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Research School for Socio-Economic and
Natural Sciences of the Environment |
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Newsletter May 2017
20 April 2017 |
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SENSE network Circular Economy ›› |
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PhD defence Sjors Witjes (Copernicus Institute, UU): More sustainable businesses based on past successes ›› |
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Climate Profit for biomass within six years ›› |
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Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period ›› |
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SENSE-Reims Summer School on Exploring the land-water continuum: coastal zones, river deltas, islands and wetlands, 2-7 July ›› |
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Climate KIC-AMS-SENSE Summer School "Urban Transitions: Reshaping Urban Districts", 16-30 July ›› |
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Overview of PhD / postdoc courses May-July ›› |
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Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses ›› |
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Wageningen Evolution and Ecology Seminars (WEES), 18 May ›› |
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BBOS spring symposium on energy meteorology: From model field to power yield, 11 May ›› |
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NonSENSE Forest Walk - Spring Edition, 14 May ›› |
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Overview of upcoming events ›› |
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Role models: what to do after your PhD or postdoc? ›› |
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Vacancies at SENSE Partners ›› |
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Other vacancies in the SENSE field ›› |
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| Editorial |
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| SENSE network Circular Economy |
The transition to a Circular Economy is a hot topic. Our use of raw materials is still increasing rapidly, while available resources keep on falling. As a result we are reaching or even exceeding the capacity of the earth. Therefore the Dutch government has stated that a circular economy must be reality in the Netherlands by 2050. To reach this ambitious goal, collaboration between scientists, policy makers, companies and citizens is needed. The SENSE Research School wants to contribute actively to this transition process.
A first step was the organisation of a Workshop Circular Economy, together with the ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (I&M) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) in the PBL-building in The Hague on Monday 13 March 2017, with more than 50 participants (about 30 SENSE, 10 I&M, 6 RWS, 4 PBL and a few others).
The mixed programme of key notes, PhD research pitches and a panel discussion was a success. However, the workshop also showed that there is still a rather big gap between the world of policy makers and the scientific world in developing a realistic transition agenda. To bridge this gap, representatives of the ministries of I&M, EZ (Economic Affairs) and the SENSE Research School agreed that scientists of the SENSE Research School should be involved more closely in the development of the transition agendas, in which the five following chains and sectors have the highest priority: biomass and food, plastics, manufacturing, construction, and consumer goods.
The ministries I&M and EZ asked the SENSE Research School to take the lead in coordinating and streamlining the scientific input from SENSE researchers and other relevant academic Dutch research groups in this process. SENSE is eager to take up this challenge and wants to use the current SENSE network circular economy as a starting point for our input in this transition process.
Are you interested in joining the SENSE network CE? Send an email to Johan.Feenstra@wur.nl. |
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| SENSE News |
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| PhD defence Sjors Witjes (Copernicus Institute, UU): More sustainable businesses based on past successes |
 “Although businesses have a clear image of the future when attempting to make their organisational processes more sustainable, they forget to look back at the earlier organisational changes that have already made a successful contribution,” explains Witjes. “For some businesses, it helps if the director stands on a soapbox and for others a massive scoreboard of indicators in the factory hall can make a difference. But one thing applies to everyone: a clear understanding of successes from the past ensures that a strategy towards more sustainable operations is more realistic.” |
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| Climate Profit for biomass within six years |
 "In particular, the use of wood residues and thinned wood leads to rapid climate benefits, faster than found in previous studies," says Floor van der Hilst, Energy scientist at the Copernicus Institute, Utrecht University. "Provided that the pellets are pressed and cut from the right material, the use of wood pellets to replace coal in coal-fired plants quickly leads to CO2 emission savings, and therefore to climate benefits." |
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| Upcoming PhD Graduations |
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| Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period |
- Meto Shapkalijevski
Turbulent exchange of energy, momentum and reactive gases between high vegetation and the atmospheric boundary layer
1 May 2017, Wageningen University, Earth System Science
- Guido Waajen
Eco-engineering for clarity. Clearing blue-green ponds and lakes in an urbanized area
3 May 2017, Wageningen University, Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management
- Lara Da Luz Ferreira Martins Paulo
Anaerobic microbial processes for energy conservation and biotransformation of pollutants
8 May 2017, Wageningen University, Microbiology
- Berhane Grum Woldegiorgis
Effect of Water Harvesting Techniques on Hydrological Processes and Sediment Yield in Northern Ethiopia
9 May 2017, Wageningen University, Soil Physics and Land Management
- Marthe Derkzen
Changing roles of urban green space: spatial and temporal dynamics of urban ecosystem services
12 May 2017, VU University Amsterdam, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Spatial Analysis and Decision Support
- Bram te Brake
Estimation of soil water storage change from clay shrinkage using satellite radar interferometry
17 May 2017, Wageningen University, Soil Physics and Land Management
- Somayeh Shadkam Torbati
Preserving Urmia Lake in A Changing World: Reconciling anthropogenic and climate drivers by hydrological modelling and policy assessment
29 May 2017, Wageningen University, Earth System Science
- Amandine Pastor
Safeguarding water availability for food and ecosystems under global change. Modelling and assessment of the role of environmental flows
30 May 2017, Wageningen University, Earth System Science
- Elnaz Neinavaz
Sensing vegetation canopies in the thermal domain
31 May 2017, University of Twente, Department of Natural Resources
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| Upcoming Courses |
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VU Amsterdam Summer School - Governing Climate Change: Theory and Practice, 5 - 19 August - Last spots available!
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Last days to apply for VU Amsterdam Summer School course on governing climate change We have a few spots left for our two-weeks course on ‘Governing Climate Change: Theory and Practice’ in the VU Amsterdam Summer School. Learn about climate change governance in small groups of maximum 25 people while enjoying Amsterdam in the summertime. The course introduces the basics of climate change as a social problem and how its governed, globally, nationally and locally. You’ll be introduced to the theory behind governing climate change as well as practical examples. We mix classroom lectures with excursions, games and lots of discussions. Teaching is done by top academics in the field together with invited guests. Beyond all the classroom activities, VU also offer a social program with the students in other summer school courses.
Course dates: 5 – 19 August 2017
Location: VU Campus in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Application deadline: 1 May 2017
For more questions, contact: philipp.pattberg@vu.nl or oscar.widerberg@vu.nl
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| MOOC on Marine Litter, 22 May - 7 July |
 In 2017 United Nations Environment (UN Environment), in cooperation with the Open University of the Netherlands, will launch the 2nd Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Marine Litter. The MOOC has been created in order to stimulate leadership and offers opportunities for actionable and change oriented learning related to marine litter within the framework of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter. The MOOC will be disseminated through the Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES) which currently comprises of over 520 universities globally.
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| SENSE-Reims Summer School on Exploring the land-water continuum: coastal zones, river deltas, islands and wetlands, 2-7 July |
 The fourth edition of this successful Summer School focuses again on the governance of socio-ecological systems, which is a rapidly emerging issue in sustainability science. This edition specifically aims at bringing together scholars who integrate knowledge on both land and water centered socio-ecological systems, such as coastal zones, river deltas, islands and wetlands. Particular attention will be paid to the processes through which integrated policies are developed, implemented and evaluated. |
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| Climate KIC-AMS-SENSE Summer School "Urban Transitions: Reshaping Urban Districts", 16-30 July |
Turn your research into practice with our two-week PhD summer school on improving Urban Districts. Two case studies in Amsterdam and Bologna will challenge multi-disciplinary participants to shape the urban landscape and its community. |
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| Overview of PhD / postdoc courses May-July |
- Master class Adoption of agricultural and conservation practices: Insights from behavioral theory and the decision making process
2 May 2017, Wageningen
- Environmental Models and Bayesian Inference
2-5 May 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Optimization Techniques
8-11 May 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Introduction to R for statistical analysis
8-9 May 2017, Wageningen
- Psychoanalysis and Political Economy (NEW)
10-13 May 2017, Wageningen
- Basic Statistics
10, 11, 15, 16, 17 May 2017, Wageningen
- Introduction to Hydrological Processes, Water Resources Management, and Aquatic Ecosystems
15-18 May 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- 5-day training course on mapping and assessment of soils for soil and environmental scientists and professionals
15-19 May 2017, Wageningen
- STEPS Centre Summer School
15-26 May 2017, Brighton, UK
- Design of Experiments
19-23 May 2017, Wageningen
- Gender & Diversity in Sustainable Development
22 May - 16 June 2017, Wageningen
- Science Policy Interface
31 May - 2 June 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- The 2017 International Summer School of Applied and Integrated Stratigraphy: Cyclostratigraphy, Modelling and Stable Isotopes
5-9 June 2017, UK
- Good Scientific Practice
7-8 June 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Linear Models
7-9 June 2017, Wageningen
- PCDI course Employability Outside Academia (NEW)
12 June, 3 July and 5 September 2017, Utrecht
- The Art of Modelling
12-23 June 2017, Wageningen
- Advanced Course on Environmental Biotechnology
13-23 June 2017, Delft
- International Summer School “Concepts and tools to engage in knowledge co-production and public participation” (NEW)
19-23 June 2017, Portugal
- Summer School Political Ecologies in/of the Anthropocene: value, life and critique
21-27 June 2017, Wageningen
- Summer course The Precautionary Principle: Governance of Innovation and Innovations in Governance
24-30 June 2017, Hungary
- BioBusiness Summer School
26-30 June 2017, Amsterdam
- 8th ESSA / SiLiCo Summer School in Social Simulation “Agent-based modelling for resilience”
26-30 June 2017, Wageningen
- Generalized Linear Models
26-27 June 2017, Wageningen
- NCK Summer School: Estuarine and Coastal Processes in relation to Coastal Zone Management
26 June - 7 July 2017, Texel
- Mixed Linear Models
29-30 June 2017, Wageningen
- Summer School Animal Movement Analysis
2-7 July 2017, Amsterdam
- Training course Airborne remote sensing for monitoring essential biodiversity variables in forest ecosystems
3-14 July 2017, Germany
- Summer Course Research on Productivity, Trade, and Growth: Theory and Practice
3-7 July 2017, Amsterdam
- Innsbruck Summer School of Alpine Research 2017 - Close Range Sensing Techniques in Alpine Terrain
16-22 July 2017, Austria
- Introduction in Genome-Wide Data Analysis
17-21 July 2017, Amsterdam
- Crash Course in Experimental Economics
17-22 July 2017, Amsterdam
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| Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses |
| In case you are interested in either participating or teaching a course that is currently not in the programme, please do not hesitate and let us know via the ongoing survey of the SENSE PhD council. |
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| Discussion Groups |
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| Wageningen Evolution and Ecology Seminars (WEES), 18 May |
| WEES is an initiative from PhD students and postdocs at Wageningen University to organize a continuing series of stimulating seminars on contemporary topics in evolution and ecology. We aim to bring together different groups at Wageningen University using a variety of systems, but with a common interest in evolutionary and ecological questions. For this series we invite researchers from all over the world that have leading roles in their field. After the talk there will be drinks for an informal discussion and a dinner in town with the speaker. |
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| Upcoming Events |
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| BBOS spring symposium on energy meteorology: From model field to power yield, 11 May |
This symposium is organised by SENSE PhD candidates Arjan Droste and Peter Kalverla (WU, Meteorology and Air Quality Group)
We would like to draw your attention to the Energy Meteorology Symposium organised on 11 May (2017) at Wageningen University. Both Dutch and international speakers will discuss a range of topics related to the role of meteorology in the (renewable) energy sector.
A symposium on renewable energy and the role of meteorology therein
Climate change, air quality issues, political instability and the exhaustive nature of fossil fuels all contribute to the notion that alternative energy sources should be exploited. Accordingly, governments have made appointments that are directed towards implementation of renewable energy systems. Over the past years, we have seen rooftops being covered with solar panels, and meadows populated with wind turbines. However, there is more to such a large transition than meets the eye. During this symposium, we hope to shed some light on the science and policy of renewable energy. We especially focus on the meteorology, that plays a key role in resource estimation, power prediction and load assessments. |
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| SENSE PhD Council invites your involvement! |
Welcome to walk with us..
The SENSE PhD Council, SPC, warmly invites all PhD students to join the third non-SENSE-walk on the 14th of May at 11h in Rhenen. One free coffee with cake will be provided to all participants, courtesy of SENSE. If you would like to join the walk, please contact the SPC via spcsense@gmail.com. You can find the event page also on Facebook for further information.
The SPC is also happy to announce the recent formation of two taskforces which are gladly accepting new members and their contributions (we welcome your involvement!).
The ‘communication taskforce’ aims to improve the overall communication within the SENSE community and to ensure information flows through a more efficient use of social media. A great achievement of this task force is the creation of both the SPC webpage and the SPC forum page. On the webpage you can find information about the SPC, its members and the newest events. As a communication platform, the forum page is reaching already 702 PhD candidates and is constantly growing in number.
The ‘courses taskforce’ aims to create a broader course offer, also for social scientists, and to make the availability of information about existing courses more visible. It further assesses the ongoing survey on course offers on the SPC webpage.
Both taskforces can be contacted via spcsense@gmail.com.
Now, the SPC has grown in its membership to a total current number of 9 (and counting). If you want to see who is involved from your own university (and if you wish to see the pictures going with these SPC members), then do not hesitate to go to (after login): SPC webpage
We are looking forward to walking with you during the non-SENSE-walk! |
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| Overview of upcoming events |
| Recently announced: |
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| Full list of interesting upcoming events: |
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| Tips |
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| Role models: what to do after your PhD or postdoc? |
What to do after your PhD or postdoc? What career options are there? What motivated other PhDs to choose for a particular career path? How do they like it and what skills do they consider important?
The Postdoc Career Development Initiative (PCDI) lined up some role-models to inspire you. We are continuously extending this selection for careers in the life sciences or STEM, whether it is academia, industry, government, non-profit etc. |
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| Professional PhD Program |
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The Professional PhD Program (PPP) aims to provide opportunities for PhD candidates to work on their transferable skills. Currently the PhD track fully focuses on an academic career, while around 80 per cent of the people who finish their PhD will continue their career outside universities. In addition to this, companies and public organizations can experience the added value of a PhD candidate. Furthermore, PPP can strengthen the collaboration between universities and non-academic organizations.
The Professional PhD Program is an initiative by Promovendi Netwerk Nederland.
You can participate in the Professional PhD Program (PPP) by applying for any available vacancies or by proposing a company yourself.
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| Job vacancies |
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| Vacancies at SENSE Partners |
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| Other vacancies in the SENSE field |
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