Post of the month April 2019

A three-month research and training visit at the Wageningen University and Research (WUR)

Lapo Pierguidi, PhD candidate at the University of Florence, Florence, Italy

This is a short summary of my three-month research and training visit at the University of Wageningen (The Netherlands) during 2019.

I am a third-year PhD student at the University of Florence, Italy. My main research areas are sensory and consumer science. In particular, my focus is on the effect of individual differences on perception and appreciation of alcoholic beverages.

During my PhD, my main supervisor Erminio Monteleone professor of Food Science and Sensory Science, encouraged me to spend a part of my PhD abroad in another university. I have chosen to spend a period of three months at Wageningen University and Research (WUR). WUR is a very broad university that offers a wide range of study options in the fields of climate, energy, water, environment, nutrition, health, landscape, and animals. These fields are approached from various perspectives such as economics, management, research, product development, technology, and international cooperation. I decided to join the Marketing and Consumer Behavior (MCB) group headed by Professor Hans Van Trijp to conduct a study under the supervision of Dr. Betina Piqueras-Fiszman.

During my stay in the Netherlands, I started to design and plan a study on the effect of portion size on the choice of healthy and unhealthy snacks. The study is also focusing on consumer individual differences in view of food lifestyles and culture. This research comprised of an online test that will be distributed to consumers across Italy and the Netherlands. This research and study visit was a great opportunity for me since it allowed me to explore new topics and methodologies in the field of consumer behavior and healthy food perception. My stay allowed me to meet many PhD students and researchers and improved my knowledge in different topics that are explored at WUR on an international level. I also appreciated to participate in several “lunch-clubs” that are meetings in which research ideas were presented and discussed to receive feedback and suggestion by the people working in the different research areas. On a personal level, the research and training visit allowed me to experience different ways of living, tasting new foods, and making new acquaintances. The staff and professors of WUR have always been really kind and helpful to me. I am very grateful for this experience.

CALL-TO-ACTION (CTA):

Welcome to attend the 8th E3S Symposium and General Assembly 2019 organized by the Italian Sensory Science Society and the University of Milan, 27-28th of May 2019 Milan, Italy.

Written by: Lapo Pierguidi (PhD candidate at the University of Florence)

E-mail: lapo.pierguidi@unifi.it

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lapopierguidi/

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