News and insights

Fishing boat Haringvliet Zeeland

Monitoring migratory fish with sound signals

Highlighted

Highlighted stories

Wageningen World

The ‘poo machine’ reveals the link between gut bacteria and health

Impact story

A Banana’s Passport in One Click: Using AI and Citizen Science to Trace our food

Children learning to cook.
KennisOnline

Familiarizing children with healthy food

News

Renate Wesselink appointed Personal Professor

Renate Wesselink is appointed personal professor as of 1 December 2025, combining professional learning with sustainable development.

News

Bonaire can benefit from circular waste management

Bonaire can take major steps towards a more sustainable and healthier future by managing its organic waste in a circular way, as shown by the results of the BonCirc project.

Dutch CaribbeanBiobased and circular societyKennisOnline
News

John van der Oost receives ERC grant for CRISPR research into targeted cancer therapy

Microbiologist John van der Oost has received an ERC Proof of Concept grant to develop an innovative CRISPR-based method that targets cancer cells from within, while minimising damage to healthy cells.

Genetic modificationHealth for all life

Visit KennisOnline for new stories and videos!

KennisOnline

KennisOnline brings you stories about research conducted by Wageningen University & Research with co-funding from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN).

KennisOnline

Dutch forests are under serious pressure

Nederlandse bossen dreigen te verdwijnen

The Dutch forests — and many European forests as well — are under enormous pressure. Climate change threatens to drive tree species to extinction. What measures could help?

Recent news articles (24)

News
News

Research holds key to making global trade more nature-friendly

Global trading systems are damaging the very ecosystems that they rely upon to produce food and materials, with harmful impacts on nature and people, according to a group of leading European research institutes.

Biodiversity and resilient ecosystems
News

Marnix Medema appointed chair of Bioinformatics at WUR

Marnix Medema has been appointed Chair of the Bioinformatics Group at Wageningen University & Research as of 1 February. He aims to further strengthen bioinformatics as a connecting discipline within the life sciences.

News

Wageningen researchers break materials theory with a new type of plastic

Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have developed a new type of plastic that, according to materials theory, should not be able to exist. Read more about it here.

Biobased and circular society
News

Renate Wesselink appointed Personal Professor

Renate Wesselink is appointed personal professor as of 1 December 2025, combining professional learning with sustainable development.

News

When Wageningen turned into New Orleans for a night

For one evening, Wageningen briefly felt a lot more like New Orleans.

News

Bonaire can benefit from circular waste management

Bonaire can take major steps towards a more sustainable and healthier future by managing its organic waste in a circular way, as shown by the results of the BonCirc project.

Dutch CaribbeanBiobased and circular societyKennisOnline
News

Options for designating 'non-sensitive areas' under Nitrates Directive are limited

The Committee of Experts on Fertiliser Law (CDM) has concluded that the options in the Netherlands for designating ‘non-vulnerable zones' under the Nitrates Directive are limited.

NitrogenKennisOnline
News

John van der Oost receives ERC grant for CRISPR research into targeted cancer therapy

Microbiologist John van der Oost has received an ERC Proof of Concept grant to develop an innovative CRISPR-based method that targets cancer cells from within, while minimising damage to healthy cells.

Genetic modificationHealth for all life
News

International team investigates the key to longer life in yeast

An international team of scientists led by WUR has commenced a study to investigate how and why yeast cells die – and, especially, how to delay that process. The insights gained could play a key role in making the production of food proteins, medicines and biofuels more sustainable and efficient.

News

Carbon farming in Europe: when climate policy reassures more than it delivers

Carbon farming is increasingly promoted as a key element of European climate policy. Increasing carbon in soils is presented as a way to offset emissions from farming and other sectors. But how effective is this approach in practice?

Climate-proof futuresSustainable food systems
News

First case of avian influenza antibodies in cow in Europe

Avian influenza (Avian influenza, HPAI H5N1) has been detected in a Dutch dairy cow. Research by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (part of Wageningen University & Research) shows that the cow in question has antibodies against the avian influenza virus. No virus particles were found in the animal. This means the cow is not shedding the virus and does not pose a risk to public health.

KennisOnlineBird flu
Dugong in the Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi.
News

Occurrence of the threatened dugong in Indonesia

In Indonesia, the dugong appears to be concentrated in specific regions, while bycatch in fishing nets is a major cause of death and few young animals are observed.

Biodiversity and resilient ecosystems
News

ENW-M grant for research into electricity-powered bacteria

Wageningen environmental technologist Annemiek ter Heijne, together with the University of Antwerp, has received an NWO grant. Two PhD candidates will investigate whether purple bacteria can produce useful substances, such as dietary supplements, more efficiently when ‘fed’ with electricity.

News

Maize defence compound helps parasitic nematodes find their host

A compound that maize plants use to defend themselves against pests can unintentionally help parasitic nematodes locate their host. The key lies not with the plant or the nematode alone, but in a subtle interaction with soil bacteria.

News

Animal ethicist Bernice Bovenkerk appointed as personal professor

As of 1 December 2025, philosopher Bernice Bovenkerk has been appointed personal professor.

News

WUR research identifies scope for higher wheat yields in north-west Europe

WUR research shows that the wheat yield plateau in north-west Europe cannot be explained by climate change or genetic potential, but is linked to on-farm management.

News

Wageningen microbiologist awarded NWO grant for medicines from sea sponges

Microbiologist Detmer Sipkema receives an NWO ENW-M grant to develop methods for producing medicines and bioactive compounds from sea sponges.

News

Agricultural exports continue to grow, imports grow faster

Dutch trade in agricultural goods continues to expand. According to new estimates, exports will reach €137.5 billion in 2025, an increase of 8.4 percent compared with the previous year.

KennisOnline
News

Avian influenza diagnostics in foxes provide valuable addition to mammal surveillance

WBVR and DWHC show foxes can be infected with HPAI H5N1, making fox testing a valuable addition to avian influenza monitoring in mammals.

KennisOnlineBird flu
News

Reinskje Talhout appointed as special professor Product appeal and prevention of harmful consumption behaviour

With effect from 1 January, the Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has appointed Reinskje Talhout as special professor of Product appeal and prevention of harmful consumption behaviour.

News

HYDRA-EO: GRS leads ESA project on hybrid modelling and AI for multi-stressor crop monitoring

Researchers from the Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing at WUR have launched HYDRA-EO, a new research project funded by the European Space Agency.

News

Wolf on the move: first ‘GPS wolf’ travels over 2,500 km in just a few months

Since October 2025, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has been studying interactions between wolves, people and prey animals within De Hoge Veluwe National Park. To facilitate this research, several animals have been fitted with tracking devices, and visitors to the park are being asked to voluntarily carry a GPS tracker.

Wolves
News

Visiting an arable farm with your class

Where does our food come from? Increasingly, schools want pupils to learn this not only from books, but through hands-on experience. For primary schools planning a visit to an arable farm next spring, new teaching materials are now available.

KennisOnline
News

Karin Schroën appointed chair of Food Process Engineering

Karin Schroën has been appointed Chair of Food Process Engineering at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) with effect from 1 November. She succeeds Remko Boom.

Recent background stories (11)

Background stories
Longread

No sustainability without justice

We are living beyond the limits of our planet. For years we have been depleting ecosystems, and without addressing social inequality, true sustainability remains little more than an ideal on paper. That is why researchers at Wageningen University & Research want to give new momentum to the concept of a “safe and just operating space.” A healthy planet and a fair society cannot exist separately — they urgently depend on one another.

Longread

‘Protection of the Wadden Sea still needs to be made much better’

Huge mussel beds and large numbers of flatfish have surprised the researchers studying underwater life in the Wadden Sea over the past year. The area needed some good news for a change. Numbers of migratory fish have been declining for years, and the impact of climate change and human activities remains significant.

Wadden seaSustainable water and land use
Digger on a raft on the Amstel.
Longread

How Wageningen expertise helps tackle urban challenges

From waste collection and repairs of quayside walls to energy poverty: for over a decade, AMS Institute has been helping to resolve problems faced by cities. The collaboration between scientists, the municipality and businesses ensures academic knowledge israpidly put to practical use.

Longread

The ‘poo machine’ reveals the link between gut bacteria and health

Our intestines probably have an influence on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as depression and stress. With the help of artificial intestines – aka the poo machine – scientists are trying to figure out how that relationship functions in humans and animals.

Longread

Robots grow sugar beets after consulting the farmer

Agricultural robots are already sowing, mowing and ploughing, but each robot has its own app, screen and language. That means farmers waste time on apps and settings that they could have spent tending their crops. Wageningen researchers want to change that. They are working on a smart interface that will let farmers talk to their machines like you would to ChatGPT: discussing the weather, the harvest or the nitrogen rules in their own words.

KennisOnline
five deer in forest and heather landscape
Longread

Hunting is deeply rooted in our landscape

What we call nature has often been shaped by centuries of hunting. Eugenie van Heijgen, a researcher at Wageningen University & Research, shows in her dissertation how decisive these hunting landscapes are for our perception of nature.

John in lab
Longread

CRISPR-Cas pioneer John van der Oost: ‘Chance has been a determining factor in my scientific career’

When John van der Oost arrived in Wageningen all those years ago, no one had heard of CRISPR-Cas – not even him. His path to discovering this revolutionary technique was determined in part by random chance and in part by seizing the opportunities that arose. Van der Oost will be retiring this year.

Genetic modification
Stormbird
News

The stomach contents of fulmar reveal a lot about plastic soup in the North Sea

Wageningen Marine Research has been monitoring the amount of plastic encountered in the stomachs of beached fulmars since 1980. Their diet provides an accurate indication of the plastic saturation of the North Sea. Why is this seabird so suited for this study?

Longread

The search for circular potting soil for growers and garden lovers

Biochar, a type of charcoal, could be a likely candidate. But is replacing peat with biochar really that easy?

General publicBiobased and circular society
Longread

Science aims to outsmart extreme, unpredictable wildfires

Wildfires can sometimes suddenly escalate into an unpredictable and life-threatening inferno. The cause of such behaviour is occurring increasingly often – even in the Netherlands. How can researchers and firefighters gain better control over this phenomenon, known as pyrocumulus?

Climate-proof futures
Water filtering
Longread

Removing medicine residues from water

A new Wageningen water purification technology removes medicine residues from sewage. The first full-scale system will be built this year in Zeist.

Wageningen World
Subscribe to Wageningen World

Wageningen World is the magazine for associates and alumni of Wageningen University & Research. The magazine keeps you up to date on developments in the Wageningen domains of nutrition, nature, climate, the circular economy and the environment.

View Wageningen World

Current topics (6)

Current topics
cellular-meat-shutterstock_2398914919.jpg
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Cellular agriculture

Cultivated meat and fish, and animal-free dairy products are rapidly becoming viable alternatives to animal-based products and could significantly reshape our future protein supply.

Cellular agriculture
shutterstock_182502788_fire_wildfire_1500x1000
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Wildfires

Wageningen University & Research conducts research into the effects of forest fires, heathland fires and roadside fires on nature. For example, the causes of erosion and flooding after a wildfire are being investigated. Researchers in Wageningen also provide advice to authorities, enabling them to focus on the rapid restoration of ground-covering vegetation after a wildfire. This helps the soil remain as intact as possible and recover quickly.

Wildfires
Page

Methane

Dutch livestock farmers have already made considerable strides towards a sustainable livestock sector. A critical task, as one of the climate agreement goals, is to further reduce the emission of methane (CH4).

Methane
heide-veluwe-shutterstock_287030492-1500x1000
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Nitrogen

Nitrogen is an essential building block for life, but high nitrogen deposition on natural areas causes biodiversity loss.

Nitrogen
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Bird flu

On this page, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WVBR) informs you about the latest bird flu (avian influenza) developments in the Netherlands. This research institute performs diagnostics for bird flu and advises the Dutch government on preventive measures.

Bird flu
Page

Wolves

After an absence of approximately 150 years, the wolf has re-established itself in the Netherlands. This dossier provides you with the latest news, background information and results of Wageningen University & Research on wolves in the Netherlands.

Wolves

Activities

Activities
Overview of all the activities
Thu 19 February 2026 10:30
Omnia - Building 105

From windows of threat to windows of opportunity: Housing management and nutritional interventions in early life to improve pig health by shaping the gut microbiota, immune status and welfare

PhD defence Caifang Wen

Thu 19 February 2026 10:30
Thu 9 April 2026 10:30
Thu 28 May 2026 10:30

Taster Day - Animal Sciences

Would you like to know more about the BSc Animal Sciences? Join this event and experience the study and Wageningen for yourself.

On the front row: Sporophyte development in the fern Ceratopteris richardii
Thu 19 February 2026 13:00
Omnia - Building 105

On the front row: Sporophyte development in the fern Ceratopteris richardii

PhD defence Sjoerd Woudenberg

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