Food Health and Environment - a.y. 22/23

MEMBERSHIP STRUCTURE

The Master’s degree in Food, Health and Environment is an initiative offered jointly with DiSIT (Department of Science, Technology and Innovation), DiSS (Department of Health Sciences), DiMET (Department of Translational Medicine) and DiSEI (Department of Economics and Business Studies). There is also a teaching contribution from DiGSPES (Department of Law and Political, Economic and Social Sciences) and DSF (Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences).

This Master’s degree course, with a markedly interdisciplinary character, is designed to train graduates in topics related to Food and Health, while also teaching how to evaluate the impact that mechanisms related to food production can have on the environment. The course also prepares the student from the point of view of organisational capacity of their work, including the improvement of communication skills, through the introduction of some soft skills courses. The student explores the chemical composition of foods and main processing methods, and the biochemistry and physiology of food, and is able to use complex methods, typical of systems biology, to evaluate the different aspects of nutrition. The student learns to evaluate the role of nutrition in healthy people and in relation to many pathological states, as well as in terms of prevention; and also explores the agronomic aspect of food production, with regard to the environmental impact. The course is entirely delivered in English.

Chair of Course Council: Prof. Giampiero Valè;  e-mail: giampiero.vale@uniupo.it

For more information, contact UPO risponde

Description

This Master’s degree course is characterised by a high level of interdisciplinarity. In order to be admitted to the programme, students need to have a degree in L-13 Biological Sciences or L-2 in Biotechnology from UPO or any other Italian university; students with degrees in similar subjects obtained in Italy or abroad are admitted only after the faculty has ascertained that the curricula requirements have been achieved. Admission to the course is open and the course lasts 2 years. To obtain the degree, you must earn 120 academic credits.

Course goals

The courses of the FHE Master Course are taught in English. The goal is to train expert graduates with advanced and operational preparation in related nutritional sciences, chemical and biomedical sectors, combined with adequate scientific preparation in the disciplines that concern the environment, seen as a physical matrix in which the food production processes take place and influence food quality, and therefore the well-being of the person, in a decisive way. Specific goals of the course are to provide knowledge of the role of main plant species used in nutrition and their interaction with the environment, as well as the technologies currently available to selectively modify their resistance to biotic and abiotic stress; thorough knowledge of the properties of nutrients and non-nutrients present in food, as well as any changes that may be generated by the technological processes; the biochemical mechanism of digestion, absorption and metabolic processes affecting nutrients; the main diseases deriving from qualitatively or quantitatively inadequate diets, or from food intolerances and allergies; knowledge of the influence of food on well-being and disease prevention; the characterisation of “novel foods”; the knowledge of their safety levels during technological and / or biotechnological transformation; the daily toxicological levels that are acceptable; the risk connected with the intake of substances contained or conveyed by the diet; knowledge of the pharmacology of nutrients, food supplements, various substances of natural origin, minerals and vitamins; the effects of drugs on nutritional status and absorption of nutrients and the relationship between nutrition and drug effects; knowledge of European law and food law; knowledge of the main classes of chemical contaminants (such as pesticides, heavy metals) or biological (such as bacterial toxins, fungal toxins), their eco-toxicology and their behaviour in the environment; knowledge in the field of fermentation and biotechnological transformation of food and its production waste, in compliance with new trends in the field of circular bioeconomy. The course also aims to provide students with a solid background in basic biological disciplines aimed at the understanding of the physiological and pathological processes related to nutrition at molecular, cellular and systemic level. The course also provides students with some non-biological skills, which play an important role in the professional development of graduates. These aspects recurrently emerged during discussion with the social partners. These skills concern some aspects of business organisation and marketing, the understanding the social impact of science, and some knowledge of psychiatry and anthropology, which could be important in the understanding of decision-making mechanisms. In addition, the course aims to stimulate the student’s ability to work independently and in team-work.

Career opportunities

Graduates will be able to carry out professional and managerial activities recognised as central to the professional profile of the biologist. They will be able to work in the following environments:

• Public and private institutions that perform biological, microbiological, chemical-clinical analyses and quality control of products of biological origin
• Private companies or public institutions active in the nutrition field
• Private practice as biologist
• The sectors of communication, scientific dissemination, information and publishing
• Universities and research institutions

The graduates may also enrol on PhD programmes and second level Master courses pertaining to this area.

Organisation of the Course

In this section you will find classes and programmes of “Food, Health and Environment” course, while information about the Study Plan (distribution of the classes and training activities foreseen for the Study Plan; how to fill it in), the Teaching Regulations (special rules that govern the FHE Master’s of Science), the Didactic Regulations (general rules that govern the FHE Master of Science) can be found in the web section Academic years – Master’s degree in Food, Health and Environment.

For information on courses and programmes of previous years, visit the webpage Course Archives .

From the Library Catalogue, you can search by course or teacher, and source recommended exam books.

Attendance obligations 

Students need to attend at least 50% of classroom teaching activities, and at least 75% of didactic laboratory activities.

Course quality assurance  

This is ensured by the Chair of the Course Council, the QA Management and Review Team, and by the Joint Teacher Student Commission, in which one representative of the professors and of the students is present.

The documents relating to the quality of the CoS can be found in the appropriate section

Supernumerary activities certification

For the purpose of calculating the weighted average of the final exam, a maximum of 126 academic credits that contribute to the completion of the programme will be considered (where the 6 further credits are not separable from a higher credit score assigned to the exam; otherwise, they will contribute to calculation of the average of all credits corresponding to the weight of the course): the remaining supernumerary activities accrued at the time chronologically closest to the viva will however be certified, but will not be included in calculation of the final mark expressed in one hundred and ten.

Erasmus and internships

During the programme, it is possible to go abroad with the Erasmus project.  For the MSc in FHE, non-specific credits are awarded for internships. Within the 12 months before the final exam, it is possible to complete an internship or placement: to obtain more details, contact the Internship and Job Placement Office of the Rectorate or the Internship Office of the Department, which will assist in activation of the internship. Students can look for an internship within a company or research body, or take advantage of internships offered by companies on the online internship database https://www.studenti.uniupo.it/Home.do

Final exam 

The degree is obtained with 120 academic credits (including the final exam). The final exam consists in a verification of the candidate's ability to present and discuss the contents of a thesis in English, in the presence of a Commission appointed by Director's Decree on proposal from the Course Council. IFor admission to the final exam, the student must have acquired all the necessary credits. The graduation application must be filed at the Student Secretariat Office strictly within the month preceding the date set by the Annual Calendar of Degrees approved by the Department Council. All credits to access the final exam must be earned within 15 days prior to the graduation date. The Graduation Commission, made up of 5 professors, is proposed by the CCS and appointed by a Director's Decree. The activity related to the preparation of the final exam / thesis are carried out under the guidance of a supervisor. Students will have to conduct research activity on a topic dealt with during the programme. The research required for the final exam, in addition to being carried out at a research laboratory of the University or other university or external body, public or private, in agreement and / or on the basis of specific agreements, may be also carried out in the context of international mobility projects. Further details can be found at these links in Italian and English).