Wageningen University & Research

Conditions & exceptions

No default permission from silence.

1. Always check your course guide in Brightspace We recognise that students can use GenAI to support their learning and carry out assignments. However, different courses may have different policies regarding the use of GenAI. Always check your course guide in Brightspace to understand whether, and to what extent, GenAI is permitted in your coursework. • If there is no information in your course guide, using GenAI to generate the content of your assignments is not allowed and can be considered as an irregularity or even fraud. See: article 16, paragraph 3 and article 22 of the Rules and Regulations of the Examining Boards of Wageningen University. • This also applies for theses; seek guidance from your lecturer or supervisor. • If you are uncertain about the rules, seek guidance from your lecturer or supervisor.

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 19–31
SHA-256: edbd666c8dbc4b5b5805605e2c1bec84c4be6dbb071435a03ce812bbff3d4728

WUR – Rules and Guidelines for Student Use of GenAI These rules and guidelines have been enacted on July 14, 2025

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 1–2
SHA-256: edbd666c8dbc4b5b5805605e2c1bec84c4be6dbb071435a03ce812bbff3d4728

3. Maintain academic integrity and be transparent You are never allowed to submit work entirely generated by GenAI as your own or fabricate research data. Doing so constitutes academic fraud, as outlined in the ‘Rules and regulations Examining Boards’ and ‘Netherlands Code of Conduct for Scientific Practice’. When using GenAI tools, be transparent about their role in your work. You are ultimately responsible for the content you submit and for the accuracy and integrity of your work. • Always indicate when and how you have used GenAI and ensure that any generated content is properly cited. • When using GenAI for a project or a thesis, keep an archive of GenAI prompts and outputs for transparency and reproducibility. This allows you to document your GenAI usage transparently and reproduce your work if questions arise later. • If you are unsure how to cite GenAI-generated material, see Student Support for guidance.

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 44–56
SHA-256: edbd666c8dbc4b5b5805605e2c1bec84c4be6dbb071435a03ce812bbff3d4728

Conditions & exceptions

Research-method and writing-only documentation differ.

3.4.2. Documenting and acknowledging AI usage In case AI is applied as an integral part of your research methodology (e.g. as a transcription tool or for data analysis), its usage needs to be documented in the Materials and Methods section. This should be done in line with research methodology standards, aimed at reproducibility and verifiability. Prompts or instructions applied in this context should be made available in the appendix. If AI was used only in the writing of the report, this should be acknowledged in a separate section before the References, using the standard format presented below: “During the preparation of this work the author used [TOOL, VERSION IF APPLICABLE, METHOD OF ACCESS] in order to [GOAL OF APPLICATION]. After using this tool/service, the author reviewed and edited the content as needed and takes full responsibility for the content of the report.” More examples for documentation are available via: https://wur- studentsupport.screenstepslive.com/m/118226/l/1878197-how-to-document-your-genai-use. Extensive interactions with AI should be documented via documentation in the appendix or via your data repository (as PDF or text file). It is recommended to maintain a version history of your thesis documents to be able to show the progression of your work over time. The documentation and acknowledgement of AI usage depends on its application. For each application the requirement may differ. Please consult the table below for information:

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 476–498
SHA-256: 675435d4f7376c3677d0d328e49c229500203a36419c046289a7442bc8325f95

MSc Thesis Course Guide Wageningen University • Part A: information about MSc theses at WU • Part B: chair group specific regulations Version: 7.4 (2026-01-09)

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 1–4
SHA-256: 675435d4f7376c3677d0d328e49c229500203a36419c046289a7442bc8325f95

Conditions & exceptions

Continuation excludes disturbance of order or refusal of examiner instructions under Article 18; captured September 2025 version only.

Article 23. Procedure following detection of fraud, measures and sanctions 1. If fraud is detected during or with respect to an interim examination, or if there is serious suspicion of fraud, then the Examiner or the invigilator immediately informs the student concerned and makes a note on the work that is submitted by the student. In addition, the Examiner or invigilator confiscates any evidence of fraud. The student can continue to work on their interim examination unless in case of disturbance of order or refusal to follow up instructions of the Examiner by the student, as meant in Article 18 section 10, which gives reason to exclude the student from further participation as meant in Article 18 section 12. 2. As soon as possible after the suspicion of fraud arises, during the taking or grading of the test, the examiner or invigilator shall make a written report of the suspicious circumstances found. If the student concerned has refused to hand Rules and Regulations of the Examining Boards WU as of 1 September 2025 13 18 over possible evidence, then this is noted in the report. The Examiner submits this report to the Examining Board and can propose sanctions. The Examining Board gives the student the opportunity to submit written commentary on the report and to be heard, before imposing a sanction as mentioned in paragraph 5 of this Article. 3. If a possible case of fraud is discovered or seriously suspected in relation to other educational activities, the procedure laid out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be followed. 4. If the Examining Board has concluded that fraud has been committed, this will be

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 737–765
SHA-256: 5624eaf1891f18aacae76c02c374232e86ee06b68c177de61168692e0b7c9c8e

Article 29. Right of appeal 1. A concerned party can appeal against all decisions referred to in Article 7.61 clause 1 WHW. These are primarily the following decisions: a. all decisions of the Examining Board or the Examiner; b. decisions based on the provisions in Article 7.29 of the WHW regarding the admission test Colloquium Doctum; c. decisions of the Bachelor’s admission committee and the Master’s admission committees; d. the decision to de-enrol a student or refuse re-enrolment based on a binding negative study advice. 2. The appeal must be submitted within six weeks after receipt of the decision to the Examination Appeals Board (CBE). For this purpose, the concerned party submits a notification of appeal to the facility.

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 933–945
SHA-256: 5624eaf1891f18aacae76c02c374232e86ee06b68c177de61168692e0b7c9c8e

5. Mind your data security Anything that you feed into external GenAI tools like ChatGPT may be stored by the company indefinitely and might be used in unspecified ways. This means that you should think carefully about what information you provide them. It is your responsibility to prevent harmful, undesirable or otherwise sensitive forms of data, be it personal or otherwise, from being shared, stored, or misused in ways that could compromise privacy, security, or ethical considerations. • Never put (personal) data of others, information that infringes on intellectual property rights or sensitive or confidential (research) data into a chatbot or any other public GenAI tool. • Be aware of institutional policies regarding data usage. Some databases, chair groups, internship companies, etc., might not allow you to share their data with GenAI tools, as this may violate agreements with financiers of projects or may even violate intellectual property rights (IPs). For more information, see: Personal data protection regulations WUR and Data policy at WUR • Always respect copyright laws and the intellectual property rights of others. Do not upload materials that are copyright-protected in a GenAI tool, this can have severe consequences.

Collected: 2026-10-09 · 75–92
SHA-256: edbd666c8dbc4b5b5805605e2c1bec84c4be6dbb071435a03ce812bbff3d4728