Food Sciences*

Bild
Gruppe Lebensmittelwissenschaft Studierende

"FROM FARM TO FORK" – "FROM FARM TO TABLE"

Hardly any other product group plays as significant a role in our daily lives as food and beverages. From the acquisition of raw materials of plant or animal origin to the processing and ultimately to the consumption of the final products by consumers, numerous different businesses and companies, as well as many other actors, are involved, operating at various levels of the value chain. In addition to the extraction of raw materials in agriculture, their processing and refinement in the food and beverage industry, this also includes the logistics and distribution of goods, including ensuring their quality and safety for consumers.

The master's program in Food Science views the various stages of food production and their complex integration into the entire value chain predominantly from a scientific perspective. Different viewpoints enable students to identify interconnections and thus develop an interdisciplinary and nuanced perspective on the product "food".

Special emphasis is placed on the interdisciplinary networking of the involved disciplines. Alongside imparting a scientific-technological understanding of the nature and production of food, aspects such as quality management, food safety, product development, sensory analysis, and nutritional physiology are also focused on, offering graduates a wide range of career opportunities.

Structure of the Study Program 

In addition to providing a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective on relevant areas from biology, chemistry, agricultural and engineering sciences, coupled with issues from product development, sensory analysis, quality management, food safety, and nutritional physiology, the study program primarily focuses on practical training and learning a creative and application-oriented approach to problem-solving from the beginning. This experience is gained by the students, for instance, through a small-group applied research project. Finally, in the 3rd semester, the theoretically and practically acquired knowledge is applied and further deepened in the master's thesis, often conducted in cooperation with companies in the food industry.

Career Fields and Competencies 

The Food Science program is explicitly designed for an interdisciplinary perspective. It enables a comprehensive assessment of various aspects concerning food and beverages, from the extraction of raw materials, through their further processing, to the requirements for the final products and their nutritional effects on consumers.

The trained graduates are particularly found where generalists with a broad knowledge and overview are needed. This is especially the case in companies in the food and beverage industry, but also in suppliers of, for example, flavors, natural colorants, and vitamins. Graduates, who have very good job prospects, can enter various areas of these companies, such as quality management, quality assurance, quality control, product development and research, sensory analysis, and scientifically based marketing of products requiring explanation.

Few goods are as important to us in our daily lives as food and drinks, and few goods are as complex to produce. Even the most common foodstuffs require a long and often global chain of production to go from field to plate: from the manufacturing, processing and refinement of raw materials to marketing, sales and the eventual consumption of the final product.

The Food Sciences M.Sc. programme focuses primarily on the study of this fascinating chain of production and its complex interactions within the context of the value chain. Through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives you‘ll study foodstuffs not merely as consumable products, but rather within the sophisticated framework of the underlying, cross-disciplinary connections which form the production process. This leads to a broad expertise on the nature and production of foodstuffs not just from a technical point of view, but also in terms of quality assurance, nutrition, general product development and more.

From the very start, the degree programme places a strong emphasis on application-oriented research and methodology. In your first two semesters you‘ll focus on two semester-long projects which will provide many opportunities to apply your theoretical knowledge to interesting, real-world problems in food science. These research projects will also lay the groundwork for your master‘s thesis and subsequent colloquium in the 3rd semester, resulting in a sharply-defined specialisation and career profile after graduation.

 

* The degree programmes offered are suitable for part-time study in accordance with §62a HG NRW.

Information

Place of study

Campus Kleve

Start date

Winter or summer semester

Language

German

Duration of study

3 semesters of full-time studies

Study model

Full-time or part-time degree programme

Degree awarded

Master of Science

Restricted admission

No

Student Advisory Service

Phone: 02821 - 806 73 - 360
E-mail: Studienberatung
 

Course-specific Advise

head of study programme

Prof. Dr. Florian Kugler

Phone: +49 (2821) - 806 73 - 239
E-mail: Florian Kugler
 

 

 

Downloads