News
Wageningen campus student expedition 2023
On Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th of December, fifteen organisations on Wageningen campus opened their doors for students. This unique and successful event, organised by the Wageningen Campus team, provided a valuable opportunity for students to gain insights into the diverse ways these organisations create impact at campus.
Each organisation, within the limited span of an hour, offered tours, presentations, and various interactive formats to introduce students to their missions, values, and operations. The organisations recognized the importance of the next generation of professionals, while students were given the opportunity to understand how their own skills and aspirations could align with the goals of these organisations. An important theme across many of the sessions was therefore the focus on career, thesis, and internship opportunities.
Arjen van Nieuwenhuijzen from Witteveen & Bos also mentioned during his presentation: ‘WUR campus is a good location to be involved with future employees; you as students!’
Campus community
This shows that the event also served as a bridge between academia and industry, showcasing the relationship between Wageningen University and the practical, real-world applications of knowledge. The openness and willingness of these organisations to share their expertise and opportunities underline the advantages of the Wageningen campus community.
The community ambiance of the event was further shown by the enthusiasm from participating students. Many questions were asked, covering topics such as organisational expertise, job opportunities, project details, client engagements, and more. The campus expedition was a great opportunity for networking between employees and students. Students expressed their interests focusing on potential job openings and internship prospects, while companies were left with inspiring thoughts and questions from students.
Giorgia Zaccheroni, master student Food Quality Management visited the presentations from Upfield, Kalsec and Foodvalley. She mentions that she’s grateful for the visitations as it left her with a broader understanding of the organisations. Just a website often does not give enough insight.
Creating impact
Considering that numerous organisations on the Wageningen campus are committed to generating and measuring positive impact, many students found themselves contemplating a crucial question: "What impact do I want to make?" This question became the takeaway from the event, prompting students to reflect on their personal aspirations and how these align with the organisations they visited.
Marina Alarcón from FarmTree mentioned: ‘It was also cool to present to students for once, because we usually pitch for professionals. This was a completely different narrative.’
And a special thanks to the organisations opening their doors the last two days: B-mex, Upfield, VHLgenetics, Witteveen+Bos, Farmtree, Kalsec, NIOO-KNAW, Nutrition and health unit WUR, Agrocares, FoodvalleyNL, Wageningen Food Safety Research, Meta Meta, OnePlanet Research/imec, Surfix Diagnostics and DSM Fermenich/CSK.
