Every two years the Graduate School VLAG publishes the Current Research, a book containing one-page descriptions (posters) of all ongoing PhD projects. We are looking forward to receiving the wide variety of posters and processing them into an up to date Current Research 2010. Therefore, all VLAG PhD students as well as their supervisors were informed this week of the procedure and ... deadlines!

The deadline for submitting information for the 26th VLAG FLASH is Wednesday 6 January 2010.

•	Symposium Leefstijl en diabetes preventie: Bekijk het SLIM 6 November 2009, Maastricht The language of the symposium is Dutch.
•	NUTRIM-day 2009 12 November 2009, Maastricht
•	Wageningen Evolution and Ecology Master class and Seminar 19 November 2009, Wageningen Seminar: Santiago F. Elena - Institute for Plant Molecular and Cell Biology, Valencia, Spain "Mechanisms of genetic robustness in RNA viruses" starting at 16:00 hrs and followed by drinks. Master class: 13:30 - 15:00 hrs
•	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 PhD week 12 - 15 April 2010 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.
•	Summer Course Glycosciences - 11th edition 17 - 20 May 2010, 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.

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

• 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 • J.D. de Jonge (Jonathan) Advancement of the Brown Norway rat as a model for food allergy. Route of exposure - immunomodulation - allergogenomics. 27-11-2009, 10:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. H. van Loveren • N. Sengkhamparn (Nipaporn) Chemical, physical and biological features of Okra pectin. 02-12-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. A.G.J. Voragen, Dr. H.A. Schols, Dr. T. Sajjaanantakul • M. Charlaganov (Marat) Self-organization of polymers in bulk and at interfaces. 04-12-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.A.M. Leermakers, Prof. M.A. Cohen Stuart, Prof. O.V. Borisov • G.L. Kennedy (Gina) Evaluation of dietary diversity scores for assessment of micronutrient intake and food security in developing countries. 07-12-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. I.D. Brouwer, Dr. G. Nantel • H. Du (Huaidong) Dietary determinants of obesity. 11-12-2009, Maastricht Prof. W.H.M. Saris, Prof. E.J.M. Feskens, Dr. D.L. van der A

• N.H. Essed (Natasja) Flavor enhancement of food as a stimulant for food intake in elderly people. 14-12-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. C. de Graaf, Prof. W.A. van Staveren • J.H.C. Eilander (Ans) Micronutrients, omega-3 fatty acids and cognitive performance in Indian school children. 16-12-2009, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. S.J.M. Osendarp, Dr. S. Muthayya • O. van de Rest (Ondine) Fish fatty acids and mental health in older people. 18-12-2009, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. C.P.G.M. de Groot, Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. J.M. Geleijnse • S. Jovetic Deacylation of glycopeptide antibiotic A40926 by immobilized Actinoplanes teichomyceticus cells - In quest of better drugs against MRSA. 05-01-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J. Tramper • A.C. Hoek (Annet) Will novel protein foods beat meat? Consumer acceptance of meat substitutes - a multidisciplinary research approach. 12-01-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. C. de Graaf, Prof. M.A.J.S. van Boekel, Dr. P.A. Luning • M.L. Molag (Marja) Towards transparent development at food frequency questionnaires. Scientific basis of the Dutch FFQ-TOOL tm: a computer system to generate, apply and process FFQs'. 15-01-2010, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. P. van 't Veer, Prof. P.A. van den Brandt, Dr. J.H.M. de Vries • G.G. Zeinstra (Gertrude) Encouraging vegetable intake in children. The role of parental strategies, cognitive development and properties of food. 22-01-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. C. de Graaf, Prof. F.J. Kok, Dr. M.A. Koelen

On September 18th, 2009, Martien Cohen Stuart (Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science) was awarded the 13th Lectureship Award of the Colloid Division of the Japanese Chemical Society. The Award was given for leadership and outstanding contributions to the science of colloids, in particular innovative insights in self-assembly of many different water soluble polymers forming nanoparticles, fibrils and gels.

On Friday September 11th, 2009 Gerard Fleer (emeritus, Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science) received the 4th Golden Overbeek Medal from the European Colloid and Interface Society ECIS in recognition for his contributions to the understanding of polymers in colloidal systems. The Overbeek Medal is named after the late Prof. Overbeek (Utrecht University) whose scientific legacy is a cornerstone of the discipline. Gerard Fleer played a pivotal role worldwide in the rapid development of the knowledge of polymers at interfaces during the last four decades, combining theoretical, numerical and experimental methods with concepts from colloid science and polymer physics.

Yuan Li (Physical and Colloid Sciences) received the second prize for her poster presentation during the 3rd International Symposium on Delivery of Functionality in Complex Food Systems, which was organised by VLAG and the Laboratory of Physics and Physical Chemistry of Foods and was held in Wageningen from 18-21 October 2009.
The title of her poster is: "Encapsulation of chicken egg white lysozyme into oxidized starch polymer microgel".

•	Career Assessment - November (visit WGS)
•	Effective behaviour in your professional surroundings - 18 November (visit WGS)
•	Scientific publishing skills - 19 November (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy, incl. Introduction Endnote - 7 December (visit WGS)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 15 December (visit WGS)
•	Project- and Time Management - 12 January (visit WGS)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - January/February (visit WGS)
•	Philosophy and Ethics of Food Science and Technology - 14 January (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - 14 January (visit Language Services)
•	The Art of Writing - 3 February (visit Language Services)

•	Professional in Supervision - 14 April (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 are scheduled on 15 December 2009
•	Vidi: deadline 19 January 2010, presentations are scheduled on 26 January 2010
•	Vici: deadline 5 March 2010, presentations are scheduled on 12 March 2010

After the presentations have taken place, the committee 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.

Twenty-four PhD students with eight different nationalities, covering the broad range of nutritional science on the cellular, individual and population level, participated in the 2009 edition of the PhD-tour from the division of Human Nutrition. They visited seven universities and institutes in three Nordic countries; Denmark, Sweden and Finland. It was a great opportunity for them to increase and strengthen their knowledge in nutrition research and related areas. read more

•	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: 10 November and 8 December. (visit NWO)
•	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)
•	Mini-symposium on Emulsion Technology Symposium organised by the Food Process Engineering group of Wageningen University. 12 November 2009, Wageningen (more info)
•	Does interdisciplinary research result in new concepts, new methods and new science? Workshop organised by INREF. Researchers involved in interdisciplinary programmes, or those with a strong interest in interdisciplinary research, are very welcome. 1 December 2009, Wageningen (visit WI)
•	Voeding en overgewicht: Theorie en praktijk. De rol van zuivel. Symposium organised by the Nederlandse Zuivel Organisatie in cooperation with the Nederlandse Vereniging van Diëtisten. The language of the symposium is Dutch. 4 December 2009, Ede (visit NZO)
•	Annual Meeting of NWO-CW: Protein Research Nucleic Acids Lipids & Biomembranes 7 - 9 December 2009, Veldhoven (visit NWO)
•	Porous electrodes for water desalination: How can we study the double layer structure 'hidden' in the electrode? Colloquium organised by the Department of Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science Speaker: Dr. Maarten Biesheuvel Time and Location: Friday 18 December 2009, 16:00 hrs., Ab van der Linde room, Building 316, Dreijenplein 6, Wageningen