The beginning of a new year with new good intentions and a new VLAG FLASH.
We would like to open this VLAG FLASH with special attention to three PhD-courses. A few places are still available!
• Career Perspectives, start on 13 February (visit WGS)
• Ecophysiology of the GI-tract, start on 26 February (visit VLAG)
• VLAG PhD-week - 17th edition (visit VLAG)
We appreciate early registration for all the VLAG courses.

Chantal Doeswijk will be back at the VLAG office from February 1st onwards. She was on maternity leave from May 2006-January 2007.We would like to congratulate Chantal Kandhai, who replaced Chantal Doeswijk for some of her activities last year, with the birth of her twins, Sarada and Ishaan on November 27, 2006.

Current Research 2007. Around mid-February PhD-students will receive an e-mail concerning information about achieving the Current Research 2007.

The deadline for submitting information for the 7th VLAG FLASH is March 6th.

At the beginning of the brand New 2007 VLAG is in the round-up phase of the Mid-Term Review. The International Advisory Board will meet on 24 and 25 January to assess the quality of the self assessment documentation and to provide advice on strategic issues concerning the research- and educational programme, and help to identify opportunities for the enhancement of the School's performance in coming years. During this meeting IAB will visit Physics and Physical Chemistry of Foods Group, Laboratory of Biochemistry and Product Design and Quality Management Group.

The authors of nine out of fifteen pre-proposals submitted within the 6th VLAG open round are invited to submit full proposals which are due before March 5, 2007.
For additional information please contact Vesna.Prsic@wur.nl.

Inaugural lecture of Prof. Dr. Renger F. Witkamp, professor in Food and Pharmacology, will take place on April 19, 2007 at the Aula of Wageningen University.

Inaugural lecture of Prof. Dr. Michael B. Zimmermann, professor in Micronutrients and International Health, will take place on July 5, 2007 at the Aula of Wageningen University.

On January 1, 2007 Prof. Dr. Ernst J. R. Sudhölter, former professor of Organic Chemistry at Wageningen University, will start his new position at Delft University of Technology as chairman of the department DCT-DelftChemTech, which is part of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, and as professor of Nano-Organic Chemistry within the same department.

Another VLAG scientist facing a new professional challenge is Prof. Dr. John P. Groten, professor of Combination Toxicology at the sub-depatment of Toxicology (WU) and head of the Business Unit Biosciences (TNO Quality of Life). He will join Organon, a business unit of Akzo Nobel and the biggest biopharmaceutical company in the Netherlands, as head of Toxicology International. At TNO Quality of Life he will be succeeded by Dr. Johan te Koppele, program manager 'Innovaties in Life Sciences' at TNO.

• I. Paraschiv (Ioan) H-bond stabilized columnar discotic liquid crystals. 19-01-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. E.J.R. Sudhölter, Dr. H. Zuilhof, Dr. A.T.M. Marcelis • W. Knoben (Wout) Chain stoppers in reversible supramolecular polymer solutions. 19-01-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M.A. Cohen Stuart, Dr. N.A.M. Besseling • P.L.L. Goyens (Petra) a-Linolenic Acid Metabolism in Humans. 25-01-2007, 16:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. R.P. Mensink • H. van der Schaaf (Hylke) Design of digital learning material for bioprocess-engineering education. 30-01-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J. Tramper, Drs. R.J.M. Hartog, Dr. M. Vermuë • A. Kuijsten (Anneleen) Bioavailability of enterolignans and their relation with chronic diseases. 30-01-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.J. Kok, Prof. P. van 't Veer, Dr. P.C.H. Hollman

• J.F.T. van Lieshout (Johan) Characterization and engineering of thermostable glycoside hydrolases. 06-02-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J. van der Oost, Prof. W.M. de Vos • H. Hilz (Hauke) Characterisation of cell wall polysaccharides in bilberries and black currants. 02-03-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. A.G.J. Voragen, Dr. H.A. Schols • K. Lenaerts (Kaatje) Proteomic-based discovery of nutrient-gene regulations: implications for gut health. 09-03-2007, Maastricht Prof. E.C.M. Mariman, Dr. J. Renes • R.A. Ganzevles (Renate) Protein/polysaccharide complexes at air/water interfaces. 30-03-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M.A. Cohen Stuart, Prof. A.G.J. Voragen, Dr. T. van Vliet, Dr. H.H.J. de Jongh

From 14 - 19 October 2006 a group of PhD-students of Microbiology went to the USA from San Diego to San Francisco. The PhD-students of Food Chemistry, went to Belgium, France and the United Kingdom from 23 October - 3 November 2006.
For both their enthousiastic reports and photos see the links below.

Microbiology report
Food Chemistry report

•	Ecophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract - 6th edition 26 February - 2 March 2007, Wageningen 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.
•	Philosophy and Ethics of Food Science and Technology - 2nd edition 8, 15, 22, 29 March and 5, 12 April 2007, Wageningen The course is set up as a series of six Thursday afternoon sessions which will include dealings with philosophical, ethical, and social issues surrounding science.
•	VLAG PhD-week - 17th edition 23 - 26 April 2007, Wageningen This activity is a compulsory part of the VLAG education programme and it is meant for the PhD students that have recently started their PhD study. Registration is based on 'first-come, first-served' principle. Deadline for the registration is 23 February 2007.
•	Nutritional and lifestyle epidemiology - 8th edition 4 - 9 June 2007, Wageningen The aim of this advanced training course is to acquire knowledge and expertise in the design, conduct and analysis of epidemiologic research on lifestyle and nutritional factors in chronic disease etiology. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	N-3 fatty acids and mental health During this symposium the focus will be on depression as well as cognitive functioning. These fields will be assessed from different points of view with results of epidemiological studies, trials and reviews. Furthermore the implementation of the current knowledge on these areas will be discussed. 12 - 13 June 2007, Wageningen
•	Summer Course Metabolomics July 2007, Wageningen The aim of the course is to give insight in the relevant techniques of metabolomics, in sight in the development in specific fields of applications of metabolomics.
•	Nutrition & sports - 2nd edition September/October 2007 This course is designed for trainers, coaches, sports dieticians, PhD students in (human or animal) nutrition as well as product development managers (with a minimum of a BSc education level) with an interest in improving their knowledge in the domain of nutrition and sports. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Production and use of food composition data in nutrition - 8th edition 1 - 13 October 2007, Wageningen The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Food fermentation - 3rd edition 15 - 19 October 2007, Wageningen After an introduction into the biodiversity of fermentation micro-organisms and the product technologies involved, this course deals with the specific aspects of functionality related to health, flavour and ingredients, models and control of fermentation and quality, and ~omics in particular the relevance of proteomics, genomics and metabolomics in fermentation innovation and control. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Bio-polymers - 1st edition 22 - 24 October 2007, Wageningen
•	Management of Microbiological Hazards in Foods - 10th edition 19 - 23 November 2007, Wageningen The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Master class Nutrigenomics - 7th edition 19 - 22 November 2007, Wageningen During the Master class we will discuss new developments in nutrigenomics research including specific aspects of human and mouse studies, molecular epidemiology, applications of microarray analysis, metabolite profiling or biomarker identification strategies. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Food perception and food preference - 4th edition November 2007, Wageningen The course will focus on how food preferences develop and how they are maintained or changed in later life. Special attention will be devoted to perceptual and sensory determinants of preference behaviour and food intake. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Genetics and physiology of food-associated microorganisms - 3rd edition December 2007, Wageningen This advanced course aims to develop expertise in the genetics and physiology of food-associated micro-organisms, in particular with respect to their reactions to variety of stresses that can be imposed deliberately on micro-organisms during food processing, by food preservation techniques and during distribution and storage. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.

•	Project- and Time Management - 23 January (visit WGS)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 30 January (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - 1 February (visit Centa)
•	Career Perspectives - 13 February (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy - 27 February (visit WGS)
•	Career Assessment - February (visit WGS)
•	The Art of Writing - 20 March (visit Centa)
•	Scientific Publishing - 22 March (visit WGS)
•	Writing Grant Proposals - 5 April (visit Centa)
•	Professional in Supervision - 18 April (visit WGS)
•	Career Orientation - 17 October (visit WGS)

In this VLAG FLASH we would like to draw your special attention to the NWO Rubicon Grants and the NWO Talent Classes (see below).

Manager Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs (visit NZO, in Dutch)