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Profile EAAP Member Organisation -
Animal Sciences Group of Wageningen UR |
The Animal Sciences Group of
Wageningen UR is an internationally renowned knowledge organisation
in the field of animal husbandry, animal health and fisheries. It
also develops and produces vaccines and sensitines (specific
diagnostics). Core activities are scientific and practice-based
research, academic education and generating (animal) production
systems and innovations. The staff of about 650 highly qualified
people instructs young academics and undertakes research for a large
group of clients. The research varies from specialist to
multi-disciplinary, while the focus is always on the concepts of
quality and independence for both education and research. The Animal
Sciences Group has very extensive facilities for research and
production. There are practical research centres at various
locations in the Netherlands, where there are application-oriented
locations for research into cattle, poultry and pig farming. In
Yerseke there is a practice-based research location for marine
cultures and in Wageningen the Animal Sciences Group can use the
largest fresh-water fish-farming facilities in Europe. At the main
site in Lelystad, there are the operating facilities, the isolation
units (for SPF and pathogen-free animals) and high-containment
facilities (including BSL 3 recognition) where research is carried
out into extremely infectious animal diseases. The Animal Sciences
Group also has livestock houses for metabolic and climate research
as well as very extensive laboratories. The Animal Sciences Group is
part of Wageningen UR and has an annual turnover of about 78 million
euro.
The Department of Animal Sciences,
which is the university section of the Animal Sciences Group,
contributes to the Biology, Animal Sciences, Aquaculture and
Fisheries study programmes and also to the Organic Agriculture,
Nutrition and Health, Bioprocess Technology and Molecular Sciences.
All these study programmes are highly reputed internationally. There
is an annual intake of about 130 BSc and 60 MSc students. In
addition, about 100 PhD students are being supervised, about half of
whom come from outside the Netherlands and receive 75% external
funding. The school’s aim is to contribute to sustainable and
socially accepted animal husbandry and fisheries through education
and fundamental research. Animals in all their functions are the
central focus. Research at the School of Animal Sciences is part of
the Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS) research school.
The results of research are published regularly in top scientific
journals.
Contract research at the Animal
Sciences Group includes research and knowledge transfer commissions
and the development of vaccines and sensitines. Customers come from
local, national and international governments, interest groups,
product boards, the business world and industry. Their background
can vary from biotechnology, animal nutrition, meat production and
breeding to meat and fish processing and general and veterinary
pharmacy. The expertise available can be classed as very extensive -
from practical to scientific and from specialist to
multi-disciplinary. Contract research at the Animal Sciences Group
is carried out according to ISO 9001. The ISO 17025 standard applies
for analyses.
The activities of the Animals
Sciences Group cover the wide field of farm animals, domestic pets
and fish, from animal nutrition to animal management and animal
systems, from animal disease control to food safety, and from
aquaculture to sustainable fisheries. Close cooperation between
academic education on the one side and, on the other, with
fundamental, applied and practice-oriented research ensures that the
Animal Sciences Group is able to develop innovative insights and
products together with clients.
Animal Sciences Group (ASG) of
Wageningen UR new contact point for EAAP in The Netherlands
To strengthen the ties with the EAAP
a new organisational structure has been established in the
Netherlands by ASG. The coordination group, being Paul Vriesekoop,
Abele Kuipers, Kor Oldenbroek en Erwin Koenen, has as goals:
