Spring is in the air. People are enthousiastic and open to new challenges. One new challenge will be for Bart de Koning, a PhD student of the laboratory of Microbiology, who is the new chair of the VLAG PhD council. He is the successor of Jeroen Knol.We would like to thank Jeroen for his enthousiasm and dedication of the last 2 years.

We also would like to thank all the PhD students for their help in updating the VLAG database. This information is essential for publishing VLAG Current Research 2007. Shortly we will contact the PhD students again and provide them with further information about the poster we would like them to submit.

Special attention is asked for:
• The NUTRIM lecture series (see below).
• A unified approach to mass transfer, 4 - 8 June (visit OSPT)
• Nutrition and lifestyle epidemiology, 4 - 9 June (visit VLAG)
• Symposium N-3 fatty acids and mental health, 12-13 June (visit VLAG)
We appreciate early registration! This makes life for organisers much easier.

The deadline for submitting information for the 8th VLAG FLASH is April 24th.

Next meeting of VLAG Contact Persons will take place on 10th April starting at 3 PM in the room 225 on the second floor in Biotechnion. We have invited Dr. Frans Kampers, director of BioNT (Wageningen Bionanotechnology Centre for Food and Health Innovations), as a guest speaker. His presentation is scheduled at 4.15 PM.
If interested in joining please contact Vesna.Prsic@wur.nl.

On 24 and 25 January International Advisory Board convened in Wageningen to review the documentation and identifying opportunities to improve School's performance in coming years.
IAB concluded that the national mandate and international ambitions of the graduate school should be kept and further developed in spite of recent developments of Research Masters and consequent university based Graduate Schools.
The areas covered by VLAG are of high societal relevance and face many scientific challenges. Being effective in this area requires involvement of many disciplines and the strength of VLAG is that these disciplines are currently present. Participation of institutes enhances the graduate school by broadening its potential and strengthening applied character of the research conducted. Through collaborating partners and their networks the school is very well embedded in the national and global networks. There is a significant increase of number of collaborations over the years. Overall the quality of research and training is characterised as good to excellent.
About the educational activities IAB concluded that VLAG has a good portfolio of courses and that proactive collaboration with other (inter)national graduate schools results in higher efficiency. Nevertheless it requires constant attention and demand driven approach.

External evaluation of NUTRIM is in its last phase of documentation editing. External evaluation committee (Prof. C. Grunfeldt, Dr. J. O' Brien, Prof. H. Sauerwein, Prof. P. Vineis) will meet in Maastricht on 10 and 11 April.

All PhD dissertations funded by university core funds distributed through the Graduate School need the following acknowledgement: 'Research presented in this PhD dissertation was financially supported by the Graduate School VLAG.'

New professor of Dairy Science & Tecnology - Wageningen University has appointed Dr. ir. Toon van Hooijdonk as professor of Dairy Science & Technology. He succeeds Prof. Jos Lankveld in this position. The chair, which is part of the group Product Design & Quality Management, is financed by the Dutch Dairy Organisation.
The dairy chain is the largest segment in the Dutch Agro-food complex and contributes significantly to our Gross National Product. This position can only be maintained and expanded through continuous innovations in the total dairy chain. A world leading education and research infra-structure in dairy is needed to support these innovations in a fast changing dairy environment. Building a solid basis for an international MSc in Dairy Science & Technology is one of the first priorities of Toon van Hooijdonk. Research will focus on milk in the entire dairy chain; from farm to consumer. It deals primarily with new knowledge that supports the efficient and safe winning and valorization of milk and is components. Given the chain character of the chair, research will normally be undertaken in collaboration with other disciplines within WUR.
Toon van Hooijdonk (Ulvenhout 1948) is Corporate Director Research & Quality Management at Campina. In this position he is responsible for the innovation and quality management policy of the international cooperative dairy company Campina. He will continue this position for three days a week. Toon van Hooijdonk represents Campina and the dairy sector in several international and national boards and committees. He is member of the board of Food Valley and The Global Dairy Platform and on the Program Board of WCFS.
Before joining Campina he worked for Unilever Research in the UK and for NIZO Food Research. He was educated at Wageningen University in Food Technology and received a PhD from the same university during his work at NIZO.
Toon van Hooijdonk is located in room 303 of Biotechnion and can be reached by e-mail Toon.vanHooijdonk@wur.nl and by phone +31 317 482285 (Monday, Tuesday)

• P. Wang (Ping) Proteomic, transcriptomic and epidemiological analysis of adipocyte-secreted proteins - towards a system biological understanding of adipocytes. 29-03-2007, 16:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. E.C.M. Mariman, Dr. J.W. Renes, Dr. J. Keijer • 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 • J. Penders (John) Gut microbiota and atopic manifestations in infancy. 30-03-2007, 14:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. P.A. van den Brandt, Dr. C.T.M.C.N. Thijs, Dr. E.E. Stobberingh • E.L.R. Swennen (Els) ATP as a modulator of inflammation and oxidative stress. 12-04-2007, 14:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. P.A. van den Brandt, Prof. A. Bast, Dr. P.C. Dagnelie • Y.C.M. Staal (Yvonne) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon induced effects on gene expression in relation to carcinogenic potency. 12-04-2007, 16:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. F.J. van Schooten, Dr. J.H.M. van Delft • C.E.S. Mitchikpe (Evariste) Towards a food-based approach to improve iron and zinc status of rural Beninese children: enhancing mineral bioavailability from sorghum-based food. 16-04-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. J.M.A. van Raaij, Dr. E.A.D. Ategbo, Dr. ir. R.A.M. Dossa • V.C.J. de Boer (Vincent) Towards functional effects of polyphenols. Modulation of energy metabolism revealed. 11-05-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. I.M.C.M. Rietjens, Dr. P.C.H. Hollman, Dr. J. Keijer

• M. Derrien (Muriel) Mucin utilisation and host interactions of the novel intestinal microbe Akkermansia muciniphila. 15-05-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Dr. E.G. Zoetendal • J.M. Manski (Julita) Flow-induced structuring of dense protein dispersions. 16-05-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. A.J. van der Goot • B.J.H. Kuipers (Bas) Aggregation of peptides in soy protein isolate hydrolysates: The individual contributions of glycinin- and β-conglycinin-derived peptides. 21-05-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Gruppen • S. de Caralt Bosch (Sonia) Sponge culture: learning form biology and ecology. 29-05-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.H. Wijffels, Prof. M.J. Uriz • I.E.J. Milder (Ivon) Lignan intake in the Netherlands and its relation with mortality. 30-05-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. D. Kromhout, Dr. P.C.H. Hollman, Dr. E.J.M. Feskens • M.M.M. Vissers (Marc) Modeling to control spores in raw milk. 06-06-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J.M.G. Lankveld, Dr. M.C. te Giffel, Dr. P. de Jong

My name is Bart de Koning and I am a PhD student at the laboratorium of Microbiology since September 2005. My project is about transcriptional activators in Archaea. Before doing a PhD I have studied Biology here in Wageningen. During my study I did my thesis also at Microbiology in a similar project and I did my internship at The University of Sheffield on Mass Spectrometry.
I am looking forward to the work I can do being a chairman of the VLAG PhD council. I hope I will be able to raise the reputation of VLAG amongst its students, and show them that VLAG is something that is real, and that you can rely on. Therefore I hope I succeed in representing all the PhD students within VLAG, and within the WPC (Wageningen PhD Council) to make sure that problems that students might encounter during their PhD are solved in the future.

•	Food Sovereignty: promoting or undermining food security? (information / registration) 23 March 2007, Wageningen Food Sovereignty is one of the emerging concepts in present-day debates on food security and the right to food. Different than the Right to Food, which is a legal framework, Food Sovereignty is a political and policy framework that requires that states regain the necessary policy space to conduct their fight against food insecurity. This seminar is organised by Wageningen International, ICCO and Graduate School VLAG.
•	NUTRIM lecture series Next lecture: 28 March 2007, Maastricht In order to enhance the scientific standard of nutrition and to stimulate international exchange in this field, NUTRIM organises five lectures yearly for which an international recognized expert in the field will be invited to give a lecture and a Master class. The lectures will cover all main research areas of NUTRIM and are not only aimed at a NUTRIM-wide audience but also at Dutch Universities and institutes within the field of nutrition, metablism and toxicology, all food and pharma industry in the Netherlands and international universities and institutes within the EU region.
•	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.
•	Complexity in and between Social and Ecosystems 1 - 11 May 2007, Wageningen
•	A unified approach to mass transfer 4 - 8 June 2007, Wageningen In this course you will learn a method to describe all mass transfer processes.
•	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.
•	Metabolomics - 2nd edition 5 - 7 June 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.
•	N-3 fatty acids and mental health 12 - 13 June 2007, Wageningen 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.
•	Nutrition & sports - 2nd edition 27 - 28 September and 1 - 2 October 2007, Wageningen 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 26 - 30 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 10 - 12 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.

•	PhD Media Training - 15 March (visit WGS)
•	The Art of Writing - 20 March (visit Centa)
•	Scientific Publishing - 21 March (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - 27 March (visit Centa)
•	Project- and Time Management - 27 March (visit WGS)
•	Writing Grant Proposals - 5 April (visit Centa)
•	Creating Your Scientific Network - 13 April (visit WGS)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 17 April (visit WGS)
•	Professional in Supervision - 18 April (visit WGS)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 24 April (visit WGS)
•	Personal Efficacy - 26 April (visit WGS)
•	Career Assessment - April (visit WGS)
•	Presentation Skills - 21 May (visit Centa)
•	Career Orientation - 17 October (visit WGS)
•	Professional Communication Strategies (visit WGS)