Rector Magnificus Carolien Kroeze, PhD candidate Shiyi Zhang and beadle Renata Michel. Photo Guy Ackermans The next milestone in WUR’s PhD factory is becoming almost habitual. In a year that already boasts a record number of PhD graduations, the 9000 milestone was reached yesterday, 104 years after the then recently established academic institute in Wageningen conferred its first doctorate degree.
That first PhD study focused on colonial forestry in Java. Zhang obtained her PhD in pig digestion kinetics. Her research followed up on the thesis she wrote as a master’s student eight years ago with the Animal Nutrition group. After graduation, she spent three years working for a commercial business in China.
Shiyi Zhang (32) was born in Harbin and studied at the Nanjing Agricultural University. She obtained her masters in Wageningen. Her PhD study was part of the WUR and Chinese Agricultural Green Deal development programme. The work, part of which was done in China and part in Wageningen, was significantly delayed as a result of the COVID outbreak.
Major accomplishment
Rector Magnificus Carolien Kroeze chaired the defence personally. She called the 9000th defence a ‘major accomplishment’. WUR produces PhD degrees at a staggering rate of approximately 300 per year. The 5000th PhD was obtained in 2011, the 6000th in 2015, and the 7000th in the centennial year of 2018. The 7000th PhD was also obtained by a Chinese candidate.
Record
The number of doctoral degrees conferred at WUR is increasing. Last year saw a record number of 359 dissertations. This year, that number is expected to increase to 381. Before the COVID outbreak, the number of PhDs at the university oscillated around 300. The WUR’s bursar benefits from the increase: each dissertation earns WUR around 70,000 euros. The lion’s share of that money goes to the chair groups.
