There are still some places available in the next edition of the course Career Perspectives. This course aims for preparation and conducting an effective job search. Career Perspectives is meant for young scientists (PhD candidates and postdocs) who know what they want, but have trouble getting a handle on how to find this job or even in general: the right track to follow the desired career.

Dates:	20, 27 October and 3, 10, 17, 24 November
Target Group:	third and fourth year PhD candidates and Postdoc researchers
Registration:	before 20 September (visit WGS)

The deadline for submitting information for the 25th VLAG FLASH is 3 November 2009.

The international Peer Review of the Graduate School VLAG took place in June this year. The Peer Review Committee visited all NUTRIM (Maastricht University) and Wageningen University research groups participating in the Graduate School.

Some general conclusions and recommendations are summarized here:

•	The review committee was impressed by the overall excellence of VLAG both in its Wageningen and Maastricht locations. All research groups are considered competitive both nationally and internationally and have excellent scientific record.
•	The management of VLAG performs well in its role of nurturing educational aspects of the PhD programme and in promoting interdisciplinary activity through its PhD sponsorship.
•	VLAG is performing well in its mandate to deliver highly skilled researchers and high quality research to its primary stakeholders, society at large and the agri-food industry.
•	There are several staffing issues that need addressing at an institutional level. These include the ratio of tenured to non-tenured staff, the low proportion of staff recruited from outside the Netherlands, the low proportion of female staff in senior positions, succession planning and career tracks for post docs and PhDs.
•	VLAG has the expertise range to participate in most areas across the food chain. Nevertheless there is still more to be gained from the cooperation with the research institutes.

The full report of the Peer Review Committee including the assessment of the 15 research groups from Wageningen University and 4 NUTRIM research lines can be downloaded from the VLAG website (visit VLAG).

•	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 18 - 21 October 2009, Wageningen 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.
•	Farewell Symposium Dr Ton van Vliet ‘Rheology and fracture’ 22 October 2009, Wageningen The symposium 'Rheology and Fracture' will provide a comprehensive overview of the topics that are close to Ton's heart. Purpose of the symposium is to explore new horizons in this area, as well as meeting friends.
•	Advanced visualisation, integration and biological interpretation of -omics data - 1st edition 26 - 28 October 2009, Wageningen During this technical course, attendants will become acquainted with several popular in silico tools for microarray data analyses and visualization. Focus will be on data visualization. Applications and concepts from different research areas including organismal development, pathology, nutrition and medical biology will be introduced.
•	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.
•	VLAG NUTRIM TIFN International Protein Summit: Interactions of protein intake and metabolism 29 - 30 October 2009, Maastricht The work presented and discussed in this Protein Summit relates to the effects of dietary proteins on energy intake as well as on energy expenditure and further metabolic targets.
•	VLAG PhD week 2 - 5 November 2009 This activity is a compulsory part of the VLAG education programme and it is meant for PhD students that have recently started their PhD study. The aim of the PhD week is to combine training skills with lectures on interesting scientific topics.
•	NUTRIM-day 2009 12 November 2009 More information will follow.
•	A unified approach to mass transfer 23 - 27 November 2009, Wageningen In this course you will learn a method to describe all mass transfer processes. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Management of Microbiological Hazards in Foods - 12th edition 15 - 19 March 2010, 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. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Bioreactor Design and Operation - 5th edition 22 - 26 March 2010, 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.

VLAG Events scheduled from 1 April 2010 onwards can be found at the VLAG website.

• M. Levisson (Mark) Biochemical and structural analysis of thermostable esterases. 28-09-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. J. van der Oost, Dr. S.W.M. Kengen • L.M. Sanderson (Linda) Exploring the activation and function of PPARα and PPARβ/δ using genomics. 29-09-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M. Müller, Dr. S. Kersten • M. Koopmans (Marieke) Growth and metabolism of sponges. 02-10-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.H. Wijffels, Dr. D.E. Martens • G.K. Pot (Gerda) Fish consumption, does it beneficially affect markers of colorectal carcinogenesis? 02-10-2009, 11:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. E. Kampman, Prof. G. Schaafsma, Dr. A. Geelen • M.I. Pastink (Marieke) Comparative functional genomics of amino acid metabolism of lactic acid bacteria. 16-10-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. J. Hugenholtz • E.A. Habeych Narvaez (Edwin) Development of starch-based materials. 26-10-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. A.J. van der Goot

• S. Sieuwerts (Sander) Analysis of molecular interactions between yoghurt bacteria by an integrated genomics approach. 27-10-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Dr. J.E.T. van Hylckama Vlieg • M.L.J. Steegmans (Maartje) Emulsification in microfluidic Y- and T-junctions. 30-10-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. C.G.P.H. Schroën • F. Li (Feng) Block copolymer self-assembly and co-assembly. Shape function and application. 30-10-2009, 11:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.A.M. Leermakers, Prof. E.J.R. Sudhölter, Dr. A.T.M. Marcelis • L.L. Lichtenstein (Laeticia) Functional characterization of Angptl4 protein. 02-11-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M. Müller, Dr. S. Kersten • J.M. Mols (Maarten) Bacillus cereus acid stress responses. 04-11-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. T. Abee, Prof. M.H. Zwietering, Dr. H.R. Moezelaar • C. Roumen (Cheryl) Making Lifestyle work: Long-term effects in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. 06-11-2009, Maastricht Prof. E.E. Blaak, Prof. W.H.M. Saris, Prof. E.J.M. Feskens • K.C. van Dijke (Koen) Emulsification with microstructures. 13-11-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. C.G.P.H. Schroën

•	Career Assessment - October (visit WGS)
•	Presentation Skills - 6 October (visit Language Services)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 13 October (visit WGS)
•	Career Perspectives - 20 October (visit WGS)
•	Interpersonal Communication - 26 October (visit WGS)
•	Writing Grant Proposals - 2 November (visit Language Services)
•	Project- and Time Management - 3 November (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy, incl. Introduction Endnote - 10 November (visit WGS)
•	Effective behaviour in your professional surroundings - 18 November (visit WGS)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 15 December (visit WGS)

•	Professional in Supervision - 21 October (visit WGS)
•	Effective leadership styles (a Practical course for PhD supervisors) - 10 November (visit WGS)

The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme has been set up in 2000 by NWO, KNAW and the universities jointly. The aim is to promote innovation in the academic research field. The scheme is directed at providing encouragement for individual researchers and gives talented, creative researchers the opportunity to conduct their own research programme independently and promote talented researchers to enter and remain committed to the scientific profession. (visit NWO)

WUR participants
WUR participants who would like to take part in the internal coaching route should send in their proposal to Henrieke.deRuiter@wur.nl before:

•	Veni: deadline 8 December 2009, presentations will be scheduled on 15 December 2009
•	Vidi: deadline 19 January 2010, presentations will be scheduled on 26 January 2010
•	Vici: deadline 5 March 2010, presentations will be scheduled on 12 March 2010

After the presentations have taken place, the commission will select the most favourable proposals. These candidates will get support to optimise their proposal. Also they can count on support by writing their reply and they also can count on support for their preparation for the NWO interview.
For more information please contact Henrieke de Ruiter.

UM Participants
For detailed information regarding the coaching route for Maastricht University participants, please contact Yvonne Sondeijker at NUTRIM.

On 7 October there will be an introductory lunch for all Wageningen based PhD students who started recently. The lunch is from 12.30-13.30h. in the Blauwe Zaal (Biotechnion).
Please send an e-mail to Yvonne Smolders (Yvonne.Smolders@wur.nl) if you would like to join this lunch.

•	NWO-Talent Classes A Talent Class is an extensive workshop, based on the Talent Day. In fall 2009 the following dates are planned for the Talent Classes: 22 September, 10 November and 8 December. (visit NWO)
•	Thermoresponsive Polymer Nanoparticles for DNA Hybridization Colloquium organised by: Department of Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science Speaker: Jose Paulo Farinha; Inst. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Lisbon, Portugal Time and Location: Friday 25 September, 16:00 hrs., Ab van der Linde room, Building 316, Dreijenplein 6, Wageningen
•	PhD-training courses: Cardiac Function and Adaptation, Thrombosis and Haemostasis & Vascular Biology These three courses are taught simultaneously, meaning that each student can participate in only one of the three courses. Organised under auspices of and with financial support from the Netherlands Heart Foundation. 12 - 16 October 2009, Papendal (visit Netherlands Heart Foundation)
•	Food Risk Analysis: an integrated approach combining insights from the natural and the social sciences Course organised by Mansholt Graduate School of Social Sciences The fee for VLAG PhD students is € 250. 2 - 6 November 2009 (visit Mansholt)
•	Meer voedingsvezels: welke, waarom en hoe? Symposium organised by the NVVL (Network for Food Experts) together with the Federatie Nederlandse Levensmiddelenindustrie (FNLI) The language of the symposium is Dutch. 10 November 2009 (visit NVVL)