Alumnus testimonial
Alumnus Ellen Speetjens - MSc Molecular Life Sciences
“The introduction day in Wageningen was very interesting, I immediately felt that this programme was the right choice for me. I never regretted my decision and really enjoyed my student life in Wageningen. I joined the teamsport frisbee for example, so that I would be motivated to go exercising regularly, but I liked it so much that I became very active in the association. Furthermore, me and some friends made the awesome magazine ‘Periodica’ of the study association M.S.V. Alchimica for two years."
In the industry, obtained knowledge is directly used
Internship and choosing a career
"I wanted to do my internship abroad, so I went to New-Zealand together with a friend. My project took place at the Otago University in Dunedin, at the biochemistry department. Especially the travelling was an amazing experience, everytime I see the Lord of the Rings movies I want to go back again! But after I graduated I needed to decide what the next step would be. During my thesis and internship I felt that obtaining results took too long, that wasn’t motivating for me. Furthermore, I wasn’t sure what happens with the obtained knowledge, you publish an article, and then? When you work at a company, the knowledge is directly used to improve products or processes, so I decided to try whether I would fit in there."
Research and development
"I ended up at DSM, a Dutch multinational company that is active in the chemical industry. My position is at the business unit food specialties at the research and development department of the yeast extract factory in Delft, the Netherlands. If yeast is hydrolyzed, and the released proteins and RNA is degraded, a flavour enhancer is obtained, that is mostly used in harty products. You could check the label of your frozen pizza for example. My main task is to improve the production process: can we make it faster, cheaper, more sustainable etcetera. But we also develop new products.”