We also would like to thank everyone for checking and updating their personal data and for providing us with nice pictures! We are still processing all the adjustments, but are ready to receive your second contribution. So don't forget to submit your mini-poster (abstract) following the instructions given on our website http://www.vlaggraduateschool.nl/cr2010.htm
The deadline is 26 February 2010.

The deadline for submitting information for the 27th VLAG FLASH is Tuesday 23 February 2010.

•	Will Novel Protein Foods beat meat? New perspectives from policy, technology, and consumers. 12 January 2010, Wageningen A mini-symposium organised by VLAG preceding the thesis defense of Annet Hoek.
•	Diabetes and Metabolism Meeting - 1st meeting 11 February 2010, Maastricht Organised by NUTRIM
•	Toxicogenomics 22 - 26 February 2010, Maastricht In this course, an introduction will be provided on genomics technologies, i.e. gene expression profiling by microarray technologies, focussing on its application in toxicology.
•	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.
•	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.
•	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.

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

• 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 • S. Soenen (Stijn) Efficacy of macronutrients on targeting obesity and beyond. 22-01-2010, 12:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. M.S. Westerterp-Plantenga • A Pukin (Aliaksei) Synthetic ganglioside analogues for sensitive biosensing. Improved probes for antibodies and bacterial toxins. 26-02-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Zuilhof • R. Bosma (Rouke) Towards high productivities of microalgae in photobioreactors. 05-03-2010, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.H. Wijffels, Prof. J. Tramper, Dr. M. Vermuë

The list of current PhD representatives can be found on the VLAG PhD council website at http://www.vlagphdcouncil.wur.nl/pmwiki.php?n=PhDCouncil.Organisation.
A forum will be built in near future for VLAG/Wageningen PhD students. With this kind of environment, we hope to receive more input from PhD students, and to promote discussions on PhD life issues.

A 1 M€ grant has been awarded to a team of VLAG scientists on the topic of "Optimizing the beneficial health effects of exercise for diabetes: focus on the liver". The program grant from the Dutch Diabetes Foundation, which will be coordinated by Patrick Schrauwen from Maastricht University and also includes Sander Kersten from Wageningen University, will study the link between exercise and the metabolic function of the liver. Other participants are Eric Kalkhoven from University Medical Center Utrecht and Peter Voshol from the University of Cambridge (formerly Leiden University Medical Center). Schrauwen and Kersten also share a VLAG-funded PhD project on lipid droplet proteins in skeletal muscle.

Peter Hollman (RIKILT - Institute of Food Research and WUR-Human Nutrition) is awarded during the 4th International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, Harrogate, UK with the "Award for Flavonoid Research" because of his outstanding contribution to the field of Flavonoid Research. The jury has given the following considerations: "For his pioneering research on the occurrence of flavonoids in the diet, facilitating research on the role of dietary health effects of flavonoids. He performed the first epidemiological evaluation on dietary flavonoids and coronary hearth disease. The publication of this research in the Lancet has become a highly cited (>2000) landmark paper in flavonoid research. For his discovery of the modulating role of the type of the sugar moiety of flavoniod glycosides on their bioavailability and his contributions to flavonoid metabolism"

3 former PhD students from NUTRIM are awarded with the Kootstra Talent Fellowship, Fall 2009

•	Alexander Remels, Respiratory Medicine for his research on the impact of inflammation on muscle OXPHEN';
•	Nuria Matéo Anson, Pharmacology & Toxicology for her research on 'incorporating the healthiness of wholegrain to a cereal product suitable to anyone independently of gluten intolerance or economical situation';
•	Stijn Soenen, Human Biology, for his research titled: Hunger suppression and brain plasticity of reward in relation to compliance to weight-loss weight-maintenance diets.

•	Scientific Writing - 14 January (visit Language Services)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 19 January (visit WGS)
•	Career Assessment - February (visit WGS)
•	The Art of Writing - 3 February (visit Language Services)
•	Information Literacy, incl. Introduction Endnote - 9 February (visit WGS)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 16 February (visit WGS)
•	Career Orientation - 26 February (visit WGS)
•	Ethics and Philosophy of Animal Science - 3 March (visit WGS)
•	Project- and Time Management - 9 March (visit WGS)
•	Career Perspectives - March (visit WGS)

•	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: closed
•	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.

On 27 January 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 Day The 'Talent Days' series in Utrecht- an initiative of NWO - helps you developing writing, networking and planning to make it within the scientific world. The 2010 NWO-Talent Days will be held on Tuesday 23 March, 2010 and Tuesday 12 October, 2010. Registration for 23 March starts on 13 January. (visit NWO)
•	NWO-Talent Classes A Talent Class is an extensive workshop, based on the Talent Day. In 2010, Talent Classes will be organised on: 13 April, 11 May, 22 June, 28 September, 9 November, and 7 December. Registration for the Spring Talent Classes starts on 13 January. (visit NWO)
•	Bioinformatics - A User's Approach The aim of this practical PhD course is to present a hands-on approach to bioinformatics utility software for computing novices. 15 - 19 March 2010, Wageningen (visit EPS)
•	Transport Processes in Industrial Microorganisms Master class organised by B-Basic 22 - 26 March 2010, Groningen (visit RUG)
•	Comparative Proteomics In this advanced PhD course lectures will be focused on principles of mass spectrometry, data analysis, interpretation and applications of comparative proteomics, as well as hands-on practice of LC-MS data quality control and interpretation, using provided datasets. 21 - 23 April 2010, Wageningen (visit EPS)
•	Organization and leadership for PhD students This management course organised by the UU-School of Governance is meant for PhD students who are interested in taking up a leadership role in their present and future work. 19 May and 2, 3, 14, 15, 16, 28, 29, 30 June 2010, Utrecht (visit UU)