Wageningen University acts as the secretary for six graduate schools. Some of these are national graduate schools to which Wageningen University contributes in a very substantial way, while the others consist entirely of research groups from Wageningen University. These graduate schools (as far as they are part of Wageningen University) are formally organised under one umbrella, ‘Wageningen Graduate Schools’.
The six graduate schools guarantee the scientific quality of the research conducted by Wageningen University. Nearly all research at Wageningen University takes place within the programmes of the graduate schools, including the PhD Programmes. Each graduate school has its own mission.
The graduate schools have three main tasks:
- To stimulate and coordinate the development of a coherent research programme for the university within the mission of the Graduate School
- To safeguard, monitor and stimulate the quality and the progress of academic research (PhD students, post-docs and researchers)
- To coordinate, develop and facilitate post-graduate education
Once every six years, each graduate school submits its research (including the PhD education programme) for an assessment according to a national standard evaluation protocol (SEP). In 2007 WIMEK-SENSE was reviewed, while the five other graduate schools were assessed in 2009. The review report of each graduate school can be viewed by entering the site of a particular graduate school below. The position of the Executive Board on the conclusions and recommendations of the 2009 peer review committees can be viewed here.
» More about PhD programmes at Wageningen University
Researchers, post-docs and PhD students are required to participate in one of the graduate schools. The Graduate Schools of Wageningen University have been accredited by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and are thereby subject to quality control. Membership is dependent on the fulfilment of certain conditions.
The 6 Graduate Schools (PhD):