PE&RC Discussion Groups

About PE&RC Discussion Groups

Discussion groups consist of a multidisciplinary group of scientists. The group meets on a regular (monthly) basis and discusses scientific issues/ papers (e.g. key publications, PhD manuscripts and proposals, new developments in scientific theory). Within PE&RC, a number of discussion groups exist that can be found below. PhD candidates that are abroad for most of the time can also obtain TSP credits by participating in regular discussion groups or scientific meetings of a local institute or university as long as this is recognised by the supervisors. Other scientific interaction with peers at home institutes that broaden the PhD candidate's scientific scope are also allowed for TSP credits.

Function of PE&RC discussion groups

1. To obtain information, ideas and insight on research;
2. To discuss key articles to obtain insight in current ecological/agricultural theory;
3. To present research plan and data during various stages of the PhD appointment;
4. To learn to present research results, both orally and written;
5. To develop a critical view on presentation and discussion of research results and to improve one's capabilities in scientific interaction.

Suggested format for PE&RC discussion groups

1. All phases of the PhD project (preparation, collection of data and literature, data analysis and oral and written presentation) should be considered in the discussion groups.
2. New participants are advised to start by giving a presentation of what they will be studying
3. The composition of discussion groups should be a mixture of PhDs from all different stages of research
4. Groups should come together once or twice a month for 2 to 3 hours. The meeting can be split up into 2 main segments:
   • Discussion of approximately an hour in which a paper, congress presentation, experimental design or topic on theory is presented and discussed;
   • The second hour is reserved to discuss smaller issues. PhDs bring forward questions, problems or ideas regarding their own research (e.g. statistical design and analysis, methods, literature) after which the group can respond to help solve the issue. This is especially useful to solve day to day research issues.

Current PE&RC discussion groups

• One Health talks & drinks
• Emissions and Nutrient Management group
• FLOP: Frontier Literature in Plant Physiology
• Wageningen Evolution and Ecology Seminars (WEES)
• Agroecosystems
• R user
• The WUR Game Hub
• Institute of Environmental Biology (IEB Utrecht) PhD Discussion Group (IEB)
• B-Wise Bioinformatics @ Wageningen Seminar Series
• Modelling & Simulation Discussion Group
• Sharing Knowledge in Photosynthesis Research (SKiPR)
• Plant Microbiomes discussion group
• Plant-soil interaction discussion group
• Reinforcement Learning
• Agro Food Robotics
• FoRSense
• Soil Fertility Management (SFM) through a Transdisciplinary Lens
• Functional Structural Plant Modelling Discussion Group

NOTE: WHEN YOU PARTICIPATE IN A DISCUSSION GROUP THAT IS NOT LISTED HERE, PLEASE INFORM US SO WE CAN ADD IT HERE!