Wageningen University & Research is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally important center for life sciences and agricultural research. It is located in a region of the Netherlands known as the Food Valley. WUR consists of Wageningen University and the former agricultural research institutes of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. Wageningen University, as a research university, grants degrees at the BSc, MSc and PhD level in life and social sciences. It focuses its research on scientific, social and commercial problems in the field of life sciences and natural resources. It is widely known for its agriculture, forestry, and environmental studies programs. The university has about 12,000 students from over 100 countries. It is a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) university network. WUR has been placed among the top 150 universities in the world by four major ranking tables. Wageningen has been voted the number one university in the Netherlands for seventeen consecutive years. The university is listed number 59 in the world by the Times Higher Education Ranking and the world's best in agriculture and forestry by the QS World University Rankings 2016–2020. Wageningen University is ranked number one in the fields of plant/animal science, environment/ecology, and agricultural sciences by U.S. News & World Report. The university is widely regarded as the world's top agricultural research institution.
