Quality assurance

Since the 1990s, all university research in the Netherlands is periodically evaluated by an external peer review committee. In such a peer review, also the graduate school is evaluated.

Recently and on its own initiative, Wageningen University added one element to this quality assurance system: a review of the entire PhD programme, from recruitment and admission to graduation of PhD candidates. We invited the European University Association to form a team of experts and carry out the review, which took place in spring 2015.

The review was a very valuable exercise and brought insights beyond the usual research evaluations. All documents on the review and its results can be downloaded here.

Peer reviews

Also the six individual graduate schools and the research groups within the schools were reviewed by six international peer review committees recently. All review teams were very praiseful about the quality of research and of PhD education. The peers concluded that Wageningen University offers a well-organised, coherent and productive research environment, in which a well-structured PhD training programme thrives. All graduate schools are regarded as sufficiently autonomous to be able to guarantee a well-organised PhD training programme in compliance with the KNAW-SODOLA criteria. 

The assessment of all Wageningen graduate schools has clearly indicated that a major part of our research is globally in a leading position.

All review reports of these reviews can be downloaded here, including the Position document Executive Board Wageningen University.