In this 28th edition of the VLAG FLASH we would like to draw your attention to our course overview of the fall 2010. Registration for most of these courses is open!

Beside the course overview you will find a report of the 23th edition of the PhD week held from 12-15 April in Baarlo.

Also the VLAG PhD council has updated information for you.

The deadline for submitting information for the 29th VLAG FLASH is Monday May 31st 2010.

•	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. Registration is closed.
•	Exposure Assessment in Nutrition Research - 1st edition After participation the participant will be able to: critically evaluate and improve data collection in nutritional epidemiology and related fields of health research, and understand and have basic experience in design and analysis of evaluation studies. 30 August – 3 September 2010, Wageningen
•	NuGO week 2010 31 August - 3 September 2010, Glasgow, Scotland (UK)
•	Advanced Course on Applied Genomics of Industrial Fermentation - 4th edition 11 - 15 October 2010, Wageningen 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. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	VLAG PhD week - 24th edition 25 - 28 October 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.
•	Annual NUTRIM Symposium 2010 Information will follow as soon as possible. 4 November 2010, Maastricht
•	Master class Public health interventions in real-life settings: the AGORA experience 8 - 10 November 2010, Wageningen The master class is especially developed for public health researchers and professionals from practice, working in the field of health promotion, epidemiology, nutrition and health sciences, and communication sciences. It aims is to make knowledge and research methodologies available to researchers working in public health practice.
•	Advanced Food Analysis - 3rd edition 15 - 19 November 2010, Wageningen
•	Production and use of food composition data in nutrition 15 - 26 November 2010, Pretoria, South Africa The aim of FoodComp 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.
•	Genetics and physiology of food-associated microorganisms - 4th edition 2nd half November 2010, Wageningen This advanced course aims to develop expertise in the genetics and physiology of food-associated micro-organisms, in particular with respect to their reactions to variety of stresses that can be imposed deliberately on micro-organisms during food processing, by food preservation techniques and during distribution and storage. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.
•	Systems biology course: Statistics of ~omics data analysis - 5th edition 13 - 17 December 2010, Wageningen This course will focus on the principles underlying processing, analysis and visualisation of large datasets derived from transcriptomics and metabolomics experiments. The link above gives information on the previous edition of this course.

The chairgroup of Toxicology invites you to attend the farewell symposium at the occasion of the retirement of Dr. Gerrit Alink. The symposium will be followed by a reception.
An official invitation will follow in due course. We would appreciate if you already could enter this date on your agenda.

Date and location : Friday 9 July 2010, University Aula, Wageningen
Symposium: 14.00-17.00 h
Reception: 17.00-18.30 h

Sahar El Aidy, WU-Microbiology received the best poster presentation award at the cross talk meeting on March 2010 as a part of the METAHIT conference in Shenzhen, China (1-3 March 2010).
The title of her poster is: "Local and temporal responses of the mouse intestinal mucosa to its resident microbiota".

• M.C. Kandhai (Chantal) Detection, occurrence, growth and inactivation of Cronobacter spp. (Enterobacter sakazakii). 23-04-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. M.H. Zwietering, Prof. L.G.M. Gorris, Dr. M.W. Reij • T. Kulrattanarak (Thanawit) Deterministic ratchets for suspension fractionation. 28-04-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. R.M. Boom, Dr. R.G.M. van der Sman, Dr. C.G.P.H. Schroën • F. Blombach (Fabian) Molecular characterization of factors involved in regulation of archaeal translation. 19-05-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. J. van der Oost, Dr. S.J.J. Brouns • J. Balk (Jiska) Antioxidant activity: from model to man. 20-05-2010, 16:00 hrs, Maastricht Dr. G.R.M.M. Haenen • S. Qi (Shufan) On the role of superoxide radicals (02*) in fibrosis. 26-05-2010, 14:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. A. Bast, Dr. G.J. den Hartog • N. Mateo Anson (Nuria) Bioactive compounds in whole grain wheat. 28-05-2010, 14:00 hrs, Maastricht Prof. A. Bast, Dr. G.R.M.M. Haenen • W. Brand (Walter) Increasing hesperetin bioavailability by modulating intestinal metabolism and transport. 28-05-2010, 16:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. I.M.C.M. Rietjens, Prof. P.J. van Bladeren, Prof. G. Williamson • F.K. Kooy (Floor) Enzymatic production of hyaluronan oligo- and polysaccharides. 18-06-2010, 11:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. G. Eggink, Prof. J. Tramper, Dr. C.G. Boeriu • L.M.W. Scheres (Luc) Organic monolayers on oxide-free silicon. Self-assembly, functionalization, patterning, and electronic characterization. 28-06-2010, 13:30 hrs, Wageningen Prof. H. Zuilhof • P.P. Kovatcheva-Datchary (Petia) Analysing the functionallity of the human intestinal microbiota by stable isotope probing. 28-06-2010, 11:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Dr. H. Smidt, Dr. K. Venema • O.P. Pérez Gutiérrez (Odette) Unraveling piglet gut microbiota dynamics in response to feed additives. 29-06-2010, 11:00 hrs, Wageningen Prof. W.M. de Vos, Prof. M.W.A. Verstegen, Dr. H. Smidt

From 12 - 15 April 33 PD students attended the VLAG introduction course, 21 came from Wageningen, 12 came from Maastricht. The venue of this 23rd edition was Castle de Berkt nearbij Venlo more or less half way Wageningen and Maastricht. Nice whether, plenty of Belgian beers and a good atmosphere. The programme did not differ much from previous editions;planning & management, cross-cultural awareness, presentation techniques, dealing with the media, writing effective scientific English, ethics, a few quest lecturers from scientist affiliated with VLAG (Stef Kremers from Maastricht and Han Zuilhof from Wageningen) and the presentation of an alumnus (Jeroen Knol) completed the programme.
The 24th edition of the PhD week will also be held in de Berkt and will run from 25 - 28 October 2010.

•	Project- and Time Management - 27 April (visit WGS)
•	Information Literacy, incl. Introduction Endnote - 27 April (visit WGS)
•	Effective behaviour in your professional surroundings - 28 April (visit WGS)
•	Career Assessment - May (visit WGS)
•	Scientific Writing - 6 May (visit Language Services)
•	PhD Competence Assessment - 11 May (visit WGS)
•	Presentation Skills - 12 May (visit Language Services)
•	Mobilising your - scientific - network - 3 June (visit WGS)
•	Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research: Intervision and communication skills - 3 June (visit WGS)
•	Techniques for Writing and Presenting a Scientific Paper - 29 June (visit WGS)
•	Science, the press and the general public: communication and interaction - 7 October (visit WGS)
•	Interpersonal Communication for PhD students - 26 October (visit WGS)

•	Effective leadership styles (a Practical course for PhD supervisors) - 30 November (visit WGS)

There is a national tendency towards the development of local graduate schools that cover both Msc and PhD programmes. There is also some debate within Wageningen University about the benefits of having just one graduate school compared to the current situation (6 graduate schools). VLAG PhD council is joining the discussion, and we look forward to hearing the opinion of VLAG PhD students on these issues.

The VLAG PhD council wants to organise some talks of interest with VLAG PhD students. It could range from academy to industry, from sport to politics. If you come up with an idea of topics and/or speakers, please contact us.

VLAG PhD council contact: Van-Anh Phan (Van-Anh.Phan@wur.nl)

On 2 June 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 Rode Zaal (Agrotechnion).
Please send an e-mail to Yvonne Smolders (Yvonne.Smolders@wur.nl) if you would like to join this lunch.

Typical Dutch is a column in Resource by and for foreigners in the Netherlands. The column is about the peculiarities of the Dutch culture, for example, we are direct, love to plan, and crazy about ice skating, 'kroketten' and 'drop'. Foreign guests may wonder about many typically Dutch issues and we invite them to write about it!

Typical Dutch starts with a personal, detailed description of an authentic event (about 100 words). Then the author comments on how this is typically Dutch and/or compares it with how such things are handled in their own country. Style is personal, observational and humor is always appreciated. Total length about 250 - 300 words.

So, if you have a nice anecdote about your experience with the Dutch culture let us know! Writers who get their piece published will receive € 50.- and a full pound of typically Dutch candy! (contact Hans Wolkers)

•	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 second 2010 NWO-Talent Day will be held on Tuesday 12 October, 2010. Registration for the October Talent Day will start in Spring 2010. (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: 11 May, 22 June, 28 September, 9 November, and 7 December. Registration for the Spring Talent Classes starts on 13 January. (visit NWO)
•	Postdoc Retreat 'Career Development' Postdoc Career Development Initiative, PCDI, encourages and assists young scientists in life science, technology and health-related fields to make the right next step in their career. PCDI organises a three-day retreat on 21-23 April 2010 for postdocs and last-year PhDs to explore their career possibilities. Workshops in career planning and transferable skills, meet and greets with employers, and discussions on shaping a career in the life sciences are all part of the programme. Erasmus MC supports the retreat and covers parts of the costs. 21 - 23 April 2010, Heeze (visit PCDI)
•	Eet voor je leven (in Dutch) The theme "Eet voor je leven!' will be explained from a broad nutritional vision. Each session will combine science and practice. 10 June 2010, CineMec, Ede (visit VoedingNederland)
•	European PhD Conference in Food Science and Technology / BerlinFOOD2010 Young food scientists of the 21st century should possess information and skills to deliver knowledge to industry to be used to develop new or improved products that will expand national, regional and global markets, create employment and benefit society. Through TCD young scientists and technologists shall gain much wider range of skills than simply good laboratory practice. 8 - 10 September 2010, Berlin, Germany (visit BerlinFOOD2010)
•	PhD workshop China 2010 The workshop provides leading overseas graduate schools a focused opportunity to meet top graduates from the most important colleges and universities across China. 27 - 28 November 2010, Beijing, China (visit Ph.D Workshop China)