit WGS)
•	Career Orientation - 6 October (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy - 10 October (visit WGS)
•	Creating your scientific network - 20 October (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - 26 October (visit Centa)
•	Career Perspectives - 31 October (visit WGS)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 7 November (visit WGS)
•	Presentation Skills - 20 November (visit Centa)
•	Professional Communication Strategies - 22 November (visit WGS)
•	Professional in Supervision (visit WGS)

This course is intended for people who would like to enhance their interpersonal skills. By developing assertive behavior it will be easier to attain your goals in a more effective way. An important aspect of assertive behavior is to learn how to protect your own boundaries and to learn to stand up for yourself, create win-win situations and sometimes confront others.
Note that the deadline for registration is 8 September 2006. (visit WGS)

This workshop is aiming at staff members of Wageningen University who supervise PhD students. The workshop is offered by Wageningen Graduate Schools (WGS) and organised by two professionals in PhD training and assessment. The workshop in October is already fully booked, but you can register for a new edition to be scheduled end 2006/beginning 2007. (visit WGS)