Wageningen Weeks

The first two years of the online master’s programmes are completely online, except for a short stay in The Netherlands during the ‘Wageningen Weeks’. Since some skills cannot be obtained via distance learning, you will visit the campus to meet other students and teachers, work on practicums, lab work, group projects, enjoy excursions, presentations and lectures.

The programme

To find detailed information about the courses and the Wageningen Weeks, please consult the study handbook. For succinct information. please continue reading.

Study handbook

Online master’s programme Plant Breeding

In year 1 and in year 2, you will visit the campus, where you will participate in practicums and lab work, join lectures and go on excursions.

Wageningen Weeks Part 1:

This practical period builds on the courses PBR-22803 (Principles of plant breeding), PBR-31803 (genetics) and PBR-23803 (Plant Biotechnology) and the Skills that are an integral part of this Distance Learning MSc. During the one-day excursion, we will visit two plant breeding companies. This will include a vegetable breeding company, with application of genomics and Marker-assisted selection in breeding programmes of many of their crops. Special attention is given to their seed quality management. In addition, an ornamental breeding company or field crop breeding (potato) company will be visited, with different breeding strategies. For the Skills training, students will have an interactive training and will present their Plant Biotechnology assignment and have a debate on societal issues related to plant breeding. The practicums are designed to increase insight in genetic and breeding principles (heritability, epistasis, genetic diversity, segregation ratios) and train skills in plant biotechnology research.

Wageningen Weeks part 2:

This two-week practical period builds on the theory of the preceding courses, especially PBR31802 Breeding for Quality; PBR31802 Breeding for Resistance; PBR36804 Markers in Quantitative Genetics and Plant Breeding and PBR34303 Genomics and Bioinformatics.

The programme will include practical training, an excursion, and plenary presentations and discussions of the group work related to the Continuous Course YPS-63015: Plant Breeding Design Cluster.

  • Practical experiments to apply theoretical knowledge from the preceding courses of the programme, aimed to improve research skills and practical skills, and deepen the understanding of theoretical concepts
  • Give presentations, give feedback on breeding programmes of others, including questions and recommendations
  • Present the Genomics and Bioinformatics project
  • Discussions with Breeding Programme tutors

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Online master’s Food Technology

Wageningen Weeks MFT-DL: students of the online master’s programmes Food Technology visit the campus twice during the first two years of the programme.

Wageningen Weeks Part 1:

In the first year, students join a 2-week laboratory course that deals with experiments on enzymatic conversions relevant for food processing and biorefinery. Various advanced analyses techniques will be explained and put into practice, including the interpretation of experimental results. A tutorial to plan and design the experimental set-up will be provided prior to the lab classes.

Wageningen Weeks Part 2:

Second-year students join a 2-week laboratory course that addresses the techno-functionality of various classes of food ingredients. Chemical characteristics of food ingredients are measured in order to predict their techno-functional properties. Subsequently, physical systems relevant to food products (e.g. emulsions, gels, and foams) are built and the interactions between food ingredients are related to their fine structure. Finally, the various forces/concepts underlying the stability of these systems are discussed.

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During the practicals, students will work in groups to determine the exact chemical structure of different ingredients using a variety of techniques. Additionally, the interactions between food ingredients in different model systems are studied. A tutorial to plan and design the experimental set-up will be provided prior to the lab classes.

Online master’s Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health

Students of this online master’s will visit the campus once. The Wageningen Weeks takes place in the second year. During this week you will meet the other students, teachers, work on group projects, and talk to supervisors about your thesis. Students find it very motivating and helpful.

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General information about your stay

The campus

Wageningen Campus is a place for exchanges and connections between knowledge organisations, the business sector and start-ups. On Wageningen Campus we understand that sharing knowledge is just as important as developing knowledge, which is why the campus offers numerous opportunities for meeting, collaboration, inspiration and reflection.

Get more information about the campus, its facilities, activities, and more.

Accommodation

Wageningen provides the following options for an overnight stay:

Lunch breaks and dinners

Lunch breaks in between lectures are mostly joined with your peers in one of the canteens on campus. Besides the canteens in the buildings, there are various restaurants on the campus. Here, you can find a diversity of cuisines, such as sushi, pastas and sandwiches. Wageningen offers various restaurants for dining out. Students often join each other after the lectures to enjoy a meal together. There are many restaurants, cafes and pubs to choose from.

Wageningen offers various restaurants for dining out. Students often join each other after the lectures to enjoy a meal together. There are many restaurants, cafes and pubs to choose from.

Costs

Besides the travel costs and visa, accommodation will be €50-€100 a night. Eating and drinking will be €20-€50 per day. There are various websites to calculate your currency to euro, and vice versa, for example GWK Travelex.

Schiphol Airport is the biggest airport of the Netherlands. It is located near Amsterdam, approximately 95 km from the campus. Taxis to Wageningen will take over an hour to bring you to the campus, or you can easily use public transportation. Read more about public transport from Schiphol to the Campus

Student Sean shows in a video how to go to the campus by train.

Wageningen

Wageningen is a small town in central Netherlands with a population of almost 40.000 inhabitants, including many students, from 150 countries. This makes it a lively city with many restaurants, museums and activities. For a general overview we encourage you to have a look at the tourist brochure A Taste of Wageningen. Some suggestions are relatively easy to do and highly recommendable. There are plenty of outdoor activities around Wageningen, like a nice walk through the forest and along the lower Rhine, a visit to the national park De Hoge Veluwe or renting sport bikes to explore the surroundings. For more information about biking in Wageningen, renting bikes and so on, please refer to Cycling in Wageningen.

In addition to nature, the city has an interesting history. On 5 May 1945, the capitulation of the German troops, which ended Wolrd War II, took place at hotel ‘de Wereld’ in Wageningen.

With a short trip, you can visit Utrecht (30-45 min by bus/train), Arnhem and/or Nijmegen (20-30 min by bus) or Amsterdam (60-75 min by bus/train), where you visit many interesting museums, galleries, exhibitions or enjoy the canals and the historical buildings.