This course is intended for first year students of the bachelor Plant Sciences. It is an introduction into the broad field of plant sciences. The students will become acquainted with agronomy, horticulture, biointeractions, plant breeding, botany and plant taxonomy. The course is divided in modules that each introduce a plant sciences discipline. For each module the students will work in groups on a case study and discover the interdependency of the plant sciences disciplines. While working on their case study, students practice with different academic skills (e.g. writing and collaboration). The central objective is that the student learns that plants can solve many of the problems that society currently faces. Examples of problems are the world food situation, climate change, plants in relation to human health and threatening plant diseases. Hence, the relation between plant sciences and society forms a central element of the course. Guided by tutorials throughout this course, students will create a personal development plan (focusing on skills and knowledge) with specific goals for their own development for the 1st year of the BSc Plant Sciences.
