Training & Education

Wageningen University & Research (WUR) offers several types of training for PhD candidates and Postdocs.

Requirements and the Training & Supervision Plan (TSP)

Focus of PhD training and education is the acquisition of the T-shaped Skills. In general, up to 15% of a PhD candidate’s time is spent on training and education which comes down to 30-32 ECTS (European Credits). PhD candidates can furthermore spend up to 10% on teaching.

More TSP

In the first three months upon starting the project, a Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) is formulated by the candidate and supervisors. In this plan, the candidate and supervisors agree on a tailor-made training and education programme that matches the aims of the PhD project and the wishes of the candidate with regard to acquiring in-depth knowledge, and developing skills and competences. The TSP expresses the right of PhD candidates to receive training and education as part of their PhD programme. Although the TSP is a formal document it should particularly be seen as a document that allows an open discussion on the needs and interests of PhD training, supervision and other elements of the programme (i.e. co-authorship, teaching duties, progress evaluation, go / no-go decision).

TSP format & requirements

The format and requirements of the TSP slightly vary between the Graduate Schools. This is described on the website of the Graduate School the PhD candidate is affiliated with. Generally, the candidate first has an introduction meeting with the PhD Programme coordinator/manager of the Graduate School. In this meeting the candidate is informed about the PhD programme, procedures to be followed, tasks, responsibilities and details of the TSP. Once the TSP has been filled in and all agree upon the content, it is signed by the candidate and supervisor(s) and submitted to the Graduate School.

Budget

The chair group of the PhD candidate provides a budget to support the PhD candidate in financing training and education activities (i.e. courses or travel, boarding and registration expenses for conferences). This budget, the ‘education rucksack’, is a minimum of €3500 for the 4-year period.

Training & education certificate

When the PhD candidate has completed the training and education activities and these meet the criteria of the Graduate School, a Training and Education Certificate can be requested from the Graduate School. The certificate lists the training and education activities the candidate has performed and is awarded to the candidate together with the PhD degree after public defence. The education activities are also be listed in the thesis. A request for a Training and Education Certificate and the list of education activities to be published in the thesis is done when the reading version of the thesis is submitted for evaluation. Here too procedures and criteria vary between Graduate Schools which are described on the Graduate Schools websites.

Courses and activities for PhD candidates

Courses organised by the Graduate Schools of Wageningen University & Research

Three types of courses can be identified:

  • Topical / content specific courses
    • All Graduate Schools of Wageningen University & Research offer an array of in-depth, topical courses lying in the specific fields of research of the Graduate School concerned. These courses can also be offered in collaboration with other Graduate Schools
  • Methodological courses
    • All Graduate Schools offer a host of methodological courses
  • On-site interdisciplinary courses
    • Graduate Schools of Wageningen University & Research annually organise one to two interdisciplinary on-site courses which are very often held in a developing country. In these courses an interdisciplinary group of (international) lecturers and participants address a topic that has clear relevance for the location where the course is given. Examples are Land Dynamics, Farming Systems and Rural Livelihoods, Human-Induced Land Degradation and The Science of Conservation. All Graduate Schools offer a host of methodological courses.

See the following list of the Graduate School Webpages where the courses are listed*:

Course pages per Graduate school

Experimental Plant Sciences (EPS)
Production Ecology and Resource Conservation (PE&RC)
VLAG Graduate School (VLAG)
Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS)
Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS)
Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research (WIMEK)

*Plesase note that, apart from the jointly organised courses by WGS, as a (WUR) PhD you can participate in mostly all courses offered regardless of your own research school, unless stated otherwise.

Skills, competence and career oriented courses.

Wageningen Graduate Schools (WGS) offer a large variety of competence strengthening, research ethics, career building and language skills courses. For an overview of the courses offered see the WGS website.

Other activities (symposia, seminars, discussion groups, workshops, excursions)

The Graduate Schools also organise an array of activities to stimulate scientific interaction. Each school has its own set of fixed activities and ad-hoc symposia, workshops and seminars. These can be found on Graduate School website.

Courses, activities organised by others than the Graduate Schools of Wageningen University

PhD candidates can also follow courses and scientific meetings outside Wageningen University & Research. These can be paid for with education rucksack money and are credited in the TSP when approved by the supervisor(s).

Support in career development

As listed on the WGS courses site Wageningen Graduate Schools organise various courses, assessments and workshops to support PhD candidates with their career perspectives. Moreover, Wageningen University & Research also offers a career event, generally in February, in which one can visit various workshops to orientate on the career possibilities and meet with an array of employers.

Registration for BSc and MSc courses

If you need to or wish to follow course(s) as part of your Training and Supervision Plan (TSP)

If you want to take an BSc/MSc course(s) as part of your Training and Supervision Plan (TSP), please first discuss with your supervisor(s) which courses you want to take and make sure that they are noted in your TSP. If your supervisor agrees you can follow the below noted steps:

  1. Contact your Graduate School to inform them about the specific BSc/MSc course(s) you need to or wish to follow as part of your TSP, they will enter the course(s) in Hora Finita;
  2. The graduate school or your chair group secretary will generate a ‘Course registration form’. This form will become available in the Hora Finita environment of the PhD candidate and/or will be send to you by the Graduate School or chair group secretary;
  3. On the ‘Course registration form’ you will find pre-filled information. Check this information and fill in the missing information on the registration form (when the pre-filled information is incorrect, contact your graduate school);
  4. Print the document and sign the form at the bottom. Submit the form to your graduate school who will check the information and submit it to SSC (Student Service Centre).

If you need to take courses as part of a QE (Qualifying Exam) approved by the Academic Board

  1. Send an e-mail to Doctoral Service Centre - Admission (admission.dsc@wur.nl) in which you indicate that you want to register for course(s) as part of your QE and include the code of the course(s);
  2. Doctoral Service Centre will check if the QE courses have been registered in Hora Finita;
  3. Doctoral Service Centre will generate a ‘Course registration form’. This form will become available in the Hora Finita environment of the PhD candidate and can be downloaded;
  4. On the ‘Course registration form’ you will find pre-filled information, check this information and fill in the missing information on the registration form (when the pre-filled information is incorrect, contact Doctoral Service Centre);
  5. Print the document and sign the form at the bottom. E-mail the form back to the graduate school.

Next steps in both processes:

  1. Within a couple of days SSC (Student Service Centre) will contact you to inform you that you have been registered in Osirus. If you do not receive information from SSC within 5 working days, please contact ssc@wur.nl. A formal proof of enrolment as a student at Wageningen University can be downloaded within a couple of days from Osirus Student.
  2. With your WUR account you can access Osirus Student where you need to register for your courses. Here you can find student support about Osirus.
  3. Once you have registered yourself for the courses you can obtain access to the Learning Management System Brightspace. It will take a day before you can take this last step. If you teach or take a course this access is strongly recommended. For entering Brightspace and more information look at: Brightspace.
  4. For questions about the Learning Management System Brightspace or MyPortal take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions about Brightspace, or contact education.support@wur.nl.

Notes

  • Registration as a student at Wageningen is only necessary if you wish to follow an entire BSc / MSc course, including the exam.
  • In case of partial participation in a course, it often suffices to directly contact the course coordinator and request to join in on parts of the course, without being formally registered for that course.
  • Registration as a student at Wageningen University does not influence the rates you pay for sports at Sports Centre De Bongerd. This depends on your type of PhD registration, which is checked at the Bongerd.