About the Programme
Food is fundamentally different from other goods: It consists of (parts of) organisms that were alive or still are. In addition to the higher complexity of its composition and the variation in its starting materials, this results in a greater risk of variability during production, transport, and storage. How do we supply as many people as possible in the most sustainable ways with high-quality, healthy food? You will deal with this and similar questions in the master’s programme "Food Quality and Safety".
The research area of food quality and safety is changing rapidly. The world's population is growing and globalisation is changing lifestyles and diets. Innovations in biochemical analytics, modern sensor technology, intelligent data processing, and breeding methods are currently opening up exciting new opportunities. At the same time, the demand for sustainability in the production and distribution of food is growing, and problems in complex production and supply chains, resulting for example in "food scandals", reveal high levels of sensitivity and uncertainty among consumers.
Profile of the master's programme
The core competencies taught in the programme will enable our graduating Master students to understand and solve problems in the field of food quality and safety from an integrative, cross-disciplinary perspective. To this end, the course is interdisciplinary in design, combining a life science focus (e.g. biology of crop plants and animals, food microbiology, biochemistry and physiology of nutrition, food chemistry and toxicology) with an approximately equal share of legal, social and economic studies. The modules of the master’s curriculum comprise Biology and Biochemistry of Food, Human Biology, Food Chemistry, Data Science/Bioinformatics/Statistics, Food Law, Food Trade Law, Safety and Risk Management Law, Quality Management, Food Supply Chain Management, and Science Communication.
We attach great importance to practical training for our students. For this reason, all science modules include a comprehensive practical laboratory course. Under qualified supervision, our students learn modern laboratory techniques and analytical methods in laboratories specially equipped for teaching which they can then apply to their own exciting experiments.
Fields of employment
Questions of food quality and safety are an area of research that is developing at a rapid pace, and will therefore demand a high degree of flexibility and adaptability from future experts. As a graduate of the master's programme “Food Quality and Safety”, you are qualified for a career in research as well as for leading positions in the food industry, at authorities, in the media, and other areas of politics, administration, and business.
Quality management
The quality of our study programmes is particularly important to us. We strive to educate our students at the highest level in an application-oriented and research-based manner. With this approach we ensure that our students are prepared in the best possible manner for both their professional and personal future. Our students are therefore at the centre of our quality management. We have a clear objective to not only ensure that our study programmes are of the highest quality, but also their future systematic development.
Our master’s programme “Food Quality and Safety” has been evaluated and successfully accredited by an external group of experts as part of the University of Bayreuth’s own quality management system. This study programme thus bears the seal of the German Accreditation Council and meets national and international quality standards in the field of teaching and learning.
Bayreuth spirit on the Campus in Kulmbach
The University’s Faculty of Life Sciences is located in the nearby town of Kulmbach. It is home not only to several internationally operating food companies, but also to the Max Rubner Institute, the Bavarian Control Authority for Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine, the State Technical College for Food Technology, the Competence Centre for Nutrition, and the Kulmbach Clinical Centre. All these bodies are involved in various research projects and in the Faculty's teaching activities. Be part of it and apply for the master's programme! We are looking forward to welcoming you in Kulmbach!
Interested in our master's programme? - Taste it!
Are you hungry for an interdisciplinary and international study programme in life sciences? You would like to get to know our lecturers and typical study contents? Here you can taste it!