Specialisation Food Fermentation and Biotechnology
This specialisation focuses on the interface between Food Technology and Biotechnology. Main fields of interest are Fermentation and Enzymology.
Academic year, study load and course names and codes
The Academic Year of Wageningen University consists of 6 periods from 4-8 weeks (6 or 12 credits per period). In one study year you are assumed to take 60 credits (European Credits or ECTS). In period 1, 2 and 5 two subjects are taught, generally one in the morning and one in the afternoon. These periods consist of 6 weeks of teaching, followed by one week of self study and one week of exams. Period 3 and 4 are shorter, 4 weeks long, and in these weeks one course is taught blockwise (courses are scheduled whole day, in the morning and in the afternoon) and fulltime. In week 4 the course exam is scheduled. Period 6 consists of 9 weeks, due to many national holidays in the spring. In this period all MFT students follow the full-time course Product and Process Design of 12 credits (except for the European Master in Food Studies).
Every course has besides its name a code. The code: AAA-xyyzz, with AAA the teaching group ('department') responsible for the course (for example FCH=Food Chemistry, FHM=Food Microbiology), x indicates the level of the course (1=basic, 2=intermediate, 3=advanced), yy is an arbitrary number, zz indicates the number of credits in ECTS.
The tables below show the specialization programme and courses. The course content can be found in the on-line study handbook.
First year
The first MSc year consits of courses from the specialisation. The MFT specialisation C - Food Fermentation and Biotechnology has requirements on compulsory courses (CS) and restricted optional (RO) courses which are listed in the table below.
| Course | Type | Period and time* |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory courses (CS): | ||
| FCH-30306 Food Ingredient Functionality | CS | 1M |
| FHM-21806 Food Fermentation | CS | 2M |
| FPE-30306 Food Structuring | CS | 1A |
| FCH-31306 Enzymology for Food and Biorefinery | CS | 5M |
| FQD-60312 Product and Process Design | CS | 6WD |
| Choose at least 1 course from restricted optional 1 (RO1): | ||
| BPE-21306 Bioreactor Design | RO1 | 2A |
| FPE-30806 Sustainable Food and Bioprocessing | RO1 | 4WD |
| FHM-30806 Advanced Fermentation Science | RO1 | 5A |
| Choose at least 1 course from restricted optional 2 (RO2): | ||
| FHM-35806 Advanced Food Microbiology | RO2 | 3WD |
| BPE-36306 Advanced Bioreactor Design | RO2 | 3WD |
| FCH-30806 Advanced Food Chemistry | RO2 | 4WD |
| *M=Morning course, A=Afternoon course, WD=Whole day course, scheduled in the morning and in the afternoon |
Second year
The second year consists of an individual thesis project (6 months; 36 ECTS) and an internship/traineeship (at least for 4 months; 24 ECTS). The topics of the thesis and internship will be related to the specialisation.
The thesis is carried out at Wageningen University. Thesis topics in this specialisation are offered by the following groups:
- FCH: Department Food Chemistry
- FHM: Department Food Microbiology
- FPE: Department Food Process Engineering
- MIB: Department Microbiology
The internship is always done outside Wageningen University and can be performed in food industry, research institute or university. The internship can be done in the Netherlands or any other country. The internship is not related to the thesis, but it should be a food related topic, preferably in the field of specialisation.