Wetenschap - 23 mei 1996

IAC part of Wageningen Holding

Foreign students should enter one organisation in Wageningen, which should cover PhD and MSc programmes as well as short courses. This is the advice of dr Bram Peper, the mayor of Rotterdam, to Dutch agricultural minister Jozias van Aartsen. The International Agricultural Centre (IAC) will therefore merge with the WAU. Furthermore, the university should be part of a Wageningen holding structure, which will also include the DLO institutes for agricultural research, says Peper.

WAU rector Cees Karssen states that the IAC will keep its own identity and place in the new structure, because the main sponsors of the IAC, including the Dutch ministery of Foreign Affairs, want a clear destination of their money. On the other hand, lecturers from the WAU and DLO already contribute firmly to the IAC courses, states Karssen. The exchange of human capital between WAU and IAC may increase in future, if the minister agrees with the advice of Peper.

Karssen is also considering the possibility of establishing one MSc programme at WAU. The students would still be able to enter a specialisation, but would also have the possibility to take more lectures of their own choise. MSc students have repetedly argued that more choise from different programmes would enable them to fulfil their own educational needs.