Wageningen University has appointed Professor Kees de Graaf as professor of Sensory Perception and Eating Behaviour. He already held the position of professor (by special appointment) of Eating Behaviour. Sensory sciences concentrate on sensory monitoring and evaluation of food and thus on food choice. A consortium of companies in the food sector will be financing 50% of Professor De Graaf’s Chair.
Human food preferences and choices are closely linked with how food is observed using the senses and how it is rated. Sensory observation not only involves seeing, feeling, tasting and smelling, but also being aware of texture and experiencing pain and sound. Professor De Graaf’s teaching commitment will initially concentrate on the importance of sensory signals for choosing food and regulating food intake. His educational and research duties will also involve investigating the relationship between food properties and sensory perception.
In both his teaching activities and his involvement in setting up a Chair Group, Professor De Graaf will be placing considerable emphasis on interdisciplinary aspects. As a member of the Division of Human Nutrition at Wageningen University, he works closely with colleagues in the field of food technology and particularly with Product Design and Quality Management. In a wider context, he is also a senior scientist associated with the Top Institute Food & Nutrition. Kees de Graaf will be carrying out some of his research in the Restaurant of the Future at Wageningen UR.
Kees de Graaf studied Nutrition at Wageningen and obtained his doctorate in Human Nutrition and Sensory Perception in 1988. Since 2005, he has been extraordinary professor of Eating Behaviour at Wageningen University in association with the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. A consortium of food sector companies including Heineken, Unilever, IFF Nederland, FrieslandCampina, Mars Nederland and Suikerstichting Nederland [Dutch Sugar Foundation] is partly (50%) financing his Chair.