Food Technology and Safety

Education objectives

Food production has, in many circumstances, become an industrialized act, being those responsible for it more concerned with the quantitative aspects of the process than with the quality of the products. The complexity of food chains is increasing, resulting in multiple interactions that are on the basis of risks to consumers, whose control becomes more difficult.

The multidisciplinary training of the Master in Food Technology and Safety allows graduates to work in pioneering areas, using new technologies, including nanotechnology, more sustainable, seeking to provide answers to current global challenges.

The Master in Food Technology and Safety is guided by an integrated and responsible approach, playing a decisive role today in supporting the agri-food sector, guaranteeing the safety and quality of food, innovating and developing technology that enables the sector to keep up with market trends.

Why this Master´s?

  • Differentiating master´s degree, closely linked to the industry, making it possible to combine dissertation work with professional experience;
  • Teaching privileges the acquisition of skills that allow the student, upon entering the job market, to easily apply the knowledge acquired, as the subjects taught have direct industrial application;
  • Attractive practical laboratory classes with industrial application;
  • Dissertations carried out in an industrial environment, technology transfer centers or in research laboratories according to the student''''s preferences and career development perspectives;
  • The owner of this Master’s degree will be prepared to develop a comprehensive understanding of industrial practices, government regulations and risk management techniques associated with food safety;
  • High employability rate (> 95% of recent masters employed in the area, in less than 3 months).

Career opportunities

  • Production, quality and food safety control in the agri-food industries, as well as development of new products and/or improvement of existing ones;
  • Research and development;
  • Consulting services in Food Technology and/or Food Safety.

General characterization

DGES code

968

Cicle

Master (2nd Cycle)

Degree

Mestre

Access to other programs

Access to third cycles

Coordinator

Ana Luísa Almaça da Cruz Fernando

Opening date

September

Vacancies

40

Fees

Portuguese students: 1500 Euros/year

Foreign students: 7000 Euros/year

Schedule

Compressed and/or after work hours depending on the number of students enrolled

Teaching language

Available soon

Degree pre-requisites

Duration: 2 years

Credits: 120 ECTS

Scientific Area Acronym ECTS
Mandatory Optional
Food Technology TA 33 0
Food Safety SA 15 0
Chemistry Q 12 0
Food Quality QA 6 0
Chemical Engineering EQ 3 0
Food Technology / Food Safety / Chemistry / Food Quality / Chemical Engineering TA / SA / Q / QA / EQ 42 0
Transferable Skills CC 3 0
Any Scientific Area   QAC 0 6 a)
TOTAL 114 6

(a) 6 ECTS in courses chosen by the student on a list approved annually by the Scientific Council of NOVA FCT, which includes the unity of all scientific areas of NOVA FCT.

Conditions of admittance

  • Holders of a bachelor''s degree (1st cycle of the Bologna Process) in any area of Engineering, Natural Sciences or Exact Sciences, related areas or legal equivalent, with a minimum number of 180 ECTS;
  • Holders of a bachelor''s degree (pre-Bologna) in any area of Engineering, Natural Sciences or Exact Sciences, related areas or legal equivalent;
  • Holders of a foreign higher academic degree awarded following a 1st cycle of studies in one of the areas referred to in item 1, organized in accordance with the principles of the Bologna Process by a State adhering to this Process;
  • Holders of a foreign higher academic degree in one of the areas referred to in point 2, which is recognized as meeting the objectives of the degree by the Scientific Committee of the Master''s Degree in Food Technology and Safety;
  • Holders of an academic, scientific or professional curriculum that is recognized as attesting the ability to carry out this cycle of studies by the Scientific Committee of the Master''s Degree in Food Technology and Safety.

Selection criteria: 

  • Course classification;
  • Academic and scientific curriculum;
  • Professional CV;
  • Possible interview with the Master''s Scientific Committee.

Evaluation rules

The evaluation of all UCs is continuous for all the components that integrate it, and it must be completed by the last day of the school term of the academic semester.

The continuous evaluation of a UC must include a minimum of three elements in the set of evaluation components, on dates adequately spaced throughout the period of classes.

All UCs with a theoretical-practical evaluation component must provide, in addition, a form of evaluation of this component by exam, to be carried out after the period of classes (Examination of Appeal).

All requirements and conditions related to the evaluation of the UC, namely the minimum weights and classifications, if any, of each component, as well as the Frequency conditions, are defined a priori and, mandatorily, published in the Discipline Form.

For each UC, combinations of three evaluation components are allowed: (i) Theoretical-practical evaluation; (ii) Laboratory or project evaluation; (iii) Summative assessment.

The final Dissertation (or Project) involves a public discussion with a Jury.

Regulamento de Avaliação de Conhecimentos (Licenciaturas, Mestrados Integrados e Mestrados.)

Structure

1.º Semester
Code Name ECTS
10750 Food Analysis 6.0
10753 Fundamentals on Food Engineering 3.0
10751 Biological Indicators on Agro Industrial Quality 6.0
7895 Legislation and Consumer Protection 3.0
10752 Nutrition 6.0
10749 Food Chemistry and Biochemistry 6.0
2.º Semester
Code Name ECTS
10757 Food Packaging 3.0
10755 Food Preservation 6.0
10380 Entrepreneurship 3.0
10756 Food Quality I 6.0
10754 Food Toxicology 6.0
2.º Semester - Opção 1
Code Name ECTS
Options
11066 Unrestricted Electives 6.0
11017 Treatment and Valorization of Effluents and Residues 6.0
2.º Year
Code Name ECTS
8910 Master Thesis on Technology and Food Safety 42.0
3.º Semester
Code Name ECTS
10760 Food Industries 6.0
10761 Food Quality II 6.0
10762 Food Safety Management Systems 6.0