Column on keeping you up-to-date on the changes in education. We will inform you in this column on the improvements made in education. We are selectively breeding the best forms of education for you!
In this column I, Timon van Leeuwen, the Commissioner Education, will inform you on all the relevant topics being discussed in the StudCie (Study Committee of Semper Florens) and the SPC (student program committee for the studies of plant sciences).
New course on Plants and Health
In the BSc Plant Sciences there has been the course Cell Biology and Health for the major Plant Genomics and Health. Students experienced this course as not being a perfect fit for the BSc Plant Sciences. As topics discussed in this course mostly made use of human models and there seemed to be a lack of plant-related models. Since, we as plant scientists are interested in the possibilities of plants it would be logical to learn about plant-based models.
To meet the demand, a while ago discussions started on swapping out the Cell Biology and Health course for a better suited course. Although, there did not seem to be a suitable course, therefore the decision was made to create a new course. Some of you might know the course Plants and Health, which is RO1 in MSc Plant Biotechnology specialization Plants for Human and Animal Health. As the Plants and Health course is a MSc course, this might be too difficult for BSc students. Therefore, the Plants and Health course will be split up into two parts, Plants and Health I and Plants and Health II. The Plants and Health I course will be designed for the BSc Plants Sciences, so the easier subjects will be discussed here. The Plants and Health II course will attend to more difficult subjects. As there will be two courses and one follows the other, this allows discussion of even more advanced subjects in Plants and Health II.
In short, the newly designed Plants and Health I course will be followed by the 2nd year Bachelor students in 2019-2020. This course should be better suited for educating plant scientist students on the possibilities of plants as production platforms and understanding human health. Furthermore, the Plants and Health II course in the Master will be able to discuss more advanced subjects. This course will be implemented at a later stage. All in all, let’s see what an improvement this new course is.
If you have any questions, or suggestions please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
BSc 2nd year 1st period - Reducing the study load
Probably, a familiar period to the BSc students. In the 2nd year 1st period 4 courses are being followed, which can be perceived as quite a lot and a busy period. Recently, there already have been some changes in the exam setup of Concepts in Plant Physiology. The more even spread of the exams throughout the period was perceived as quite pleasant.
Although, there have been some changes for better in this period there is still quite a lot to gain. For the upcoming year, the exam of Plant Breeding will be taken in the middle of the period instead of at the end of the period. As the exam week of this period can be perceived as quite busy, due to exams of Fundamentals of Plant Pathology and Entomology, and Reproduction of Plants.
We really appreciate your input and feedback on this troublesome period. So, please leave your feedback at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Data science integration into Plant Sciences
As digitalisation of science is increasing the importance of data science in Plant Sciences increases correspondingly. More and more data is produced in our field of work, although we might not be prepared to analyze all this data. To prepare plant scientists for the digitalised scientific world a data science track might be included in the MSc Plant Sciences, MSc Plant Biotechnology and MSc Organic Agriculture. This data science track is being designed to educate plant scientists on the basic necessities of computer analytics.
Courses in the data science track might be aimed at educating plant scientists on the use of R, a great tool for statistical analysis and visualization. Furthermore, basic knowledge on Python and other useful tools could be attended to in this data science track. Moreover, Advanced Statics is being changed, so there is more use of R as this tool is preferred in the scientific community over SPSS statistics.
As this data science track is still being developed suggestions are more than welcome at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We hope that this data science track can prepare plant scientists for the digitalised science.
New course Seed Physiology and Technology
As there has been quite some interest in seed physiology and technology and the lack of a course attending to this specific subject, the new course Seed Physiology and Technology is being designed. Seed breeding companies use quite a lot of seed technology and quite some students are interested in the subject, therefore it seemed logical to design a course on this matter.
The course is currently being designed for MSc Plant Biotechnology specialization Molecular Plant Breeding and Pathology, and MSc Plant Sciences Greenhouse Horticulture. We hope that this course will be welcomed well, since it allows for thesis subjects in seed physiology and technology more easily. Plant Physilogy (PPH) is currently designing the course and it will be available in 2019-2020.
If you have any suggestions for this course, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..