PSG Strategic Plan

Added value through cooperationStrategic Plan 2011 until 2014 of the Plant Sciences Group

STRATEGIC PLAN PSG 2011 T/M 2014

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Table of contentsA. SUMMARY 2

B. INTRODUCTION 6

1. WHAT ARE WE FACING? 8 1.1 World wide 9 1.2 European 10 1.3 National 10 1.4 Internal 11

2. WHERE ARE WE? 12 2.1 SWOT analysis 13 2.2 What are our key activities? 15 2.3 What is our sphere of activity? 15 2.4 Who are our competitors and what is distinguishing us? 16 2.5 Who are our clients? 17 2.6 What is our market? 18 2.7 How are we organised? 18

3. WHERE DO WE WISH TO GO? 20 3.1 Ambition 21 3.2 Key values 21 3.3 Picture of the future 22 3.4 Choices 23 3.4.1 Quality 24 3.4.2 Productivity 25 3.4.3 Societal and scienti!c relevance 28 3.4.4 Flexibility and resilience 34 3.5 Employee participation 37 3.6 Housing 37 3.7 Target-monitoring Strategic Plan 38

ANNEX 39

A. Summary

THE PLANT SCIENCES GROUP HAS THE KNOWLEDGE AND FACILITIES TO FULLY UTILISE AND EXPLOIT THE POSSIBILITIES OF PLANTS. THIS IS HOW PSG IS WORKING ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE.

A. SUMMARY

4

The world is facing major changes. The strong growth of the world population in the

next forty years and a rising standard of living will result in a strong increase in the

demand for food, raw materials and energy. In the past we have seen how this may

result in environmental damage and adverse climate effects. The big challenge is to meet

the growing consumption demand without irreversible damage to the environment. Plants

are offering an inexhaustible source of possibilities to meet this challenge: they serve as

source of food, raw material and energy.

The Plant Sciences Group (PSG) has the knowledge and facilities to fully utilise and exploit

the possibilities of plants. This is how PSG is working on the quality of life.

The strength of PSG lies in the interaction between fundamental, strategic and applied

research, where we are focussing on three markets: the development of knowledge

(research), the transfer of knowledge (education) and the "ow of knowledge into practical

applications (knowledge transfer).

PSG consists of two divisions, each with its own identity:

The Plant Sciences Department of Wageningen University, focussing on fundamental research and education in the plant sciences, and

The DLO institutes Applied Plant Research (PPO) and Plant Research International (PRI), conducting strategic and applied research in cooperation with growers and businesses

Cooperation between these divisions offers added value for education as well as research.

We are operating in a continuously changing world. This is why we want to identify changes

in an early stage and why we are continuously trying to tailor our organisation to meet

such changes. Adequate responding to these challenges requires identi!cation of the

weaknesses and strengths of our organisation and formulation of a clear strategy based

on these characteristics. In our strategy we also identify our partners and competitors and

formulate how we can "exibly deal with questions from research and education.

To sustain and enhance the strong strategic position of PSG several analyses resulted in

the selection of a number of themes for speci!c investment. We will be working hard on

increasing the number of students in the BSc and MSc Plant Sciences study programmes

as well as on strengthening PSG’s contribution to the MSc programmes Plant Biotechnology

and Organic Agriculture. We also wish to expand the BSc Biology programme. And we will

actively be investing in three research themes. We expect that these themes will enhance

STRATEGIC PLAN PSG 2011 UNTIL 2014

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our market position in education, research and knowledge transfer to commercial practice.

These are the themes:

1. Sustainable production and climate change 2. Health3. Plant-based raw materials

Deciding factor in the choice of the themes is the extent to which the subjects are

scienti!cally, societally and economically relevant. Besides these themes we are focussing

on the scienti!c umbrella theme:

4. Systems Biology

PSG holds !ve key values: quality, client-orientated and independent, entrepreneurship,

cooperation and societal engagement. These key values are the basis for serving a wide

range of clients and they make us an attractive educational institution for BSc, MSc and

PhD students, nationally as well as internationally.

Since 2009, most PSG departments are housed in one building. This enables optimum

rapport between employees, facilities, and research and education. This contributes to a

good market position. We wish to enhance this position by – with decreasing government

funding – acquiring more assignments from other clients.

Our employees are our greatest asset and we are strengthening the individual qualities of

our employees via goal-oriented personnel management.

We expect cost control to result in healthy economical returns in the coming years. This is

how PSG lays the foundation for investment in its own development, also in the future.

We are convinced that the choices as de!ned in this Strategic Plan will enable us to

attain our ambitions and that the Plant Sciences Group can look forward to a healthy and

sustainable future.

A. SUMMARY

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cooperation

education

investplant sciences

B. Introduction

OUR AMBITIONS CAN BE ATTAINED BY ESTABLISHING NEW – INTERNAL AS WELL EXTERNAL – COLLABORATIONS, LEADING TO INNOVATIVE RESEARCH AND RENEWING EDUCATION: ADDED VALUE THROUGH COOPERATION.

A. INTRODUCTION

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The world is facing major changes. The strongly growing world population in the

next forty years and a rising standard of living will result in a strong increase in the

demand for food, raw materials and energy. At the same time climate is affected by

human activity. We are facing the challenge to meet a growing consumption demand without

irreversible damage to the environment. Plants are offering an inexhaustible source of

possibilities to meet this challenge: they serve as source of food, raw material and energy.

The Plant Sciences Group (PSG) has the knowledge and facilities to fully utilise and exploit

the possibilities of plants. This is how PSG is working on the quality of life.

PSG is expressing its ambitions for the period 2011 until 2014 in this Strategic

Plan. Ambitions that can be attained by establishing new - internal as well external -

collaborations, leading to innovative research and renewing education. Our motto therefore

is: added value through cooperation.

1. What are wefacing?

FOOD SECURITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY SHORTAGE, GLOBALIZATION, HEALTH AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS ARE MAJOR SOCIETAL PROBLEMS THAT AFFECT THE FOCUS OF OUR WORK.

1. WHAT ARE WE FACING?

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1.1 World wideFood security, climate change, energy shortage, globalization, health and the economic

crisis are major societal problems that affect the focus of our work. According to the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations the world population will increase

from six to nine billion people in the next 40 years, going hand in hand with an increasing

standard of living. This will result in an increasing demand for food as well as plant-based

raw materials for products and energy. The big challenge is how we can assure suf!cient

food and energy for the world population without exhausting the natural resources and

without irreversible damage to the environment. This requires the development of new

sustainable production systems.

Improved communication and transport facilities and the removal of trade barriers are at

the same time resulting in worldwide economic, political and cultural integration. One of

the consequences is that production is increasingly shifting to places where this is most

economical from a cost point of view. This development affects the sectors we are working

for. Production shifting means cultivation under different conditions, and this means a

demand for propagation material and crops that are doing well at other locations. Another

result of intensifying trade "ows and climate change is an increase in infectious diseases

being spread via plants and animals; a potential public health risk.

There will also be major scienti!c changes in the coming years. Breakthroughs in recent

decades have especially been achieved in the !eld of genomics and nanotechnology, and

breakthroughs in the years ahead are expected to result from conversion of the large

amounts of collected genetic information. This will increase the role of bioinformatics, with

a strong in"uence of systems biology and synthetic biology on science. Within these

scienti!c developments basic biological knowledge and translation of knowledge to higher

aggregation levels will be playing an extremely important role.


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PLANT SCIENCES GROUP

WORLD WIDEFood security

Health

Climate change

Energy shortage

Raw material shortage

Globalization

Economic crisis

Technology development

Health

Framework Programme 8

Regionalisation

Strategic Plan Wageningen UR 2011-2014 (under development)

Changes in knowledge landscape

Increasing publicprivate collaboration

‘Hard cut’ MSc-BSc

Other governments

NATIONAL

EUROPEAN

INTERNAL

1.2 EuropeanEU subsidies are increasingly allocated on a regional basis via programmes such as the

European Fund for Regional Development, Interreg and Euregio.

Health is an important issue in European policies. One of the focal points in this context is

the relationship between food and health.

The new Framework Programme 8 (FP8), expected to start in 2013, is currently being

formulated. Here it is important to create and identify chances for PSG. The systematics

may change for FP8, where countries adopt themes and are thus also acquiring the

coordination over EU funds for such a theme.

1.3 NationalGovernments are considering public-private research funding as an important tool to let private parties make optimum use of knowledge. This means that co-!nancing is increasingly becoming a condition for subsidising large programmes. Part of the funds must originate from private parties.

A ‘hard cut’ between MSc and BSc will be introduced in the Netherlands on 1 January 2012. This means that a student must have completed his/her BSc before being allowed to start the MSc. This brings the Netherlands in line with other countries. Such a cut may possibly lead to a lower in"ux of MSc students.

1. WHAT ARE WE FACING?

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Not only at European level, but also nationally, there is a tendency towards regionalisation.

The in"uence of urban regions as administrative entities is growing. This is also true for

regional innovation funds and regional collaboration programmes set up to stimulate

innovation.

The new Rutte-Verhagen government taking of!ce and the necessary expenditure cuts

resulting from the credit crisis as announced by this government have placed the discussion

about lower numbers of civil servants and lower public expenditure on innovation and

research on the political agenda. The new government structure also means that a

large part of the funds of PSG will be coming from the new Ministry of Economic Affairs,

Agriculture and Innovation; this may mean that fewer funds will be available for our

structural government-funded research.

1.4 InternalWageningen UR is working on a new strategic plan that needs to be enacted before 1

January 2012. There is a clear relationship between the Strategic Plan of Wageningen UR

and that of PSG.

2. Where are we?

OUR KEY ACTIVITIES ARE FUNDAMENTAL SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, STRATEGIC AND APPLIED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE TO PRACTICE.

2. WHERE ARE WE?

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2.1 SWOT analysis

WHAT ARE OUR STRENGTHS?

Very good to excellent scienti!c quality of our education and research

Excellent (new) accommodations and facilities

Very strong, internationally acknowledged expertise in speci!c !elds: agronomy,

biointeractions, breeding, genomics, plant production systems, and biostatistics

Expertise from gene to (eco)system and from fundamental to applied research

Critical mass to handle large projects and complex problems

The capacity to convert knowledge into practical applications

Management ‘in control’

WHERE DO WE NEED TO IMPROVE?

Create access to the new Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation,

and to new !nanciers

Market orientation and client orientation

Determining our own market

Acquiring unique leading position in more !elds

Utilisation of possibilities for synergy within PSG. The potential to let knowledge pass

on to commercial practice is not yet fully utilised. And applied research can still make

better use of our fundamental and strategic knowledge

Tapping new ways for demonstrating the added value of our research for the

international industry and for EU Directorates

Creating a better match between the individual quality of employees (DLO and WU)

and the desired level within the own group

Creating the organisational preconditions for stimulating talent, with an increasing

number of women in managerial positions as one of the objectives

WHERE ARE OUR CHANCES?

The formation of the new Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation

probably means that the national government will be looking at the green economy

with an economic eye. If this would apply for all innovation funds this may also mean a

move of NWO towards agriculture and horticulture


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Utilisation of existing expertise in other knowledge !elds: pharma, chemical, medical

and nanotechnology

Increasing the market share of research conducted for the international industry

Taking advantage from the extra government investment in innovation and

sustainability following from the credit crisis

The increasing demand from industry and society for knowledge combining different

aggregation levels from gene to ecosystem

Creating added value by utilising the better cooperation resulting from the joint

housing of the PSG groups in Radix

WHAT ARE THREATS?

The innovation funds of the national government, including NWO, are centralised at

the new Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. This development

increases our dependence on one strong player; this may not only have

consequences for the volume of the subsidies but also for the conditions under which

subsidies are granted. This makes the positioning of the Plant Sciences Group at this

new ministry of vital signi!cance

Lower programme funding. The Rutte/Verhagen government programme implies cuts

in DLO and university research funding

Structural changes in the horticultural sector resulting in fewer collective research

assignments being allocated via the Product Board for Horticulture. Another point is

that the Innovation Fund may be run down; this means that companies may have to

!nance research themselves

Termination of large subsidy programmes (such as CBSG, TTIG1, Transforum, Climate

for Space)

Our cost structure and tariffs for activities in rising economies and developing

countries. We are more expensive and, despite the added value we can offer, there is

no proper relationship with those of our competitors in such countries

2. WHERE ARE WE?

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2.2 What are our key activities? Fundamental scienti!c education and research

Strategic and applied scienti!c research

Transfer of knowledge to practice

2.3 What is our sphere of activity? Within PSG different groups are working on plants at various aggregation levels:

from gene to the interactions between cells, and from plants to ecosystems and

production systems

Within the Wageningen UR domain of a healthy food and living environment PSG

has until 2009 – from a broad knowledge of plants – speci!cally aimed at the

development and marketing of up-to-date knowledge and innovative products for a

sustainable production, plant-based raw materials, and health and wellbeing


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2.4 Who are our competitors and what is distinguishing us? Competitors are other (inter)national research organizations and universities in the

!eld of plant research, as well as R&D departments of companies and organizations.

Advisory bureaus often are competitors in applied research and knowledge

valorisation

Our distinguishing features are the combination of interaction between fundamental,

strategic and applied scienti!c research, working at different aggregation levels (from

gene to ecological and production systems), and the integration of knowledge from

other parts of the Wageningen UR organization. We can rapidly take breakthroughs to

practice and education

2. WHERE ARE WE?

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2.5 Who are our clients?We are operating regionally and nationally, as well as internationally. Our clients include

KNAW, STW, NWO, local, national and international governments, non-governmental

organization, interest groups, product boards, the primary sector, and the industry. The

research turnover of PSG originates from the following sources:

TURNOVER PPO / PRI 2009 ( !1000)X

TURNOVER DEPT. PLANT SCIENCES 2009 ( !1000)X

TURNOVER 2009 ( ! MILLION)X

LNV VIA EXECUTIVE BOARDLNV OTHERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT, NON-LNVRESEARCH STIMULATION FUNDSPRODUCT AND INDUSTRIAL BOARDS LOWER GOVERNMENTS AND PUBLIC SECTORDUTCH INDUSTRYINTERNATIONAL INDUSTRYEUOTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONSRESEARCH ORGANISATIONSOTHER ORGANISATIONS12148

115411137273734763255635696 35301

141310286835

NWONATIONAL GOVERNMENTOTHER DUTCH GOVERNMENTSINDUSTRYEUFOREIGN GOVERNMENTS & PUBLIC SECTORCOLLECTING BOX FUNDSWUDLOOTHER

PRO / PRIDEPARTMENT OF PLANT SCIENCES

7997

243731752798

39091160160611682091

25 82


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2.6 What is our market?The Netherlands is our home market but we have the undiminished ambition to increase our

international turnover (Europe, worldwide)

2.7 How are we organised?

On 1 January 2010 the institutes Applied Plant Research and Plant Research

International were statutory merged into one institute: Applied Plant Research/Plant

Research International. This institute comprises eight Business Units conducting

strategic (PRI) and applied (PPO) scienti!c research for governments and industries.

Research and knowledge transfer assignments are carried within PSG’s contract

research

In the Plant Sciences Department 17 chair groups are keeping the necessary

fundamental plant sciences knowledge at a high scienti!c level. They make a

signi!cant contribution to the development of science, nationally and internationally.

The department provides principals with tools for view development on societal

issues. In addition, the Plant Sciences Department is contributing to several study

programmes of Wageningen University, such as Plant Sciences, Biology, Plant

Biotechnology and Organic Agriculture

The Plant Sciences Department of Wageningen University and the contract research

institute are cooperating within PSG. Externally, the contract research institute

is presenting itself under two separate names: Applied Plant Research and Plant

Research International

2. WHERE ARE WE?

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Based on the request of the client, PSG is establishing the links between the different

types of research and the different disciplines inside and outside Wageningen UR. We

do this by jointly de!ning chances and by letting groups collaborate at project level

3. Where do we wish to go?

WE WISH TO EXPLOIT THE QUALITIES OF PLANTS AND THUS MAKE A DISTINCT CONTRIBUTION TO SOLUTIONS FOR THE MAJOR SOCIETAL CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD OF FOOD, RAW MATERIALS AND ENERGY. WE WISH TO UTILIZE OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PLANTS AND OUR FACILITIES TO ENHANCE THE INNOVATIVE STRENGTH OF OUR CLIENTS. THIS IS HOW WE WORK ON IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE.

3. WHERE DO WE WISH TO GO?

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3.1 AmbitionWithin the mission of Wageningen UR ‘To explore the potential of nature to improve the

quality of life’ it is PSG’s ambition ‘to exploit the qualities of plants and thus make a distinct

contribution to solutions for the major societal challenges in the !eld of food, raw materials

and energy. We wish to utilise our knowledge about plants and our facilities to enhance the

innovative strength of our clients. This is how we work on improvement of the quality of life.

3.2 Key valuesThe following !ve key values are leading in our method of operation:

Quality: starting point is that – for whichever market we are working – the scienti!c

quality of our education and research comes !rst. We are continually searching for

improvement of our scienti!c quality, for which we are providing room for personal

talent and individual development of our employees. As individual and as organization

we show ourselves to be a reliable and transparent partner

Client-orientated and independent: as scienti!c organization we take up a client-

oriented but independent position. This means that we are in close consultation with

our clients formulating the question in the best possible way without renouncing the

scienti!cally objective standards when answering these questions

Entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship means that we always have a sharp eye for

chances in the market and that we are capable of creatively and "exibly joining our

forces

Cooperation: cooperation is the basis of our strength and added value. Cooperation

makes us strong and distinguishes us from other organizations. We seek cooperation

inside as well as outside the Plant Sciences Group, where the various scienti!c

domains of the individual PSG units remain suf!ciently recognisable in broad projects

and partnerships

Societal involvement: we wish our research and education to have impact in

society. What we do should make a distinct contribution to improvement of the quality


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of life, provide solutions for societal issues, and improve the innovative strength of

clients. This also means that it should be clear to the world around us what we do and

what the results are

‘We plead for the formulation of a mission in which the key values

prevailing in the organisations’ OR (EMPLOYEES COUNCIL) PSG

3.3 Picture of the futureIn 2050 the world economy will have trebled as result of the growth of the population

from six to nine billion people and the strong increase in purchasing power. The demand

for food, plant-based raw materials and energy will have increased to the same extent.

Sustainability will be increasingly integrated in world trade policies. Sustainable purchasing

by consumers and governments will become more of a matter of course. Consumers

will want convenience, health, sustainability, and authenticity. The government lays down

frameworks, implements legislation and stimulates innovation, sustainable production and

sustainable consumption. Scaling-up has continued. Consumer-oriented production in chains

and networks are common practice in 2050. Labour is scarcely available and quality is low.

The growing scarcity of food, raw materials, soil, energy, water, and labour is presenting

a major challenge on the road to 2050. A stable and peaceful growth of the world

economy can only take place when three major problems are solved: poverty, climate and

biodiversity. This is not only a task for governments but also for industries. (The properties

of) plants play a major role in the contribution to solutions for problems around biodiversity,

climate, and sustainability.

In 2050 the properties of plants are fully exploited in the light of the problems outlined

above. Plants are not only a source of food but they have other functionalities as well. They

can contribute to the health of humans and animals, to the development of plant-based raw

materials, and to restriction of negative climate effects worldwide.

PSG has made major contributions to these developments, with cooperation within and

beyond PSG as a major factor. In 2050 we are internationally renowned for our research in


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the !eld of systems biology and synthetic biology.

The road to 2050 has also seen a number of crises (food, trade, !nancial, political), the

time of which is now not yet know, but which may have a negative effect on investments in

our research area. PSG has, via a "exible staff policy, management and strategic alliances

structured its organization in such a way that we can adequately anticipate the crises.

3.4 ChoicesThe most important choices based on environmental analysis, SWOT analysis and mission

are described below. The criteria from the Standard Evaluation Protocol of Wageningen

University and DLO are used as stepping stones. This is the Evaluation Protocol for

visitations of Wageningen University and the DLO institutes.

Quality: strengthening excellent research and education and increasing the quality of

individual employees

Productivity: further increasing the added value of cooperation and offering (young)

scienti!c talent more chances

Societal and scienti!c relevance: extra focus on the three societal themes

‘Sustainable production and climate change’, ‘Plant-based raw materials’ and ‘Health’

and the scienti!c theme ‘Systems Biology’ and speci!c policies for knowledge

valorisation for the industry

Flexibility and resilience: increasing the in"ux of BSc and MSc students Plant

Sciences, increasing turnover from other sources than the Ministry of Economic

Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation/Product Board for Horticulture and extra lobbying

for more government !nancing for fundamental research

Based on the environmental analysis and SWOT analysis PSG is setting targets for the years

ahead, grouped along the four lines of quality, productivity, societal relevance, and "exibility.

These are extra focal points in the activities we are already conducting.


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3.4.1 Quality

EXCELLENT RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

The quality of our research is a factor that makes or breaks the position of PSG in society

and the scienti!c world. Top employees must contribute to attaining the ambition of

Wageningen UR to become one of the top three European universities in our !eld. The

individual quality of the PSG scientists and lecturers is a decisive factor in achieving this.

Wageningen UR has taken several steps to further increase the individual quality of its

scienti!c staff: the career policy for scienti!c staff of Wageningen University (Tenure Track),

the Talent Development programme (Wageningen UR wide), and the top talent programme

being developed for DLO.

Within PSG instruments (working instructions DLO and re!nement job competence pro!les)

have been developed to improve the quality of the P&D interviews. The basic principle is

that the mutual expectations of manager and employee are clear.

TARGETS

PSG-wide from 2014 annually at least ten ‘high impact’ publications

Increasing education bonuses by 50 per cent in the period 2009-2015

Visitation score DLO in 2011: average very good

Visitation score Plant Sciences Department in the period 2009-2015: average very

good

Demonstrably improved individual quality of employees

At least 50 per cent of the senior DLO scientists and all scientists of the Chair Groups

are member of a Graduate School

DLO scientists are strengthening academic plant education

At least 40 PSG scientists have entered Tenure Track at the Department of Plant


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Sciences on 1 January 2015

Attention for maintaining educational quality

All DLO employees and staff meet the working instructions for the relevant position

within the targets of the Business Unit or staff department

‘At PPO and PRI we should also be investing in publication of research

BUSINESS UNIT AGROSYSTEMS RESEARCH

ACTIONS

P&D interviews are held with all PSG employees (except guest employees and trainee

research assistants, PhD’s)

P&D interviews and the functioning of employees are standard subjects of the

management consultations between the PSG Board of Directors and line management

Performance rewarding by PSG Board of Directors

Active monitoring of the targets above in the management consultations and in the

meetings of management team and during the department consultations

3.4.2 Productivity

ADDED VALUE THROUGH COOPERATION

Completion of the new Radix building on the Wageningen UR campus site brought most

PSG groups under one roof. This is a driving force in strengthening the mutual cooperation


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within PSG and between PSG and the other Science Groups of Wageningen UR. And we

also wish to strengthen the collaboration with other international universities and knowledge

institutions.

‘Cooperation should weigh heavily in Knowledge Base grants’ BUSINESS UNIT AGV

PSG website or in a PSG magazine’ CHAIR GROUP PLANT CELL BIOLOGY

BUSINESS UNIT WAGENINGEN UR GREENHOUSE HORTICULTURE

BUSINESS UNIT BIOINTERACTIONS & PLANT HEALTH

TARGETS

Create added value in education and research through mutual cooperation between

groups inside and outside PSG

Improve collaboration with national and international universities

ACTIONS

Identify administrative restrictions for cooperation and !nd solutions that remove

barriers

Invest in an early exchange of contacts and high-prospect projects. The PSG Board

of Directors is investing in projects and programmes that exceed Business Unit and

Chair Group level (>k#250)

Continued investment in forms of exchange of knowledge and experience, such as

the PSG Plant Seminars

The Board of Directors is stimulating communication about the identi!cation of

chances for contributions to strategic areas identi!ed at Wageningen UR level

Clustering of Chair Groups or investigation of the further combination of Chair Groups

and Business Units

Investment in cooperation with international universities and knowledge institutions


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Plant Sciences’ CHAIR GROUP ENTOMOLOGY‘Cooperation can be improved via:

CHAIR GROUP BIOSYSTEMATICS

CHANCES FOR YOUNG SCIENTIFIC TALENT

It is vital that young scienti!c talent is joining and staying in PSG. It is a major

challenge to attract talent and to keep such talent for science but also for moving on

to higher positions, with special attention for the position of women

TARGET

Binding and holding (young) talent

ACTIONS

The Board of Directors is investing in the further development of the internal Young

PSG programme into a full career policy for young talent

Investment in increasing NWO subsidies for young scientists

Offer young staff employees career perspectives

Attract international talent

Increase the number of postdocs: we are striving for a postdoc/PhD ratio of 1:3 to

1:4

Appointment of female executives (increase the percentage of the total number of

executives in PSG from 12 per cent in 2009 to 20 per cent in 2014)

Attention for potentials in management consultations

Development of a special policy for young, female potentials

CHAIR GROUP PLANT PHYSIOLOGY


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3.4.3 Societal and scienti!c relevance

We are focusing on four themes. There are three coherent, societal themes:

1. Sustainable production and climate change 2. Plant-based raw materials3. Health And there is one scienti!c umbrella theme

4. Systems biology

We are setting a number of targets for these themes. Each theme has been elaborated

below.

Further background information on the themes is given in Annex 1.

‘There is a gap between molecular research and whole plant/crop level – the missing link for PSG falls between attributes [health, quality, chemicals] or (sub)cellular level [gene] > [plant/crop] > [production,

strengthened where PSG could be unique in the world’ CHAIR GROUP PLANT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Focus on three societal research themesThe turnover percentage of the three themes ‘Sustainable production and climate change’,

‘Plant-based raw materials’ and ‘Health’ amounts to 30, 15 and 15 per cent, respectively, of

the total research turnover (WU and DLO).

The focus of each research theme is described here after, followed by the actions we will

be initiating.


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Sustainable production and climate changeTHEME 1

FOCUS SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

The development of methods to eliminate inef!ciencies from the current production systems and chains

More ef!cient production: achieve the same production with lower inputs and smaller environmental damage

Increasing the effectiveness of agroproduction Exploitation of variation and production adopted to local conditions Development of plant production systems in aquatic environments (reed, micro-algae,

seaweed)

FOCUS CLIMATE CHANGE

CO2 reduction via CO2 !xation by plants and micro-organisms Innovative cultivation systems for moist-soil, dry-soil or silty areas

‘Precision farming, silt production systems, fresh water aquatic

BUSINESS UNIT AGROSYSTEMS RESEARCH

‘We should focus more on prediction of the consequences of the adaptation of production systems on plant health and on steering the

BUSINESS UNIT BIOINTERACTIONS AND PLANT HEALTH

‘Integrated Pest Management, an ecological approach of agriculture, as well as insects as food for humans and animals are high-perspective

CHAIR GROUP ENTOMOLOGY


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Plant-based raw materialsTHEME 2

FOCUS

Maximum utilisation of plants as application for food, materials, energy and chemistry.

For energy we primarily focus on energy from residual products and not from

speci!cally cultivated crops. We make this choice because the speci!c cultivation

of crops for energy is claiming too much of the available agricultural area, thus

restraining food production

Integral development of closed systems. Here we focus on technological innovations

and transitions to arrive at closed cycles, restriction of emissions, and recovery of

raw materials and auxiliary substances (fresh water, phosphate, proteins, energy)

from residual and waste "ows arising further down the chain or at consumer level

‘Within Biobased we should focus on ‘renewable resources’ for use in the energy and chemical sectors’ BUSINESS UNIT BIOSCIENCE


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HealthTHEME 3

FOCUS

Research into health-promoting constituents (for humans and for animals) in plants

and health-promoting micro-organisms

Residue-free cultivation

Research into the presence and control of infectious diseases in humans and animals

transmitted by insects and other vectors

ACTIONS UNDER THE THREE SOCIETAL THEMES

A new large research programme will be set up for each theme

The department Business Development provides support in setting up the large

programmes

The themes are clearly discernible in education

The Board of Directors provides strategy funds (annual total # 25.000,-) for further

development of the best ideas (PSG Business Challenge)

The themes are clearly presented in our external communication. This is part of our

communication strategy

PSG is explicitly getting involved in the public debate about these three themes

‘Health is an important theme because it plays an important role in

AFSG is investigating substances with a health-promoting effect, PSG is working on plants that contain such substances’ ORLANDO DE PONTI, ADVISORY BOARD


33

Focus on one scienti!c theme:

System BiologyTHEME 4

FOCUS

Utilise the latest approaches and equipment for a fully integrated approach of important and

complex questions in systems biology of plants, focussing on the combination of different

aggregation levels

ACTONS

Strengthening the theoretical aspects of plant systems biology. This makes

us complementary to the research of the Chair Group Systems Biology of the

Department Agrotechnology and Food, which primarily focuses on food

Combining various aggregation levels, resulting in insights at gene level contributing

to answers at organism, crop and ecosystem level

Participation in the Wageningen Centre for Systems Biology (WCSB) that is to be

established and contribute to its success


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Valorisation of knowledge for the commercial sectorWe wish to market our knowledge in the best possible way. It is a way to share knowledge,

to generate income, and to acquire further new assignments.

Condition for attaining this ambition is a decisive and enterprising organization making

optimum use of the !nancial possibilities offered by the market, based on a clear vision and

on the Strategic Plan.

This makes it vital to identify the chances for marketing of our knowledge and to acquire

a sharp view of the !elds for which laying down intellectual property is economically

interesting. PSG wishes to have a demonstrable impact in society. We are formulating the

following priorities on the basis of these starting points:

TARGETS

A clear Intellectual Property (IP) strategy

Inproved knowledge "ow

We are demonstrably meeting our formulated ambitions

ACTIONS

Development and formulation of a clear knowledge "ow policy

Concretising the objectives of the IP portfolio and bring these in line with the time and

means required by the Business Development department

Making knowledge available to developing countries without IP restrictions

Continue investment in training and coaching of entrepreneurial employees and

further improve result-orientation via professionalisation of the P&D interviews

Intensifying cooperation with Wageningen Business School (WBS): annually at least

25 PSG employees contributing to courses of Wageningen Business School (WBS) or

Green Knowledge Cooperation (GKC)


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Measurement of the impact of PSG: annually we publish a report describing the effect

of our work on the innovative strength of our clients, the contribution to the quality of

life, and the contributions of PSG to solving major societal issues

3.4.4 Flexibility and resilience

More BSc and MSc students Plant Sciences and a better position at other plant-related study programmesAcademic teaching is one of the key tasks of PSG. With our knowledge in the !eld of plant

sciences we contribute to several study programmes of Wageningen University, including

the BSc and MSc programme Plant Sciences, the BSc and MSc programme Biology, as well

as the MSc programmes Organic Agriculture and Plant Biotechnology.

The Plant Sciences programme is nearest to our sphere of activity. We are increasingly

successful in attracting !rst-year students but it still is a small programme.

We are therefore setting the following targets and actions.

TARGETS

An annual in"ux of 40 BSc and 100 MSc students Plant Sciences

Strengthening of our position in the BSc and MSc programme Biology and the MSc

programmes Plant Biotechnology and Organic Agriculture

Extra effort into long distance learning


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‘PSG management should not only focus on the Plant Sciences

important for PSG’ CHAIR GROUP CROP AND WEED ECOLOGY, PART OF THE CENTRE FOR CROP SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

ACTIONS

A new name for the Plant Sciences study programme before 1 July 2011

Presence of top scientists and lecturers during general information days

Three proposals for new appealing Minors for BSc and MSc students Biology and two

for MSc students Plant Biotechnology and Organic Agriculture each year

Increase turnover (international) industry and governmentsFor some time we have had the ambition to expand our scope via assignments for the (international) industry and other !nanciers than the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and the Product Board for Horticulture. We have been insuf!ciently successful in achieving this. Our ambition to improve the innovative strength of clients means that this target remains.One of our weaknesses is that the added value we can offer is not always clear to businesses. This means that we have to demonstrate in projects how much money they can make by using us.

We are setting the following targets and actions to achieve this.

TARGETS

Maintain the in"ation–corrected turnover at the level of 31 December 2009

Consolidate and, where possible, improve returns


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These days during conversations outside this institute we too often hear that we ‘are quite old’ or that we ‘have not been renewed in the past 20

gradually getting old and must make sure that we do not miss a large number of ‘boats’ such as: connection with new operational methods (digitalisation of research and working environment) or new impulses in creativity’ BUSINESS UNIT BIOINTERACTIONS AND PLANT HEALTH

ACTIONS

Focus on increasing turnover from the third-party market, the regional and

international market, and other ministries:

Regionally, focus on in"uencing the innovation agendas

Internationally, !rst focus on Europe and second on Asia, Africa and South

America

Focus on increasing turnover from funds

Focus on more R&D room for Business Units and Chair Groups

More room for scientists to develop relationships with businesses. The Business

Development department plays a stimulating and broker role

Start participation in a large consortium (minimum annual turnover 2 mEuro) at least

once per year

Increase the !nancial means for strategic expertise (second and third money "ow)

Image survey to enable speci!c image improvement actions

New communication strategy to give the outside world a better view of who we are,

what we do, and of our research results. Visible role in the societal debate

Strengthen collaboration with international knowledge institutions, strengthen

relationship with international businesses

Investigate setting up research and education around one world crop

Strengthen the relationship with regional governors at directorate level

Develop more know-how in the !eld of fund raising at the Business Development

department

Lobby for more government !nancing for fundamental research


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‘It is essential to investigate how PSG can improve its links with the

stuck in the smaller Netherlands crops’ BUSINESS UNIT BIOINTERACTIONS AND PLANT HEALTH

3.5 Employee participationSpecial attention will be paid to the relationship with the Employees Council in the period

covered by this plan. Methods will be sought for further improvement of the cooperation

between Board of Directors an Employees Council, while doing justice to each others role.

Trust, transparency and ef!cient operational processes are key points.

3.6 HousingA good work place and environment is essential for the proper functioning of employees.

Since mid 2009 most PSG groups have moved to the new Radix building. The Employees

Council has in the summer of 2010 initiated a housing questionnaire. The results of this

questionnaire and the biannual Employee Monitor will be used for further improvement of

the working environment of the employees.


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3.7 Target-monitoring Strategic PlanA team of two persons will be appointed for meeting each of the targets of the Strategic

Plan; these teams are responsible for progress and reporting on the targets.

The Board of Directors is, together with the business unit managers and the chair holders,

responsible for the execution of the plan.

Progress will be evaluated annually and necessary adjustments will be implemented.

ANNEX

40

Annex 1: Additional information research themesSustainable production and climate changeSUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

Worldwide, the Netherlands had a leading

position in maximising production with

minimum land use, where cost ef!ciency (in

particular labour), pest and disease

management and control, and the quality

and export possibilities of the products

were leading.

The strongly increasing world population in the next 40 years means that the current

agroproduction methods will no longer be able to meet the growing demand for food,

products and energy. Continuation of the current methods would lead to an even further

assault on natural resources and biodiversity.

To meet this growing demand, without irreversible damage to the environment, the

challenge is to ensure such production and consumption that the future of new generations

is not put under pressure.

Knowledge questions about quantity, quality and safety of production as result of

globalization are increasingly placed on the plate of the primary producers, the suppliers

of propagation material, the processing companies, and the individual sectors, in particular

the dominant players in these domains (chain directors).

Companies and sectors for plant and animal production are choosing an increasing

international scope, also because their growth markets are found elsewhere (China,

South America, Russia, Africa, etc.). This also changes the knowledge questions of these

companies, albeit alone because other production conditions become relevant (water

shortage, competitive claims on soil and inputs), food safety risks or diseases), thus

changing the nature of the risk. And this will increase the demand for innovations in all links

of the production chains: how can we make a contribution to an increasing ‘output’ (yield

per square metre agricultural soil) with a minimum ‘input’ (materials, raw materials and


41

energy)?

Wageningen UR has assigned the programme Agroproduction 21st century as one of the

spearheads for the years ahead.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The greenhouse gases produced as result of human activity are causing changes in the

average weather type and climate. Greenhouse gases (including CO2) are released during

energy production from fossil fuels. This results in a rising sea level, affected ecosystems,

fresh water shortages, salinisation, increasing precipitation levels, decreasing agricultural

productivity in areas with drought and increasing productivity in areas with increasing

precipitation.

Developing countries will be suffering most from climate change but the consequences will

also become manifest in the Netherlands. Climate change will affect all sectors of society

and the economy. At the same time it is offering possibilities for major innovations such

as the integration of climate targets in rural areas, increasing the possibilities for land use

with respect for natural resources, reducing greenhouse gases, and increasing the adaptive

capacity of agriculture, natural resources and water.

Plants are the world’s largest CO2 binders and are thus playing a crucial role in reducing the

amount of greenhouse gases. Plants also have suf!cient possibilities for adaptation to the

negative effects of climate change (dry-soil, wet-soil, etc).

Plant-based raw materialsAt the end of 2007 the Balkenende

government decided to start the

development of a biobased economy.

Biobased economy is the economy in which

companies – national and international –

are producing transport fuels, chemicals,

materials and energy (electricity and heat)

from biomass.

Sustainability gains can be made by smart, complete utilisation of available raw materials

and "ows of subsidiary and residual materials.

Crops with a high added value, such as plants for !ne chemicals (the plant as factory, green

chemistry), must be sought for cultivation in the Netherlands. Such plants can only be

developed on the basis of thorough knowledge of the metabolic routes. Wageningen UR has

ANNEX

42

assigned ‘Biobased Economy’ as spearhead, where the following questions need answering:

What could a biobased economy with sustainable agroproduction systems look like in

10 to 25 years?

Which developments are required to reach such (a) situation(s) and which socio-

economic players are responsible for this?

The speci!c Biobased Economy programme of Wageningen UR therefore focuses on

designing sustainable crops and production methods and systems of food and animal

feed as well as biofuels and raw materials for industrial processing, while safeguarding the

quality of life and environment for us and for future generation.

HealthThere is an important relationship between

human and animal feeding and their health.

Life sciences research is now focusing on

the functionality of (human) genes. Insight in

health-controlling factors is expected to

grow enormously in the next !ve to ten

years. Individual dietary recommendations

will increasingly be based on individual genome analyses.

This requires an enormous increase of the knowledge about healthy cultivation of plants as

important food source for humans and animals. It also requires knowledge on constituents/

proteins with a health-promoting ("avonoids, anti-oxidants) or allergenic effect, where

knowledge on biodiversity, metabolic routes and breeding techniques is playing an

important role.

Furthermore, infectious diseases will no longer be a problem in the tropics alone but also

increasingly so in the Netherlands, such as Lyme disease and bluetongue. Intensifying trade

"ows and climate change are contributing to this development. Intensive animal husbandry

is also facing serious disease problems. And more and more exotic species are getting into

the Netherlands. These may establish themselves inside or outside greenhouses and have

the potential capacity of transmitting various serious infectious diseases.


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Systems BiologyFrom the point of scienti!c relevance we

wish to acquire a strong position in the !eld

of systems biology.

The essence of systems biology is

integration of theoretical models and

experiments. This enables quanti!cation

of the way in which molecules, cells,

organelles, organs and organisms are cooperating in time and space to make biological

processes progress in a controlled fashion. Improved understanding of biological control

systems will enable accurate production estimation and goal-oriented breeding. This means

that this form of systems biology will in the long term have very signi!cant societal and

economic effects.

ANNEX

44

THE PLANT SCIENCES GROUP, PART OF WAGENINGEN UR IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN Wageningen University, Plant Sciences Plant Research International Applied Plant Research (PPO)

VISITING ADDRESSDroevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen

CORRESPONDENCEPO Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands

PSG Strategic Plan

Documents

Transcript of PSG Strategic Plan