Student testimonial
Nicola Costanzi – Biorefinery and Conversion
Nicola is an Italian student from the Biobased Sciences programme. Before coming to Wageningen, he worked for some companies and participated in different projects in South Africa and India. After all of these experiences, he decided to do a Masters to get a practical application for all the skills he learned during his work years.
The master fitted my interest in resource recovery and the activities that I would like to do in future.
“My name is Nicola and I come from a village in the North of Italy. I am 27, so a bit older than the standard age for Master students at Wageningen University. This is since I did many different things before coming here. At the moment, I am following the Master Biobased Science with a specialisation in Biorefinery and Conversion”.
Could you please tell us about your educational background?
"After finishing high school, I went to England for one year to learn English. After that, I studied Environmental Sciences at Avans Hogeschool in Breda for 4 years. In the last year of my studies, I went to India and South Africa for my internship and worked there on several projects. In the time following, I went back to Italy and worked for two companies on different environmental projects. Two years later, I decided to come to Wageningen to do this Master and get a more technical application of what I learned before".
What influence your choice to study at Wageningen University?
“I came to Wageningen because I have heard that it is one of the world’s top universities. The master fitted my interests and the activities that I would like to do in future. I like the education style here since the approach is more practical. Also, the environment at the university is very good, there are a lot of nice people and it is easy to feel at home. In the beginning, I did not know what to expect from the programme, but I liked the courses I took during the first period since they were integrating different fields that are important to form a biobased economy”.
Do you do any activities alongside your studies?
“Next to studying, I like being in nature. I like to go cycling, especially when it is sunset time. But I miss the mountains here. In Italy, I usually went mountain biking, but here in the Netherlands I only have a normal city bike”.
What are your long-term plans?
“After my study, I would love to become a ‘next generation’ farmer with a small biorefinery on my land where I make my own products.
I would like to be independent and have my own activities. I hope to become an example for others and collaborate with local farmers and companies to make this dream come true. I would prefer to do it in Italy, because of the nice weather and of course because it is my home country”.