Alumnus testimonial
Qi Liu – Regional Manager
My father runs a seeds company in China and Wageningen University is known as the mecca for life science in his network. A Wageningen Phd student had interviewed my father about the Chinese seed industry when I was in my middle school, and she impressed my father a lot.
Wageningen has been a big name in my mind ever since I was very young, even though I live on the other side of the world.
Why did you choose Wageningen?
Wageningen has been a big name in my mind ever since I was very young, even though I live on the other side of the world. And the exposure to the family business has made me interested in agriculture and more deeply, in life science. When I decided to study thousands of miles away, I chose Wageningen University naturally.
Since you graduated, what kind of jobs did you have?
I graduated in 2017 and my first job was at the consumer business group of Huawei in the Netherlands. After the experience in a large multinational enterprise, I had a better understanding of the job I desired, and I went to Germany for a new job. I work at BIO Clustermanagement NRW GmbH in Düsseldorf, Germany from 2018 to the end of 2020 and the company entrusted me to China as the company's representative in China since 2021.
For my current job, my main work is to conduct market entry studies and applied industry strategy research in the life science field focusing on Asia and support the cooperation between China and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in the life sciences industry by establishing contacts and exploring innovative business models for SMEs, research institutions and investment funds.
Thanks to the school's curriculum, I have learned basic and comprehensive research methods and thinking logic for market and consumer research. This served as the foundation for my applied research in a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany, which is an important part of my work in the early stage.
What experiences did you really like during your study?
I really like that the study advisor accompanied me from the first day I entered the campus until the end of my education. As an international student, I knew no one and had no idea about the education system in the Netherlands when I arrived in the country. My study advisor, Mr. Sietse Sterrenburg has always supported me in every way. For instance: the choice of course, adapting to a new environment and new life, advice on my internships as well as career planning and even guidance and comfort when I got stuck in life.
There is a Chinese saying, „He who teaches me for one day is my father for life.” The school's study advisor system made me feel supported.