Pavel Kabat goes to Are wind farms The ‘golden triangle’ institute in Austria good for nature? is old hat. But another top scientist comes to Wa- Yes, because shipping cannot pass What is new is that The Hague is geningen: Holland’s top plant researcher through them. | p.8 | making it policy. | p.18 | Ben Scheres. | p.4&6 | RESOURCEFor students and employees of Wageningen UR nr. 2 – 1 September 2011 – 6th volume Wageningers in LSVb, ISO en LKvV Into the breach p.12 2 >> labour of love >> RAOUL + CAMERA Raoul Vernède, team leader ICT operations, Computechnion, De Dreijen ‘A beautiful location is not enough’ Every picture should tell a story, says Raoul Vernède, a docu- mentary and portrait photographer (www.lesPhotos.nl). Tech- nique is secondary. ‘The main thing is how you capture the essence without ending up with stereotypes. That is my quest.’ Shown here: Self portrait with iPad. RK / Foto: Raoul Vernède RESOURCE — 1 september 2011 PHOTO COVER: GUY ACKERMANS >>CONTENTS nr. 2 – 6th volume >> 10 >> 24 >> 26 STUNNED TO THE SLAUGHTER AID DUO COLUMN You can stun chickens using strong Two thousand fi rst-year students have Marlies Bos versus Jillis Herweijer. ‘Lea- magnets. More eff ective than using been exploring their new town. In Velp ve home, explore, make stupid mistakes an electric current. they could recover in a hot tub. and learn from them.’ AND MORE... 2 Labour of Love PROUD photography When I registered as an undergraduate at Nijmegen, I was immediately struck by 4 News and Opinion the fact that I was surrounded by white faces. Of the 90 biology fi rst-years, there 8 Science was precisely one lad with a diff erent colour skin. My high school class was a lot 11 Resource.wur.nl more colourful. 12 National student politics It would be a diff erent story if I were to start at Wageningen in 2011. Whenever I 16 In the picture walk from the Resource offi ce to the Forum I see at least ten diff erent nationali- will do anything to fi t in ties. With students from 105 countries, Wageningen UR is the most diverse aca- 18 Golden triangle demic institution in the Netherlands. 20 In memoriam WSO One quarter of our readers come from abroad. And still counting. So Resource 22 IMO must keep up with the times. That is why this magazine will come out in English WSO too from now on. Making Resource the fi rst fully bilingual magazine in Dutch 24 Student higher education. Something we are proud of! 29 Column 32 Typical Dutch Gaby van Caulil safe cycling >> WSO’s heyday was in 1980: after a six-week occupation campaigners achieved their goal: ‘problem-centred education’. See page 20. 1 September 2011 — RESOURCE 4 >> news è0(5*(52) 7235(6($5&+(5&20(6 9$1+$//$1' 72:$*(1,1*(1 /$5(167(,1,62.é in 2006 he received a Spinoza ð %HQ6FKHUHVEULQJVKLVUH- award worth one and a half million ð 0LQLVWHUVXSSRUWV9+/ERDUG VHDUFKWHDPZLWKKLP euros and in 2008 the European ð è'XHFRQVLGHUDWLRQIRUVWDʼné ð è$IDQWDVWLFJDLQé advanced ERC grant worth more than two million euros. Minister Verhagen says in an ans- Plant geneticist Ben Scheres and *$,1 wer to Parliamentary questions his group are moving from Utrecht There was no job vacancy in Ton that the merger of the Van Hall to Wageningen. From 1 Septem- Bisseling’s science group so the and Larenstein institutions is ber, he will be professor at the University will be funding two pro- going as it should. The Labour Par- Plant Sciences Group. Scheres is a fessors for a few years. Funding for ty wanted to know about the effect highflyer: he has had ten articles this will be sourced from a ‘quality of upscaling on educational quali- published in Nature and has been policy fund’. ty. Verhagen supports the Universi- awarded both a Spinoza prize and WESEBEECK VAN ASTRID FOTO: It is not yet clear why Scheres ty Board’s desire to match its edu- an advanced ERC grant. %HQ6FKHUHV+ROODQGéVEHVWSODQW wants to come to Wageningen as cation to the needs of the business He may succeed Ton Bisseling, UHVHDUFKHU he cannot be reached. His arrival community. the current Molecular Biology pro- has however been confirmed by fessor. At present, Scheres is pro- hed in the top scientific journals PSG director Ernst van den Ende. 6863(1'(' fessor of Molecular Genetics at the Cell, Science and Nature (ten Wageningen plant stem cell re- The Parliamentary questions were University of Utrecht. He did his times). Which cell does what is de- searcher Dolf Weijers has been prompted by unrest at VHL after Master’s and PhD at Wageningen. termined in the tip of a plant’s working with Scheres’s group for the suspension of education direc- roots: Scheres has figured out several years. ‘I am very enthusias- tor Hans van Rooijen. The Employ- 63,12=$35,=( which stem cells, plant hormones tic as we look at a similar problem ees’ Council passed a vote of no This transfer gives Wageningen and genes are responsible for this. from different angles, which ma- confidence in director Ellen University a top player. Scheres can Scheres is a member of the Ro- kes us complimentary. He really is Marks, but she has the support of be considered Holland’s best plant yal Netherlands Academy of Arts at the top of his profession so this Executive Board Chairman Aalt researcher. He has had articles on and Sciences (KNAW) and has ob- is a fantastic gain for Wageningen Dijkhuizen. Verhagen says nothing the development of plants publis- tained two major personal grants: UR!’ GvC about this matter but sticks to ge- neralities: ‘The Van Hall Larenstein Board and Directors are working on the organizational and qualitative mo- /$5(167(,1'(02/,7,213267321(' dernization of their institution’, writes Verhagen. ‘I support their wish to ensure a good fit between the education on offer and the business community’s require- ments. Safeguards for the quality of education are seen as a precon- dition for this. Due consideration is also being given to the position of staff.’ 0(5*(5(9$/8$7,21$&7 The merger doesn’t really mean growth, says Verhagen, because the two institutions have been ‘functioning as a single instituti- on’ since 2003. As of 1 September, they really will be one. The Em- 7KHUHLVDVPDOOVSDQQHULQWKHZRUNVGHOD\LQJWKHGHPROLWLRQRIWKHROGPRQDVWHU\EXLOGLQJVRQWKH/DUHQVWHLQHVWDWH ployees’ Council has agreed, says LQ9HOS7KHGHPROLWLRQKDVEHHQSRVWSRQHGXQWLOIXUWKHUQRWLFHIRUODFNRIWKHUHTXLUHGSHUPLWV/DVWZHHN9+/ Verhagen. The Merger Evaluation DQQRXQFHGWKDWDSHUPLWKDGEHHQDSSOLHGIRUWKHGHPROLWLRQZRUNFRQWUDFWHGRXWDQGDUUDQJHPHQWVPDGHIRUDOWHU- Act, which allows the Minister to QDWLYHQHVWLQJSODFHVIRUVZLIWVDQGEDWVLQKDELWLQJWKHGLVXVHGEXLOGLQJV7KHVHZHUHSDUWRIWKHPRQDVWHU\DQGFKLOG- evaluate whether a merger is justi- UHQéVKRPHIRXQGHGLQ/DWHUWKH\ZHUHUHQWHGRXWWRDVHFRQGDU\VFKRROEXWWKH\KDYHQRZEHHQHPSW\IRURQH fied, only comes into effect on 1 DQGDKDOI\HDUV /YG1 October. +23$6 RESOURCE — 1 september 2011 news << 5 5(6285&(0$*$=,1(12:,17:2/$1*8$*(6 ce for a complete English maga- 2008. Since 2009, Resource has zation process at Wageningen UR. ð )LUVW'XWFKXQLYHUVLW\PDJD]LQH zine. After consultations with the been translated in full, with En- Approximately one quarter of the WRFRPHRXWLQIXOOLQ(QJOLVK printer and publisher it turned out glish summaries on each page of students and staff come from over- to be feasible to print Resource the magazine and full translations seas and this number is increasing magazine in two languages. on resource.wur/en. rapidly. Wageningen students You have in your hands the fi rst In 1995, the predecessor to Re- But from today the whole maga- come from 105 different countries. number of Resource to be printed source, the Wagenings Universiteits- zine comes out in two languages Both editions will be available in two editions: a Dutch one and blad, started including a column too. This makes Resource the fi rst in two trays placed side-by-side in an English one. A readers’ survey with short English summaries. Dutch university magazine to print education buildings. Resource is in March and discussions with in- This was followed a year later by a a complete English edition. also distributed via the Science ternational readers made clear whole English page, which became By taking this step, Resource is Group buildings and student resi- that there was a distinct preferen- two pages in 2004 and three in keeping up with the internationali- dences. GvC LQEULHI NjNj('8&$7,21 1HZ0DVWHUéVSURJUDPPH NjNj&<&/,1*$&&,'(17 This month about fi fty students :DJHQLQJHQF\FOLVWVHULRXVO\ will start on the new Wageningen LQMXUHG Master’s in Earth and Environment. Cyclist Pim de Beer is in hospital This programme replaces three with serious injuries after a fall on MSc programmes in the fi elds of 28 August during the Mid-Nether- meteorology, hydrology and soil lands race. He appears to be out of science. The merger of these pro- 6&+$0,1(ljlj danger. De Beer, a student of Inter- grammes has led to higher recruit- national Land and Water Manage- ment, says programme director ment, crashed into a tree and en- Gerrit Epema. He thinks this sug- ded up in a ditch. He was brought gests that the programme appeals to the Utrecht teaching hospital by to a new group of potential stu- trauma helicopter. There were dents. The new programme is toug- )LUVW\HDUV fears for the life of the 24-year-old her, and students with an applied Here they are again, the fi rst-years students. The streets of member of the Jo Piels Cylcing sciences BSc are expected to fol- cities all over the country are transformed at a blow. As they team. By Monday his condition had low a bridging programme fi rst. are in Wageningen, with little bands of young people cy- improved slightly.