We would like to bring an interesting new initiative to your attention:

Entrepreneurial Boot Camp for PhD students
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Valorization in Life Sciences

This summer course will be organised in two blocks of five days, of which the first will start 25 July 2008 in Madison, USA. Each course will have a mixed group of Dutch and American PhD students and teachers. Please register as soon as possible if interested. For more information, see below in the "Events" section of this newsletter.

There are still places available for the next courses:

•	Management of Microbiological Hazards in Foods (15-19 September 2008)
•	Advanced Course on Applied Genomics of Industrial Fermentation (13-17 October 2008)
•	Proteomics (20-23 October 2008)

Please register as soon as possible.

It is also possible to register on-line for other courses later this year, including the following PhD week organised in the fall of 2008. Please check the website regularly for updates.

The deadline for submitting information for the 17th VLAG FLASH is 12 August 2008.

On 2 June 2008, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced which four Dutch researchers will receive the NWO/Spinoza Prize for 2008.
Professor Willem de Vos, microbiologist at Wageningen University, was one of them receiving this prestigious prize for the groundbreaking research into the contribution of microorganisms to human food and health.
The NWO/Spinoza Prize, the highest Dutch award in science also referred to as the 'Dutch Nobel Prize', is awarded to Dutch researchers who rank among the world's top scientists. The laureates are internationally renowned, and know how to inspire young researchers. Each researcher receives one-and-a-half million Euros, to be spent on research of their choice. Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk will perform the official presentation of the monetary prize and the Spinoza statuette on Wednesday 19 November 2008 in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.

•	NuGO week 2008 - Nutrigenomics in Europe 2 - 5 September 2008, Potsdam, Germany
•	Evidence-based Nutrition: From Requirements to Recommendations and Policies 9 - 14 September 2008, Warsaw, Poland This course is based on the VLAG-course Nutritional and lifestyle epidemiology and four participants from Eastern-Europe that attended the 2007 edition of this course and suggested modifications to make this course more suitable for participants from Central and Eastern Europe. This special edition of the Nutlife course is sponsored by EURRECA, a FP-6 funded Network of Excellence.
•	Management of Microbiological Hazards in Foods - 11th edition 15 - 19 September 2008, 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.
•	Advanced Course on Applied Genomics of Industrial Fermentation - 3rd edition 13 - 17 October 2008, Wageningen (organised by BODL) 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.
•	Proteomics - 2nd edition The course is a 4 days hands-on course with a maximum of 16 participants. Lectures on mass spectrometry and proteomics applications are combined with practical work. Participants can bring their own sample for measuring, using splittless nano-HPLC Orbitrap FTMS. 20 - 23 October 2008, Wageningen
•	VLAG PhD-week - 20th edition 27 - 30 October 2008 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.
•	Systems biology course: Statistics of ~omics data analysis - 4th edition 8 - 11 December 2008, Wageningen This course will focus on the principles underlying processing, analysis and visualisation of large datasets derived from transcriptomics and metabolomics experiments.

• E.K. Bekedam (Koen) Coffee brew melanoidins. Structural and functional properties of brown-colored coffee compounds. 05-09-2008, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. G.A. Smit, Prof. M.A.J.S. van Boekel, Dr. H.A. Schols • A.A. Martens (Aernout) Silk-collagen-like block copolymers with charged blocks. Self-assembly into nanosized ribbons and macroscopic gels. 10-09-2008, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M.A. Cohen Stuart, Prof. G. Eggink, Dr. F.A. de Wolf • M. Bünger (Meike) Probing the role of PPARα in the small intestine: A functional nutrigenomics approach. 12-09-2008, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M. Müller, Dr. G.J.E.J. Hooiveld

• L. van den Berg-Hladíková (Ladislava) Texture of food gels explained by combining structure and large deformation properties. 03-10-2008, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. E. van der Linden, Prof. M.A.J.S. van Boekel, Dr. F. van de Velde, Dr. T. van Vliet • S.P.J. Dullens (Stefan) 12-11-2008, 14:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. R.P. Mensink, Prof. E.C.M. Mariman, Dr. J. Plat • M. Rosso-Vasic (Milena) Synthesis and photophysics of functionalized silicon nanoparticles. 01-12-2008, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Zuilhof, Prof. L. De Cola

In the collective labour agreement teaching duties are no longer obliged for PhD students. However we think that teaching is still an important feature of doing a PhD at our university with indispensable experience to be gained. We think that the new rules can lead to a larger influence of PhDs on the type and extent of teaching duties that they will participate in and to a more formal acknowledgement of teaching experiences.

The External Peer review of the Graduate School is approaching. The PhD council is also involved in the preparation. A few representatives of the PhD council will meet with the International Advisory Board in September. The added value of the Graduate School and possible improvements will be discussed. Any comments or ideas regarding the subject are welcome!

PhD council meetings are open for everyone. The next meeting will take place on 27 August at 16:00 in the Biotechnion canteen. On the agenda will be the coming meeting with the VLAG IAB. For more information, agenda and minutes, send an e-mail to Bart.deKoning@wur.nl (Bart.deKoning@WUR.nl)

•	Coping with Climate Change in Integrated Watershed Management - 30 June (visit WGS)
•	Career Assessment - September (visit WGS)
•	Project- and Time Management - 9 September (visit WGS)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 18 September (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - 18 September (visit Centa)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 14 October (visit WGS)
•	Career Perspectives - 21 October (visit WGS)
•	Science, the press and the general public: communication and interaction - 23 October (visit WGS)
•	Interpersonal Communication for PhD students - 27 October (visit WGS)
•	Personal Efficacy - 29 October (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy, incl. Introduction Endnote - 11 November (visit WGS)

•	Professional in Supervision - 22 October (visit WGS)

The Process Engineering PhD-trip to Japan has taken place from 11th until 23rd of May 2008. In total, 43 people from the group have visited a large number of universities, institutes and companies in the land of the rising sun. The first week, we stayed in the impressive megapolis of Tokyo, while in the second week our residence was in the more cultural city of Kyoto. In this booklet the reports of the visits can be found as well as the social activities report. In general, we can say that the visits were very interesting and impressive. Future cooperation with some of the groups will be established and probably also student exchanges.
Download the booklet in pdf.

Dr. Ellen van Kleef, VLAG alumna working at Social Science Group of Wageningen UR, received the Vinus Zachariasse Prize in the category Best Scientific Contribution. This prize is awarded annually by the Social Sciences Group. This is the second award Ellen received based on her doctoral dissertation in the field of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour titled "Consumer research in the early stages of new product development - Issues and applications in the food domain".

•	Rubicon Rubicon offers researchers who have completed their doctorates in the past year the chance to gain experience at a top research institution outside the Netherlands (maximum of two years). Deadlines are 2 September and 2 December 2008. read more
•	NIH Research related to genomics, incl. analysis of genome structure and function, genetic variation, population genomics and ethical, legal and social implications. Deadline is 7 September 2008. (visit NIH)
•	British Council and Platform Bèta Techniek Within the framework of the cooperation agreement between the British Council and Platform Bèta Techniek applications can be submitted for subsidies for research visits to the UK or for organising joint workshops or seminars with British researchers. Deadline is 15 August 2008. (visit British Council)

•	Entrepreneurial Boot Camp: Entrepreneurship and Valorization in Life Sciences This is a joint initiative of the Dutch Agro-Food Network of Entrepreneurship (DAFNE) and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. This Summer school for PhD students wants to create awareness of new invention and its possible impact through scouting, screening and assessing; and protecting and commercially exploiting knowledge (intellectual property). The Boot Camp will be organised in two blocks of five days: 20 - 25 July 2008, Wisconsin University in Madison (USA) and in Autumn 2008 in Wageningen. Each course will have a mixed group of Dutch and American PhD students (and other researchers) and a mixed group of Dutch and American teachers. (visit DAFNE)
•	49th International Conference on the Bioscience of Lipids The overall theme of this year's meeting is ‘Lipidology: bridge between basic science to clinical pathology’. 26 - 30 August 2008, Maastricht (visit NUTRIM)
•	NWO-Talent Classes A Talent Class is an extensive workshop, based on the Talent Day. In 2008 the following dates are planned for the Talent Classes: 23 September, 4 November and 9 December. Registration for the last three Talent Classes in 2008 is still possible. (visit NWO)