Program Overview

Program Overview

The MSc Programme in Food Innovation and Health offers a thematic course, NFOK14031U Thematic Course in Food Innovation and Health, which focuses on the application of modern preparation and processing methods to create aesthetic, palatable, sustainable, and healthy foods.

Course Description

The course contains two parts: an intensive two-week teaching program and a project-based phase where students work in groups to develop, pitch, and test food products. The teaching program covers concepts and methods used in a scientific approach to small-scale food production, open innovation, business models, value proposition, and value capturing.

Learning Outcomes

The course aims to establish an open innovation with a scientific foundation, providing students with an insight into putting their knowledge of culinary techniques to practical use. Among the topics covered are responsible use of ingredients, upcycling to reduce food waste, and the application of Food Design Thinking in the innovation process.

Knowledge

• Give an overview of preference formation in relation to food, meals, and eating.

Skills

• Adapt methods of preparation for different raw materials based on a rational scientific foundation.
• Use techniques for innovation and creativity related to development of new foods and New Product Development (NPD).
• Analyze and integrate open innovation and value proposition, theories and practices, to understand how food companies operate and compete in the market.
• Work systematically in a kitchen development laboratory with different experimental techniques and culinary methods.
• Use digital technologies to capture and evaluate work and progress in the development situation, including early-stage product prototype feedback from consumers.
• Production of prototypes of complex foods, production in pilot scale of complex foods.
• Consumer tests with products, including considerations regarding subjects' data rights (GDPR) using relevant digital platforms for both data collection, storage, and handling.
• Reflection upon own development, and ability to see opportunities in innovation, intra- and entrepreneurship.
• Communicate (oral and in writing) topics in the culinary area with regards to innovation in foods.
• Integrate preference formation in relation to food, meals, and eating into the development of healthy, sustainable, and palatable foods.

Competences

• Apply scientific approach to food innovation and small-scale food production.
• Implement ideation, open innovation, and value proposition design to develop new food products, focused on health, palatability, sustainability, and circular economy.
• Integrate academic disciplines (food chemistry/physics, sensory science, innovation, and nutritional aspects) to innovation and business development in the food sector.
• Apply Food Design Thinking in the innovation process.
• Adapt techniques for characterization of sensory properties and consumer experiences to test foods in various stages of the innovation cycle.
• Apply relevant statistical methods on obtained data using relevant software.
• Interdisciplinary cooperation with other students on planning, carrying out, and evaluating experiments in relation to new product development of healthy and palatable foods.
• Work independently and efficiently together in a group on joint projects.
• Pitch food concepts to professionals and relevant employers/purchasers.

Literature

See course literature for a list of recommended readings.

Recommended Academic Qualifications

Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree are recommended. It is recommended to follow the course on the second year of the MSc programme in Food Innovation and Health, with skills within food chemistry, innovation, consumer behavior, statistics, basic skills in R programming, and knowledge about how to bring a health-promoting product to the market.

Teaching and Learning Methods

The course includes lectures, exercises, and project work. The project work will be carried out in student groups and results in two outcomes: new food products and a project portfolio.

Workload

• Lectures: 35 hours
• Preparation: 50 hours
• Theory exercises: 19 hours
• Practical exercises: 15 hours
• Project work: 277 hours
• Guidance: 15 hours
• Exam: 1 hour
• Total: 412 hours

Exam

The exam is an individual oral exam (25 minutes) without preparation time, based on both previous submissions and the course curriculum. Written assignments are done in groups and consist of multiple parts with deadlines throughout the course.

Course Information

• Language: English
• Course code: NFOK14031U
• Credit: 15 ECTS
• Level: Full Degree Master
• Duration: 1 block
• Placement: Block 1
• Schedule: The teaching is organized with a confrontation-intensive period for approximately the first two weeks, with teaching taking place 4-5 days a week. For the rest of the block, students work in groups and organize their time themselves, except for project pitches and occasional teaching elements.
• Course capacity: 32

Study Board

The Study Board of Food, Human Nutrition, and Sports is responsible for the course.

Contracting Department

The Department of Food Science is the contracting department for the course.

Contracting Faculty

The Faculty of Science is the contracting faculty for the course.

Course Coordinators

The course coordinators are Michael Bom Frøst, Karsten Olsen, and Bodil Helene Allesen-Holm.