First of all we would like to wish you a happy Easter.

In this 21st edition of the VLAG FLASH we would like to draw your special attention to our following events:

•	Master class Nutrigenomics (8th edition) to be held from 6 to 8 July 2009, Wageningen.
•	Delivery of functionality in complex food systems - 3rd international symposium to be held from 18 - 21 October 2009, Wageningen.

Registration is open, please register as soon as possible.

Besides our own course programme we would like to draw your attention to the Bibliometric Analysis of the Graduate School VLAG and the upcoming external Peer Review.

The deadline for submitting information for the 22nd VLAG FLASH is 25 May 2009.

In February 2009, the Web of Science (WoS) was used for the citation analysis carried out by Wouter Gerritsma, information specialist at the library of Wageningen University, and his co-workers. The objective of this bibliometric analysis is to provide an overview of the publication output and international scientific impact of the Graduate School VLAG, from 2002 through 2007. This overview is based on a quantitative analysis of scientific articles published in journals and serials covered by the WoS. Web of Science covers slightly less than 8.000 peer reviewed journals in all scientific disciplines.
For the period 2002-2007 some 89% of the peer reviewed publications were published in journals covered by the WoS. The Citation Impact over the whole period was high (1.48) compared to the to the world average 1. All heads of the research groups at WU received a copy of the report.

The preparation for the External Peer Review, which will take place from 15 till 18 June, is in its final phase. The External Peer Review committee will visit NUTRIM on 16 June 2009 for the evaluation of their four research themes.
The VLAG office and all participating research groups and institutes have been working hard on completing all necessary documentation. On 20 April the chairman of the External Peer Review committee Professor Brian McKenna (Food Science - University College Dublin, Ireland) will visit Wageningen to meet the representatives of the scientific VLAG community and discuss final preparation issues.

•	Starting with the client: New approaches to effective health promotion 14 - 16 April 2009, Wageningen This master class will focus on new approaches to effective health promotion, starting with the client, reflecting on the salutogenic approach to health and applying this to health behaviour. It is at postgraduate level and aims at nutritionists, physicians, nutrition educators, health promoters, health policy makers and scientists, interested in nutrition communication. The course may be of specific use for PhD students working in this field.
•	Genetics of Milk Quality 29 April 2009, Wageningen Seminar on the occasion of the PhD defense of Jeroen Heck (13 March), Marianne Stoop (6 April) and Anke Schennink (29 April)
•	Food Toxicology and Food Safety 11 - 15 May 2009, Wageningen Organised by: The Postgraduate Education in Toxicology (P.E.T.)
•	IPOP AIO meeting ‘Satiety and Satisfaction’ 13 May 2009, 12:30-17:30 (lunch included), Lecture room 54, Biotechnion (Bomenweg 2), Wageningen Please enlist by sending an e-mail to Chantal Doeswijk.
•	Master class Nutrigenomics - 8th edition 6 - 9 July 2009, 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.
•	NuGO week 2009 31 August - 3 September 2009, Montecatini, Italy
•	Nutritional and lifestyle epidemiology - 9th edition 21 - 26 September 2009, 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.
•	Production and use of food composition data in nutrition - 9th edition 11 - 24 October 2009, Wageningen The aim of FoodComp 2009 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.
•	Delivery of functionality in complex food systems - 3rd international symposium The purpose of the symposium is to stimulate scientific discussion and interdisciplinary research in food science, food development and food technology. It will emphasize the rational design and fabrication of foods from a physical perspective, focusing on understanding and utilizing the basic principles of the assembly of elementary food components such as proteins, lipids, polysaccharides and colloidal particles, in relation to their phase behaviour. 18 - 21 October 2009, Wageningen
•	Advanced visualisation, integration and biological interpretation of -omics data - 1st edition 26 - 28 October 2009, Wageningen Organised in cooperation with Division of Human Nutrition (WU) and Graduate School WIAS.
•	Reaction kinetics in food science - 6th edition 26 - 30 October 2009, Wageningen 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. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Food risk analysis course in 2009? 2 - 6 November 2009, Wageningen This course aims to provide participants with understanding of recent theoretical and practical advances in the area of interdisciplinary food risk analysis. If you are interested in this course, please inform Marcella.Haan@wur.nl Note: this course will only be organised if there is sufficient interest of PhD students!

• C.C.G.M. Booijink (Carien) Analysis of the diversity and function of the human small intestinal microbiota. 14-04-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. M. Kleerebezem, Dr. E.G. Zoetendal • M.F. Engberink (Marielle) Dairy intake, blood pressure and hypertension. Observational and intervention studies. 17-04-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. E.G. Schouten, Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. J.M. Geleijnse • M.T. Streppel (Martinette) Long-term lifestyle and dietary habits in relation to cardiovascular mortality and life expectancy: a prospective cohort study. 24-04-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. D. Kromhout, Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. M.C. Ocké • C. Dullemeijer (Carla) Very long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: a head start to win some years between the ears? 15-05-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.J. Kok, Prof. R.J. Brummer, Dr. I.A. Brouwer • M.A. Bollen (Mirko) Stability of the Bet v 1 cross-reactive allergens Api g 1 and Dau c 1. A biophysical approach. 20-05-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M.A.J.S. van Boekel, Prof. H.F.J. Savelkoul, Prof. H.J. Wichers, Dr. J.P.F.G. Helsper • M.B. Bos (Marieke) Mediterranean diet and the metabolic syndrome. 27-05-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. C.P.G.M. de Groot, Prof. E.J.M. Feskens, Dr. J.H.M. de Vries • M. Rosso (Michel) Modification of silicon nitride and silicon carbide surfaces for food and biosensor applications. 02-06-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Zuilhof, Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. C.G.P.H. Schroën

• J.W. Swarts (Jan) Effective use of enzyme microreactors - thermal, kinetic, and ethical guidelines. 10-06-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Prof. M.J.J.A.A. Korthals, Dr. A.E.M. Janssen • S. Laptenok (Sergey) Global analysis of time-resolved fluorescence microspectroscopy and applications in biopolymer dynamics. 11-06-2009, 11:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. van Amerongen, Prof. A.J.W.G. Visser, Dr. I.H.M. van Stokkum • J.H.B. Sprakel (Joris) Physics of associative polymers. Bridging time and length scales. 12-06-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.A.M. Leermakers, Prof. M.A. Cohen Stuart, Dr. J. van der Gucht • A. Punt (Ans) Physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) models to characterize dose- and species-dependent differences and interindividual human variation in bioactivation and detoxification of estragole. 15-06-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. I.M.C.M. Rietjens, Prof. P.J. van Bladeren, Dr. B. Schilter • D. van der Veen (Douwe) Transcriptional profiling of Aspergillus niger. 17-06-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J. van der Oost, Dr. L.H. de Graaff • G.S. Pilzak (Gregor) Synthesis and optical properties of monodisperse oligodiacetylenes. 19-06-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. E.J.R. Sudhölter, Prof. H. Zuilhof • M.M. Appeldoorn (Maaike) Dietary A- en B-type procyanidins. Characterization and biofunctional potential of an abundant and diverse group of phenolics. 22-06-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Gruppen, Dr. J.P. Vincken, Dr. P.C.H. Hollman

We would like to inform you about the start-up of the VLAG PhD council website. The idea behind this initiative is that the website will serve as a communication platform between the PhD council and the PhD students of VLAG. Although the website is still under constructions we encourage you to have a look at it. All suggestions are welcome to Van-Anh Phan. (visit VLAG PhD council)

The PhD council is looking for a PhD student representative from 'Human Nutrition' and 'Systems and Control' group. If you are interested in joining the PhD council, you can contact the VLAG office or Van-Anh Phan (Van-Anh.Phan@wur.nl)

•	Career Assessment - May (visit WGS)
•	Communicating science with press, policy and public - 7 May (visit WGS)
•	Writing Grant Proposals - 11 May (visit Language Services)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 12 May (visit WGS)
•	Career Orientation - 29 May (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy, incl. Introduction Endnote - 9 June (visit WGS)
•	Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research: Intervision and communication skills - 11 June (visit WGS)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 30 June (visit WGS)
•	Project- and Time Management - 8 September (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - September (visit Language Services)

•	Effective leadership styles (a Practical course for PhD supervisors) - 10 November (visit WGS)

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Rubicon grants to 27 young and promising researchers. Dutch researchers who have recently gained a doctorate can use the grant to gain research experience abroad. Foreign researchers may undertake research in the Netherlands.
One of these researchers is Joris Sprakel (WU-Physical Chemistry and Colloid Sciences) who received a Rubicon grant for his proposal titled: "A microscopic view on emulsions in porous media". In oil recovery, ground sanitation, infusion of biological tissues with bodily fluids and many other instances, fluids containing microscopic particles, such as oil droplets, are required to flow through media containing pores that are of the same size as the particles. This project studies, with advanced imaging techniques, how events on the pore scale influence the flow behavior on a much larger scale. This project will be done at Harvard University. (visit NWO)

Anne Wanders (Human Nutrition) received the first prize for her poster presentation during the Wageningen Nutritional Sciences Forum 2009 'Too Much - Too Little', which was held in Burgers' Zoo, Arnhem from 4 to 6 March 2009.
The title of her poster is: Effect of a high intake of conjugated linoleic acid, an animal trans fatty acid, on lipoprotein levels in healthy human subjects.

On 15 March 2009, the new regulations concerning the conferral of a doctorate have come into effect.
For an overview of changes see this letter.
The complete set of regulations can be found at the university website.

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2009 round of Overseas PhD Travel Fellowship Funding The Australia-Netherlands Research Collaboration (ANRC) supports Australia-Netherlands academic relations and brings together researchers from both countries to focus on Southeast Asia. Applications are invited from individuals currently enrolled in a PhD program in a Dutch university who are researching Southeast Asia. Overseas Travel Fellowships are available for PhD students to conduct specific, defined tasks in Australia related to their PhD. Deadline is 15 May 2009.

•	NVVL Symposium ‘Zomer of winter, vocht is essentieel voor de sporter’ Organised by The NVVL (Network for Food Experts) in cooperation with the Vereniging Sportdiëtetiek Nederland (VSN) and the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (HAN) (in Dutch) 16 April 2009 (visit NVVL)
•	Lecture Series ‘Research Techniques in Immunology’, topic ‘Chip technology’ To register contact Kaatje Lenaerts before 15 April. 21 April 2009, 17.00-18.45, Blauwe Zaal (0.402, UNS 50), Maastricht (send e-mail)
•	NWO-Talent Days and Talent Classes In 2009, NWO will organise a Talent Day on 6 October. Registration for will start in June. The 'Talent Days' series helps you developing other skills than technical skills, such as writing, networking and planning. (visit NWO) A Talent Class is an extensive workshop, based on the Talent Day. In 2009 the following dates are planned for the Talent Classes: 21 April, 19 May, 16 June, 22 September, 10 November and 8 December. Registration for most of the spring talent classes is still possible. Registration for the Fall Talent Classes will start in the middle of May. (visit NWO)
•	Master class Biobusiness 2009 During this master class, which set-up is in 6 modules in one year, you will be taught in all the aspects of the entrepreneurship and you will write your business plan in a team. May, June, September, November 2009 and February and April 2010 (view brochure in pdf)
•	Prevention of weight (re)gain A Satellite Symposium of the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2009) has been organised by the Diogenes Project at which the key results and insights generated by the project across its five research themes will be revealed and discussed. Diogenes researchers from its 31 partners across Europe will be joined by external experts from around the world. The Satellite programme also includes a novel EC-USA Workshop on the Early Programming of Obesity. Diogenes - which stands for "Diet, Obesity and Genes" - is co-ordinated by prof. Wim HM Saris, Maastricht University. It is an EU-funded (FP6), innovative multi-disciplinary, multi-centre research project to advance understanding of how obesity can be prevented and treated from a dietary perspective. It integrates studies of dietary, genetic, physiological and psychological/behavioural factors. Noordwijkerhout, Amsterdam 4 - 6 May 2009 (visit Diogenes)
•	BCF Event 2009 BCF Event is the umbrella name of BioCareer Event, ChemistryCareer Event en FoodCareer Event, and the 2009 edition will take place in the Amsterdam RAI. With an extensive exhibition with expectedly over 125 employers, education institutions and recruitment & selection agencies and an extensive program of presentations and workshops. 28 May 2009 (visit BCF Event)
•	European Symposium: Mucosal Immunology and Intestinal Microflora 9 June 2009, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK This 1 day symposium aims to give postgraduate students that work in aspects of gut immunuity, host-pathogen interactions within the gut and the use of probiotics the chance to present their work and exchange ideas to an audience of students, postdocs and prinicipal investigators. Postgraduate students and post-docs are invited to participate during the symposium by either giving a presentation or presenting a poster. (visit miim)
•	5th International Yakult Symposium The gut and more - Probiotic influences beyond the gut. 18 - 19 June 2009, Amsterdam (visit Yakult)
•	PCDI Postdoc retreat The annual PCDI postdoc retreat prepares you for a scientific career in academia, in industry, or somewhere else. The retreats are open exclusively to postdocs and final year PhD students in life sciences, health and technology. Workshops in career planning and transferable skills, meet and greets with employers, and discussions on shaping a career in the life sciences are part of the programme. 24 - 26 June 2009, Kapellerput, Heeze (visit PCDI)
•	Training course: Translation of genetic variation to gene function in biology and epidemiology 3 - 6 September 2009, Stockholm (Arlanda), Sweden (visit Diogenes)