Plant science thrives in the Netherlands, with Wageningen University and Research as one of the hotspots when it comes to cutting-edge techniques, talented researchers and enthusiastic students. We all share an interest in plant life and yet we often are insufficiently aware of the expertise and ideas of our colleagues.

That’s why we will, like Ritzema Bos did in his time, bring together plant scientists at different career stages and from manifold disciplines for a returning seminar series. 

We will invite high-profile speakers to Wageningen to give lectures on plant science that will be of interest to all of us. Lectures are open to everyone; hence we also invite our external colleagues and

provide ample opportunities to interact and brainstorm with students and fellow scientists during workshops, lunches, drinks, and/or dinners. Thus, the Ritzema Bos Lectures and associated meetings bring platforms for inspirational exchange at all levels, which will hopefully give rise to new and exciting collaborations, either next door, nationally or border-crossing.

The Ritzema Bos Lectures should appeal to everyone’s curiosity and draw a large audience for the seminars and aligned events. So please, motivate your colleagues once a Ritzema Bos Lecture is announced at this website and through flyers, social media and EPS and PE&RC newsletters. PhD students can collect credits by attending masterclasses and seminars.

Who was Jan Ritzema Bos?

He was both a phytopathologist and zoologist and brought the science community together within the ‘Royal Society for Phytopathology, now Royal Netherlands Society of Plant Pathology, see www.knpv.org.

We owe much of our knowledge and work today to a handful of founders of plant science research in the Netherlands. One of these founders was Jan Ritzema Bos, born in 1850.

He worked as a professor in Amsterdam from 1895 until 1906, after which he moved to Wageningen where he became the first director of the newly founded Institute for Phytopathology. In 1918, he was appointed as professor at the newly founded National Agricultural College, which later became Wageningen University and Research, with special attention for plant pests. His life was dedicated to science and bringing researchers of different disciplines together.