Food Innovation and Health

As a graduate from the MSc programme in Food Innovation and Health, you contribute to developing healthy foods. You work with innovation in the cross-field between food and health with a view to increasing the offering of healthy, tasty food.

Our consumption of food has changed. Today, more and more of our meals are already partially or fully prepared before we enter the kitchen.

At the same time, obesity and malnourishment are growing problems in society. As an expert on gastronomy and health, you can contribute to countering this social development.

The programme combines knowledge about nutrition, innovation and entrepreneurship with food chemistry, culinary techniques and consumer experience.

Profile and Career

As a graduate from the MSc programme in Food Innovation and Health, you will have completed a scientific, application-oriented programme that challenges traditional concepts of gastronomy. You will be able to apply principles of science in the preparation of food and thus make healthy food tastier and more satisfying.
Throughout your studies, you will build up solid competences within areas such as gastronomy, food safety, nutrition and foods as well as our perception of foods. You will have knowledge about the role that our diet plays to the individual and to public health in general. And you will have an insight into our food culture and dietary habits in a cultural and societal context.
As an expert on gastronomy and health, you can thus contribute to the development of healthy and tasty food in the Danish and Nordic food culture.

Competence Description

The unique combination of specialist knowledge, methodologies and techniques means that as an MSc in Food Innovation and Health you will be an expert in, among other things:

• Developing new tasty and nutritionally correct products, services and meals
• Planning and driving initiatives in connection with the development of the Danish food culture
• Being aware of consumers’ demands for tasty and healthy food and positive experiences in connection with food and eating
• Performing advisory and managerial tasks in relation to gastronomy and health for private companies and public institutions
• Teaching and conducting research in gastronomy and health at a high level of excellence

Career Opportunities

With a degree in Food Innovation and Health, you will be able to carry out consulting work in gastronomy and health as well as perform assignments in connection with gastronomic health promotion, e.g. in private companies and within the health sector.
You will be able to work with development, management and administration within niche production, gastronomic product development and health promotion in society in general.
The programme is also aimed at product development of flavourful and appetising convenience foods in the food industry, and you will be able to work with teaching and research as well.

The study programme consists of compulsory and elective courses, thematic courses and a thesis. The working methods vary and include lectures, project work and excursions to provide students with both academic and practical knowledge as well as analytical and methodological qualifications.
The programme may include study trips and internships.

In the compulsory courses, you will learn about, among other things, nutrition, food safety and the role bioactive components play in our health.

Other courses focus on the human sensory apparatus and consumer preferences, including psychological and market-economic aspects in connection with consumer behaviour, as well as methods of assessing the sensory properties and consumer experience of foods and meals.

In a large thematic course, you will work with gastronomy and health in practice, including classical and new food production techniques as well as methods used in the gourmet kitchen.

You learn about molecular gastronomy, raw material quality and food design. And you will acquire knowledge about the history and aesthetics of gastronomy as well as theories related to the composition of meals.

The course offers a possibility for innovation in collaboration with external partners; for instance, students attending the programme in 2010 developed muesli, wholegrain bread and meatballs with seaweed in collaboration with a company.

You will finish your studies by writing a thesis. Here, you will be working independently on an academic topic of your own choice. You may either do experimental work or analytical work based on collected data.

Teaching in the MSc programme in Food Innovation and Health

Instruction is in the form of lectures, seminars, practical and theoretical exercises, and there will be a good deal of project work. You will be working both independently and in project groups.
As a student in the MSc programme in Food Innovation and Health, you will also have the opportunity to participate in the ‘Gastronomic Playroom’. The programme has an 80 sq m experimental kitchen at its disposal, where students can meet once a week with student chefs, professional chefs and students from other study programmes. Here, you can experiment with food and techniques – and thus contribute to substantiating, subverting and taunting our notions of food.

Applicants holding a BSc in Food Science with the Food, Health and Nutrition subject-specific course package from SCIENCE are qualified for direct admission to the MSc programme in Food Innovation and Health.Other bachelors from University of Copenhagen or from other national or international universities and university colleges are qualified for admission if their examination includes:A minimum of 120 ECTS within the area of natural science including: 7,5 ECTS in Biochemistry (including laboratory work) equivalent in content to the Faculty of Science course Biokemi 1 (LKEB10077)7,5 ECTS in Physiology equivalent in content to the Faculty of Science course Menneskets fysiologi7,5 ECTS in Statistics equivalent in content to the Faculty of Science course Statistisk Dataanalyse 1 (LMAB10069) Selection criteria from 2014If the number of qualified applicants exceeds 30, they will be ranked according to the following selection criteria:Total ECTS in biochemistry, physiology and statistics multiplied by the grade point averageTotal ECTS within the area of food technology. If the number of qualified applicants exceeds the max. student intake, the applicants will be prioritized according to the grade point average of the courses within this subject-area*NB! All ECTS points from the bachelor project of applicants with a professional bachelor degree in Sundhed og ernæring from Ankerhus, Aarhus, Haderslev or Metropol will count as points within the area of natural science. The same applies to 60 % of the practical training.Language RequirementsTo gain admission to an MSc in the English language, non-Danish applicants must document qualifications on par with the Danish secondary school ‘English level B'. The Faculty of Science accepts the following 3 ways of documenting this:English is your native language. The Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen, accepts The University of Purdue view that citizens of the following countries are exempted from taking an English Language Proficiency exam: Anguilla, Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Canada (except Quebec), Dominica, Grand Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Irish Republic, Jamaica, Montserrat, New Zealand, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, & Wales and United States of AmericaIf you are citizen of one of the above countries, you are not required to submit any proof of English proficiency. Your copy of your passport will suffice as sufficient proof.Prior studies completed in the English language/in an English speaking country. For example, if you have studied your Bachelor degree in England you are not required to complete an English language proficiency exam. We ask such students to provide a signed statement from the Educational institution (with the institution's stamp on it) stating that English is the main language of instruction. Furthermore, applicants from Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland) do not need to provide proof of English language proficiency.Applicants with English as their second language (except Scandinavians) must pass an IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge Advanced English test before being admitted. The Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, accepts the following tests and scores:IELTS-test (British Council) with a minimum score of 6.5Computer-based TOEFL-test with a minimum score of 213 pointsPaper-based TOEFL-test with a minimum score of 560 pointsInternet-based TOEFL-test with a min score of 83 pointsLanguage tests older than 2 years are not accepted (from the application deadline) English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 TOEFL paper-based test score : 560 TOEFL iBT® test: 83

The Faculty of Science will not be awarding any scholarships for the academic year 2014/2015.

Please note that many scholarships are offered by companies or organisations, it can be worthwhile to research your particular options from your home country.