Wageningen Graduate School PhD/Postdoc training

Below you can find a list of competences, skills and career oriented courses which are organised by Wageningen Graduate Schools (WGS) in which the 6 Graduate Schools of Wageningen University (EPS, PE&RC, VLAG, WASS, WIAS and WIMEK) are formally organised. All courses are intended for PhDs and postdocs, except the courses Professional in Supervision and Effective Leadership Styles which are intended for staff supervising WU PhD candidates. Please click on the course name for more information about the course and dates at which the course is given.

Wageningen Graduate Schools

wgscourses@wur.nl

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For information about Covid-19 please visit:

• WUR guidelines and updates in relation to corona outbreak
• WUR PhD and Corona
• Dutch government (RIVM) measures against coronavirus

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00. PhD Carousel

• PhD Carousel (Friday 12 May 2023)
  Every year, Wageningen Graduate Schools (WGS) organises a one-day event for PhD candidates consisting of a carousel of 4 sessions with 6 workshops per session. The 1.5 hour workshops deal with all sorts of elements important for PhDs and the PhD track. Workshops are either stand-alone workshops or teasers that give a taste of more elaborate courses and workshops organised by Wageningen Graduate Schools. (registrations are open until the 1st of May)

01. PhD Competence Assessments

• PhD Competence Assessment (online training)
  Gives insight in the degree that you have the competences and skills required to do a PhD in an effective manner and, when lacking, how these can be developed.

02. Writing and Presenting training

• FLOW CHART to support you to decide which writing or presenting course you should follow

• Creating and Pitching Virtual Posters (online training)
  How to design an appealing virtual poster and enticingly pitch your research to an online audience.
• Developing my Research Vision (Postdocs and junior Tenure Track staff)
  Having a research vision is crucial, especially for those who want to proceed in science and must demonstrate a clear research vision, an (international) visibility and ambition for a tenure track.
• The Essentials of Scientific Writing and Presenting (in-person training)
  Presents an overview of how to effectively write and present scientific information
• Efficient Writing Strategies (online training)
  Putting your thoughts on paper
• Intensive Writing Week (online training)
  Do you wish you could become a more productive writer? Do you want to write together with other PhD-students for a whole week, supported by academic writing teachers and coaches?
• Posters and Pitching (in-person training)
  Want to learn how to sell your ideas and yourself in a poster presentation? Want to know how to design an appealing poster and to enticingly pitch your poster to an audience?
• Reviewing a Scientific Manuscript
  To obtain insight in the aspects of reviewing scientific manuscripts
• Science Journalism
  Enhance your popular science writing and communication skills, increase your visibility and learn how to disseminate academic knowledge to a larger audience.
• Scientific Publishing
  This one-day workshop provides insight and awareness in the developments, process, rules and ethical aspects of scientific writing and publishing. Furthermore tips how to get your work published are also addressed.
• Scientific Writing (online or in-person training)
  Assisting you if you are currently writing an article or a dissertation
• Writing Grant Proposals (online or in-person training)
  Teaches you how to write a project proposal for funding
• Writing propositions for your PhD
  Workshop on propositions of the PhD thesis, including a lecture on propositions and possibility to submit your own (draft) proposition.
• Presenting with Impact (in-person training)
  To improve and practice oral presentations of your own work

03. Communication skills training

• Bridging across cultural differences (online Course)
  Key tactics for a global career: learn how to apply the understanding of cultural difference to improve your day to day interactions.
• Communication with the Media and the General Public
  Provides you with the necessary ideas and skills to communicate your work to non-scientists
• Critical thinking and argumentation
  Training to debate and speak in a clear, convincing and effective way
• Effective behaviour in your professional surroundings
  To assist you in building and empowering your attitude, behaviour and position in your professional surroundings
• Making Impact: Increasing the relevance of research through science-society interaction (in person)
  During this course, Dr. Harro Maat, Prof. Cees Leewis and Prof. Phil Macnaghten of the Knowledge, Technology and Innovation team will provide you with the scientific insights on how to make an impact. In addition, you can learn from them, and a panel of researchers on the different approaches they take to turn this into practical approaches. Note: this course will take place on campus as an in person training
• Mobilising your - scientific - network
  Offers you the essential tools to create a network through a variety of introductions, discussions and assignments
• Effective and efficient communication in academia and beyond - Reviews previous participants

  "This is a highly recommended course from my point of view. During the course, we got tested and knew more about our own communication styles, like assertive and passive, and we also had a lot of chances to share and discuss our own communication problems, and many effective and tailored methods were raised from the teachers or other participants.", Penghui Shen, Physics and Physical Chemistry of Foods, Wageningen University

  Supply insight, understanding and a set of tools in verbal communication that allow participants to communicate in an effective and efficient manner and prevent miscommunication

04. Project and Management skills training

• Mindful Productivity for scientists - Reviews previous participants

  “After the course, I managed to submit a PhD thesis on time, so I'm very happy that I joined! I would have finished it regardless, but definitely with a more troubled mentality. I'm currently in the post-submission stage, happily going through a "void" period and not feeling guilty about it!  I'm super happy I signed up!“ Daniela Requena Suarez, PhD researcher at Wageningen University

  “Before I joined this course, I was feeling negative about my work. Especially due to the lack of motivation, not having clear priorities and being drained by difficult tasks. Now I feel less stressed because I am aware that many of my blocks (such as procrastination) come from emotions, but I can understand them and put them into place with the tools I got. Also, having good planning and overview has helped me feel more positive about myself and my work.” Ana Shein, PhD researcher, NIOO-KNAW

  “When I joined this course, I had just started a tenure track position and I felt utterly overwhelmed. I was just working like crazy, but not having time for my own research. I felt that I couldn't enjoy any time off because I hadn't achieved enough for my work. The course really helped me get clear on what my values are and what I should give priority. Even if this means that I have to say no to others.”, Katja Hoedjes, Assistant Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  In “I focus and write” I help scientists to have a more creative, productive, and happier academic life. To do that, I use a mindful approach (that is not spiritual) to overcome common mental and especially emotional struggles that scientists have, while they are getting things done.
• Project and Time Management
  Planning, control, monitoring and management of the research project and time are essential in accomplishing the PhD.
• Research Data Management
  This course consists of lectures and practical assignments that cover various aspects of managing research data: from organising your data files during data collection to publishing your final dataset.
• Searching and Organising Literature for PhD candidates
  Make effective use of scientific information sources in the Wageningen University & Research Digital Library and EndNote
• The Choice: Un-box your PhD process & take charge of your performance
  The Choice is an experiential personal leadership course that provides you with tools and insights to become more in charge of your own performance as you proceed with your PhD process, using both reflection and physical exercise (boxing).

05. Training on Teaching

Skills in teaching and supervising training sessions are offered by Educational Staff Development

• Start to supervise BSc & MSc thesis students
  Students expect certain behaviour of their supervisor, but the supervisor also has expectations of his/her student. Questions about responsibilities for supervisor and student arise. In this 2,5 hour workshop you will be provided with some general information about supervising thesis students at Wageningen University and discuss good practices, expectations, basic skills. Furthermore there will be room for questions.
• Start to teach at university
  This introductory course is meant for PhD candidates who want to explore the art of teaching within university settings
• Supervising BSc & MSc thesis students
  This course is intended for PhD candidates, postdocs, and academic staff who are or will be supervising students during their BSc or MSc thesis

06. PhD/Postdoc Well-Being

• Courses offered by Sports Centre the Bongerd
  Courses offered by Sports Centre the Bongerd
• Stress Identification & Management (in-person training)
  This training will give you insight and learns you how to deal with stress, how to avoid stress and how to tackle stress.

07. Ethics training

• Ethics and Animal Sciences
  This 2-days course aims at PhD candidates interested in ethics and animal sciences.
• Ethics in Plant and Environmental Sciences (Note: one edition per year in person; one online)
  This one day course focuses on ethical issues that are encountered when doing research in plant and environmental sciences.
• Ethics for Social Sciences Research (in-person training)
  One-day seminar on dealing with ethical issues in human subjects research
• Philosophy and Ethics of Food Science and Technology
  Series of six discussion sessions including hands-on dealings with ethical, philosophical, and societal issues surrounding science
• Scientific Integrity
  This 1 day-course focuses on an array challenges related to scientific integrity.

08. Career oriented training / Assessment

• Career assessment
  Individual assessment for PhDs who have questions concerning their personal competences, career opportunities and next career step
• Career Perspectives
  Meant for PhDs in their third or fourth year who want support in defining and taking the next step in their career.
• Career Development for Postdocs: Science and the Alternatives
  Supports in making career choice in science or beyond and making a plan of action how to reach the desired goal.
• Career Orientation - Reviews previous participants

  "It helped me reflect and build self confidence about I want to do, the skills I already have and what needs to be done. It helps me to understand the different approaches to look for jobs and personal attitude to develop"
  "It helped me to get a clearer picture of what I want and that I can take an active attitude to finding my next job"
  "I was in a moment of great confusion and trying to ‘orientate’, so it was really helpful"
  "It gave me tools to start thinking in a very pragmatic way about job-options, and how to contact the right people to get these jobs"
  "I attended a Career Orientation course given by Hertz in the Fall of 2016. It helped me put the interesting pieces of my personality, motivations, skills, and objectives together to formulate the career of my dream. I enjoyed making a collage of my career path using random pictures. It was to me like making sense out of a puzzle. It was very interactive, informative, and exploratory. I looked forward to each course day with much interest and expectations. Now I know what are of priority in my next job(s). I therefore recommend this course to you."

  Meant for PhD candidates and postdocs who are orienting themselves in what future career to choose, in or outside of science.
• Entrepreneurship in and outside Science
  Analysis and development of entrepreneurial skills and career opportunities for young scientists in or outside academia, exploring possibilities for applications of scientific insights
• Getting on Track with your Veni application
  This programme aims to provide the skills and competences needed to develop a high quality Veni proposal.
• Preparing Your Veni pre-proposal
  This programme aims to provide talented postdocs and other promising researchers the skills and competences needed to develop a high quality research pre-proposal to submit within all NWO Veni domains.

09. Other training

• Radboud Academic Test of English (RATEr)
  RATEr is an assessment of academic English. It aims to determine whether students, prospective students, PhD candidates and other academic researchers possess the required language proficiency to take an English-taught degree programme at Wageningen University & Research or Radboud University Nijmegen.
• Adobe InDesign - from Dissertation Layout to Poster Design (online training)
  This course in InDesign will help you create beautiful but also functional print and web layouts.
• Introduction to Git for scientific software development
  Do you write scientific software? Or do you write scripts as part of your research (e.g. Python, R, Matlab, Perl)? This course introduces the git protocol, the command-line and GUI clients available and the concepts that make git such a popular versioning tool. The course is free of charge for WUR PhD candidates.
• Short Workshop - Introduction to LaTeX
  An introductory workshop that covers the basics and the useful features of LaTeX; an automated document preparation system and mark-up language which can be used as an alternative to text processors like MS-WORD.
• Introduction to WUR Library for PhD candidates (online training)
  Introduction to the tools and services of the Library relevant to the first steps of your research
• Last Stretch of the PhD Programme
  Issues and questions: what must you do first, who is responsible, printing your thesis, do's and don'ts.
• Quarto
  Course to learn basic principles of Quarto as a tool for open science. After this course you will be sufficiently equipped to apply Quarto to your own research project.
• Adobe Illustrator – Scientific Artwork & Infographics (online training)
  This course will help you create beautiful and functional scientific graphics.
• Science journalism: A new career perspective
  In this science journalism course, you get insight it what it is to be a scientific journalist, learn how to create a story in a way news outlets would do. The course is given by various journalists, with knowledge on how to make written articles, podcasts, radio and television.

10. Staff training

Trainings are strongly recommended as element of Tenure Track

• Professional in Supervision of PhD candidates
  Focus on communication styles, supervising the writing process and giving effective feedback, coaching formats, leadership, cultural issues, distance based supervision and personal needs.
• Developing my Research Vision (Postdocs and junior Tenure Track staff)
  Having a research vision is crucial, especially for those who want to proceed in science and must demonstrate a clear research vision, an (international) visibility and ambition for a tenure track.
• WGS Lunch Workshops for PhD Supervisors
  In this workshop for PhD supervisors specific topics and issues with regard the PhD programme and supervision will be discussed. The lunch workshops are organised as a live event including catered lunch on the first Thursday of the even months.

11. Links to training organized by individual Graduate Schools

• PE&RC - Production Ecology and Resource Conservation
  Training page of PE&RC
• VLAG - Biobased, Biomolecular, Food and Nutrition Sciences
  Training page of VLAG
• WASS - Wageningen School of Social Sciences
  Training page of WASS
• WIAS - Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences
  Training page of WIAS
• WIMEK - Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research
  Training page of WIMEK
• EPS - Experimental Plant Sciences
  Training page of EPS