MSc Biosystems Engineering

30 April 2020

Welcome to the MSc Open Day presentation of the Biosystems Engineering program. More information can be found on our website. Feel free to contact the study advisor or one of our students via chat during the Open Day or later via email. Information on how to do so can be found at the end of the presentation.

Our challenge

We need a lot and this is our challenge to feed a population of 9 billion in 2050 There is a growing demand but limited resources and conflicting interests: land, environment, labour, animal welfare and many more. In this program, we look at how to provide people with what they need, taking into account these different interest by combining knowledge and skills on both technology and nature.

What do we need?

▪Food

▪Feed

▪Flowers

▪Fuel

▪Fibres

▪Fish

▪....

What is Biosystems Engineering about? We mostly focus on these areas.

Fun, feelings & funny unexpected things

FBut also on some, maybe a bit more unexpected fields of interest, such as the grass on golf courses, new protein sources such as insects or algae and electricity gained from plants in soil.

Engineering in the future

But how is engineering evolving? Could this be our future? Farming in the city, carbon dioxide uptake for plant growth, harvest sunlight and energy to optimize growth, perfect logistics from production to consumer, fully automatized harvesting systems? Integration of different production systems like crops and fish? We aim to develop new technologies or improve existing technology for a sustainable production of what we need.

Position Biosystems Engineering

Society

Engineering

Plant, animal,

environment

The programme deals with engineering related to plant, animal and environment. We try to find innovative solutions and combine knowledge of technology and living systems. It is not so much about solely hard core engineering and detailed knowledge of animal or plant biology, but you need to have a sufficient background in both domains.And these themes are always embedded in society. What are the needs and request for production and sustainable management? The main focus of this MSc programme is Engineering, but always in relation to several other domains as explained later.

Engineering: System thinking

Study Research

Existing system & structures ↓ Functions ↓ New knowledge

Understand Model

Relations between entities & environment

Optimize Control

Manage system state variables & output

Innovate Design

Needs & requirements ↓ Functions ↓ New structures & systems

In a BSc, there is more attention to existing knowledge and understanding relations while in the MSc we focus more on control and the design of innovative systems. If you look at engineering: system thinking is a key issue to move from existing knowledge to innovation. Therefore, we use a systematic approach in this study program. You start with Study/ Research on existing systems and structures. What do we already know? Then, in order to understand this, you model a system. (e.g. harvest, climate control, manage variables like temperature, radiation) The next step is to optimize a systems, based on the information gained in the first two steps. Finally, the innovation takes place in form of a new the design: You will learn about existing systems, but also work through this entire process to come to a new design systematically.

Study programme

▪Duration: 2 years ● One year courses ● One year thesis/

internship

▪Tailor made programme ● Thesis oriented ● Based on your

competences and ambitions

Hopefully, the previous slides have given you a bit of insight into the position of Biosystems Engineering. Now you will get to know more about the details of this programme and the different study tracks. The program takes two years, with the first year usually consisting of courses and the second your writing your MSc thesis and doing an internship. It is a tailor made programme that leaves much opportunity to choose courses that fit your individual interests. Your study advisor will be there to discuss the options with you and develop your personal study plan.

Study programme

Total 120 ECTS

24

3618

12

12

18

Compulsory courses Thesis preparation coursesCareer preparation courses Free choice coursesThesis Internship

See the study handbook for more details.

The first year consist courses: three introductory compulsory courses in September, two courses to prepare you for writing your thesis at one of the chair groups, one course as career preparation and two courses free to choose, either going more in depth in your chosen field or broaden your scope, depending on your preference. Year two consists of your MSc thesis and an internship. Study handbook: https://ssc.wur.nl/Handbook/Programme/MBE

Compulsory courses

▪Overview to Biosystems Engineering

▪ Three courses ● Biosystems Design ● Modelling of Biobased Production Systems ● Quantitative Analysis of Innovative Biosystems

These three courses serve as an introduction to the breadth of Biosystems Engineering and give you insights about which directions to take within the program. Click on the links to read more about the courses. Biosystems Design: https://ssc.wur.nl/Handbook/Course/FTE-33806 Modelling of Biobased Production Systems: https://ssc.wur.nl/Handbook/Course/FTE-34806 Quantitative Analysis of Innovative Biosystems: https://ssc.wur.nl/Handbook/Course/FTE-34306

Career preparation courses

▪Research Master Cluster ● Preparation PhD ● Write your research proposal

▪Academic Consultancy Training ● Organizations’ questions ● Students from entire WUR

A part of the MSc program is career preparation. You can choose from two different options. The Research Master Cluster (https://ssc.wur.nl/Schedule/Course/YWU-60312) is developed for students interested in following a career in research. You write your own PhD proposal, supervised by one of the researchers of the university. If research is not your intended career choice, you can choose Academic Consultancy Training (https://ssc.wur.nl/Handbook/Course/YMC-60809). In this course, you form a consultancy firm with students from other programmes at Wageningen University and together, you consult an organization on a real problem or question they have.

Seven tracks

• Biobased Chemistry and Technology

• Environmental Technology

• Farm Technology

• Geo-Information Sciences & Remote Sensing

• Information Technology

• Mathematical and Statistical Methods

• Operation Research and Logistics

Within all tracks possibility for Entrepreneurial track

You choose one of seven tracks to specialize in. Within the track, you take two courses and write your thesis with that chair group. You could say that this will be your major. More information on the seven tracks is on the next slide. Additionally, you have the opportunity to follow the entrepreneurial track (https://www.wur.nl/en/article/MSc-Track-Entrepreneurship.htm) in case you are interested to learn more about being an entrepreneur. Several of our students have made use of this opportunity to start their own company or learn how to market a product they developed.

Biobased Chemistry and Technology

https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Agrotechnology-and-Food-Sciences/Biobased-Chemistry-Technology-Group.htm Organic waste is a resource. We try to recover and reuse waste to develop new biobased materials and products.

Environmental Technology

• Plant microbial fuel cell

• What influences the

effectiveness of the fuel cell

https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Agrotechnology-and-Food-Sciences/Environmental-Technology.htm Recover and reuse essential components from waste to maintain and create a viable environment.

Farm Technology

▪ Precision farming, process control, autonomous equipment, robotics

▪ Agricultural buildings, animal welfare, health, environment

▪ Construction and design of greenhouses, energy, water, labour

https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Plant-Sciences/Farm-Technology-Group.htm This track aims to enhance, exploit and disseminate the potential of technology in primary Agricultural production processes to fulfil the needs of mankind and nature in a sustainable way.

Geo-Information Sciences & Remote Sensing

▪Observing, sensing and measuring the world:

● How to do it? Sensor technology, model development ● How do humans interact with their environment?

(E.g. effects on biodiversity, climate, and social economic processes) ● Use information to empower communities

https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Environmental-Sciences/Laboratory-of-Geo-information-Science-and-Remote-Sensing.htm How can we use geoinformation data to improve spatial competences for a sustainable world ?

Information Technology

▪Multi-dimensional Agrifood supply chain networks

▪ Information for communi-cation and control

▪Modelling: the basis for design

▪ From data -> information

-> decisions

https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Social-Sciences/Information-Technology-Group.htm Information Technology concerns how to collect Big Data in the Biosystems field and subsequently turning all that data into information which can be used to make data driven decisions.

Mathematical and Statistical Methods

▪ Measuring and controlling

● (climate, robots, ...)

▪ Modelling, processing

● (nutrient cycles, evaporation ...)

▪ Systems evaluation through data and simulation

● (greenhouse and housing)

https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Research-Institutes/plant-research/biometris.htm In this track people develop statistical and mathematical methods for the quantification of biological processes and processes in our living environment.

Operations Research and Logistics

▪ Data processing and analysis

▪ Planning of actions in the production chains

Producer Industry Logistic services Wholesale Retail Consumer

https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Social-Sciences/Operations-Research-and-Logistics.htm In this track you will contribute to the state-of-the-art of Operations Research and Logistics Management in agrifood and biobased supply chains to cope with contemporary complexity issues.

Thesis

▪ 24 weeks (36 credits) of thesis research and report writing

▪ Thesis usually fits into on-going research ▪ Other research subjects can be discussed ▪ Interested? Read more about our students’

experiences.

Part of your track is writing a thesis. It gives you the opportunity to work on your own research project for 24 weeks. The research is often linked to ongoing research at the university and supervised by Wageningen University researchers. You can discuss with researchers from the chair group what interests you and find a suiting research topic.

Thesis topics

• Describing within-field variable potato yield using crop growth models

• Evaluating the incorporation of a new bio-refinery concept in the Dutch sugar supply chain

• Temperature control of microalgae cultivation under variable conditions

These are a few examples of researches Biosystems Engineering students from this program did, to give you an impression of what is possible.

Academic Internship

▪ 16 weeks (24 credits) working outside the university

▪ Put knowledge and skills into practice

▪ Professional setting

▪ In the Netherlands or abroad

At the end of your program you will do an internship at an organisation outside Wageningen University. It is an academic internship which means that it is not just about work experience, but we expect you to do a research within the context and mission of your chosen organisation. Just like the MSc thesis, you get to discuss what your interests are and we try to find an organisation and topic that suits your interests. In some cases it is also possible to come up with your own internship if you already have contacts to a company. Students use this opportunity to get a better view on what work would suit their interests and quite a few students decide to continue to work for their internship organisation.

Biosystems Engineering

What we do/are

▪ Technology

▪Multidisciplinary approach

▪Design

▪ Innovation

▪Viability

▪ Environment

What we don’t/aren’t

▪Only technology

▪Only biology

▪ Livestock farming

▪ Plant sciences

! Systems approach!

So what is Biosystems Engineering at Wageningen University?: An engineering study focused on a broad range of technology in the agricultural sector. You learn to use a multidisciplinary and systematic approach to design innovations that are viable and take into account the environment. And what is this program not?: Pure technology or pure biology or pure livestock farming or pure plant sciences. It is always a combination of several fields. Therefore you will need an interest in science and engineering, but doing so in the broad field of the agricultural sector must appeal to you as well.

Future career Biosystems Engineer

▪Diverse career prospects: ● Product engineer ● Systems engineer ● Research and education ● Entrepreneur ● Consultant

Most of our students already have a job offer by the time they graduate. They continue in various fields and vocations., but most work as product or system engineers in R&D departments of companies, or they continue their career at universities or research institutions, some decide to start their own business and many work as consultants where they can apply the broad knowledge and skills gained from this program. If you are interested to read more, click on the link in the slide to read experiences from some of our to alumni. Career prospects: https://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/master/MSc-programmes/msc-biosystems-engineering/Future-career.htm

Admission

▪ Online application • For information: WUR admission website • Add ALL requested documents • Don’t wait until you get your BSc certificate,

don’t wait until the summer holidays!

▪ Admission Committee decides if you will be admitted, and decides on pre-master programme, based on sent documents, CV, and motivation letter

If this sounds interesting to you, you can apply to the program. Please have a look at our website to see whether you are eligible. In case you have doubts about that, just apply and the admission committee will let you know whether you can start this MSc program or not. In some cases you will have to do a pre-master to gain the required knowledge. A pre-master is half a year of courses that you need to pass before you can start with the MSc program. Applying for admission is free of charge. See our website for more information (http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/Student-Service-Centre/Show-ssc/Application-Master.htm). Make sure that you apply and hand in all required documents before the deadlines, but you can apply before you have received your BSc certificate.

Admission requirements

▪ Relevant Bachelor degree

▪ GPA of 70%

▪ Average mark of at least 7.0

▪ Fluency in English

▪ Sufficient knowledge mathematics, physics, modeling

● Dutch HAS students: Prepare during HBO & linkage programme

● Other HBO and BSc-students 15-30 credits linkage programme

▪ Engineering content in bachelor programme: at least 60 credits

▪ Experience with agricultural engineering or environmental engineering subjects is an advantage

These are the admission requirements. If you have any question about the admission procedure have a look at the FAQ online or chat with people from the Student Service Centre during the Open Day.

English

▪All master courses are given in English

▪All applicants must provide recent evidence of their spoken and written command of English.

• English language proficiency (non-EU) • English language proficiency (EU)

Please have a look at the required English proficiency level and acknowledged certificate to proof your proficiency. English language proficiency (non-EU): http://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/master/Admission-requirements-Master/English-language-proficiency-non-EUEFTA-1.htm English language proficiency (EU): http://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/master/Admission-requirements-Master/English-language-proficiency-EU-1.htm

What else can you do at this open day?

▪Chat with study advisers and students

▪Check our FAQ’s about application, housing, scholarships, visa, costs, introduction days, Wageningen, student for a day, corona and more

▪ Take a virtual tour with one or more of our students who will show you their life

▪Watch videos with tips for choosing a study programme, about student life and study experiences

If you have any questions, feel free to chat with one of the study advisors or a current student during the Open Day. You can also find much more information online on the Wageningen University website.

Thank you for your attention

Contact us via chat or email:

Study advisers:

Randy Möwes

Gerard Straver

First year student Raymon

MBE.msc@wur.nl

Thank you for your attention and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.