Summer holidays are almost over. We've welcomed 21 new VLAG PhD students who started their thesis research in the first half of 2007.

The Current Research 2007 has been distributed amongst all VLAG scientists. We would like to thank you for your input. From now on all scientists listed in this Current Research will also receive the VLAG FLASH.

This is also the time to plan your course schedule for 2007/2008 year! We would like to draw your attention to the updated course overview in VLAG EVENTS. Special attention is asked for:

•	Basic course Medical Immunology (20 September - 29 November) For more information see Events
•	Food Fermentation (15-19 October) Deadline for registration September 7.
•	Polysaccharides as Food Colloids & Biometerials (22-24 October) Deadline for registration September 12.
•	Master class Nutrigenomics (19-22 November) Deadline for registration September 23.

The deadline for submitting information for the 11th VLAG FLASH is 2 October.

•	NUTRIM master class and lecture 19 September 2007, Maastricht by Prof. W. Stahl, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie I, field Organic Chemistry / Biochemistry. Master class: 9:00 - 11:15, UNS 50, K. 0.406 PhD Students who want to participate, please send an e-mail message to Yvonne Sondeijker. Lecture: 11.30 - 13.15, UNS 50, K. 0.406 Beneficial skin effects of micronutrients
•	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.
•	Production and use of food composition data in nutrition - 8th edition The aim of FoodComp 2007 is to show how the quality and usefulness of food composition data is determined by the quality of the production of analytical data for nutrients in foods, and the compilation of these and other data into food composition tables and nutritional databases. 1 - 13 October 2007, Wageningen
•	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.
•	Polysaccharides as Food Colloids and Biomaterials: Fundamentals and Applications - 1st edition 22 - 24 October 2007, Wageningen This course consists of a mixture of introductory lectures in soft matter science mixed with lectures on recent topics of interest for polysaccharides as food colloids and biomaterials. The course aims at bridging the gap between the forefront of academic soft-matter research and applications in foods and non-foods.
•	VLAG PhD-week - 18th edition 5 - 8 November 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.
•	Management of Microbiological Hazards in Foods - 10th edition 19 - 23 November 2007, 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.
•	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.
•	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.
•	Food enzymology - 3rd edition 10 - 13 February 2008, Wageningen The course consists of a series of lectures and provides ample opportunity to discuss the food enzymology field and aims at providing detailed background information on enzymatic conversion processes with relevance to the food industry. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Regulation of Food Intake - 6th edition 24 - 28 March 2008, Maastricht The regulation of food intake is an exciting and challenging area of research which is highly relevant for people interested in biology, nutrition, psychology, and health sciences. Knowledge of these developments is of crucial importance for people from the food industry dealing with nutrition. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Bioreactor Design and Operation - 4th edition 26 - 29 May 2008, Wageningen Products from biotechnology cover a wide range, from pharmaceutical blockbusters to bulk energy carriers. In the research phase for new products main attention goes to the optimization of the microorganism. Genomics, physiology and metabolic engineering are the main study tools. Scale of operation is not really important in this case. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Summer Course Glycosciences - 10th edition 9 - 12 June 2008, Wageningen This course combines general introductions in the field of polysaccharides and glycoproteins with in depth parallel sessions. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.

• L.M. Hornstra (Luc) Germination of Bacillus cereus spores - The role of germination receptors. 03-09-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. T. Abee • K.T.B. Knoops (Kim) Dietary patterns, biological risk factors and survival in European elderly men and women. 07-09-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.A. van Staveren, Prof. D. Kromhout, Prof. C.P.G.M. de Groot • I. Koleva (Irina) New methods for the screening of antioxidants in three Sideritis species. 11-09-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. Ae. de Groot, Dr. T.A. van Beek, Dr. J.P.H. Linssen • E.S. Klaassens (Eline) Molecular functionality of intestinal bifidobacteria: A genomics approach. 21-09-2007, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Dr. E.E. Vaughan, Dr. F.H.J. Schuren • A.P. Akerboom (Jasper) Functional analysis of thermostable proteins involved in carbohydrate metabolism. 01-10-2007, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. J. van der Oost • S.J.J. Brouns (Stan) 02-10-2007, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. J. van der Oost • Jianfen Liang (Jianfen) Iron, zinc and phytic acid in rice from China: Wet and dry processing towards improved mineral bioavailability. 02-10-2007, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.J. Hamer, Dr. M.J.R. Nout, Prof. Beizhong Han • M.C.F. Dalm (Ciska) Acoustic perfusion processes for hybridoma cultures: viability, cell cycle and metabolic analysis. 10-10-2007, Wageningen Prof. J. Tramper, Dr. D.E. Martens, Dr. W.M.J. van Grunsven • T. Baks (Tim) Process development for gelatinisation and enzymatic hydrolysis of starch at high concentrations. 12-10-2007, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. A.E.M. Janssen

• S. Moço (Sofia) Metabolomics technologies applied to the identification of compounds in plants. 15-10-2007, Wageningen Prof. S.C. de Vries, Prof. R.J. Bino, Dr. J.J.M. Vervoort • M.P. Machielsen (Ronnie) Microbial alcohol dehydrogenases: Identification, characterization and engineering. 16-10-2007, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. J. van der Oost • D.P.A. Cohen (David) Functional analysis of Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1: a proteomic approach. 17-10-2007, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Dr. E.E. Vaughan • M.E. Schutte (Maaike) Effect of (mixtures of) flavonoids on the in vitro and in vivo bioavailability of 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP): a biologically based modelling approach. 19-10-2007, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. I.M.C.M. Rietjens, Prof. J.P. Groten, Dr. G.M. Alink, Dr. J.J.M. van de Sandt • H. Hadiyanto (Hady) 27-11-2007 Prof. G. van Straten, Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. A.J.B. van Boxtel • A.M. Werkman (Andrea) 28-11-2007, Wageningen Prof. F.J. Kok, Prof. E.G. Schouten, Dr. A.J. Schuit • M. Schurink (Marloes) 03-12-2007, Wageningen Prof. S.C. de Vries, Dr. W.J.H. van Berkel, Dr. C.G. Boeriu • H.J. Joosten (Henk-Jan) 3DM: From data to medicine. 07-12-2007, Wageningen Prof. J.A. van den Berg, Dr. P.J. Schaap, Dr. J.J.M. Vervoort • E.L. van Boxtel (Evelien) Quaternary structure and aggregation of proteins in relation to allergenicity. 18-12-2007, Wageningen Prof. H. Gruppen, Dr. L.A.M. van den Broek, Dr. S.J. Koppelman

On Friday October 19th , from 18.00-04.00 at Ceres, the first PhD-candidate party will be organised by the Wageningen PhD council and Wageningen Graduate Schools. Entrance is free for all Wageningen (international) PhD students. More information will be available soon but block October 19th in your agenda!

Carla Dullemeijer (WU-Human Nutrition) received the Young Scientist FENS Award for her poster titled "N-3 fatty acids and cognitive function in older adults". The award was handed over to her during the 10th European Nutrition Conference (FENS) 2007, 10-13 July 2007, Paris, France.

From the 23rd of June till the 8th of July, 13 PhD students and 1 post-doc of the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science have visited Sweden and Denmark. read more

On Sunday April 15, 2007, a group of ten people flew to Boston for a 10 day study trip to 5 different universities and the R&D facilities of 2 companies. read more

About every two years the PhD students of the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry of Wageningen University organise a study trip abroad. This year they visited Sweden, a 10-day trip (14-26 April) in two mini-vans with twelve PhD-students and two staff members. read more

Coming fall, from October 13th until 27th, a group of 27 PhD students will visit the North-Eastern part of the United States. The scientific programme consists of interactive symposia, lectures from keynote speakers from the Division as well as from the hosting research groups, and oral and poster presentations of the current research of the Division.
For more information, please visit the website: http://www.bioinformatics.nl/events/phdtour2007

•	Career Assessment - September (visit WGS)
•	Competencies for Integrated Agricultural Research - 2 September (visit WGS)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 5 September (visit WGS)
•	Project- and Time Management - 11 September (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy, incl. Introduction Endnote - 11 September (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - 27 September (visit Centa)
•	The Art of Writing - 9 October (visit CENTA)
•	Presentation Skills - 12 October (visit CENTA)
•	Career Orientation - 17 October (visit WGS)
•	Professional in Supervision - 17 October (visit WGS)
•	Personal Efficacy - 18 October (visit WGS)
•	Mobilising your -scientific- network - 19 October (visit WGS)
•	Career Perspectives - 23 October (visit WGS)
•	Interpersonal Communication for PhD students - 1 Nov. (visit WGS)
•	Communication in Interdisciplinary Research - 1 Nov. (visit WGS)