Educational objectives

The masters programme provides access to the knowledge necessary to design, programme and carry out research and development, and to perform professional functions related to food biotechnology. The training provided will lead to a research career in universities and research centres, or to working professionally in the food industry.

The specific skills associated with the Masters in Food Biotechnology are: the knowledge and use of techniques used in biotechnology and their role as tools in basic and applied research; the analysis of practical applications of plant, animal and microbial biotechnology aimed at food production; a thorough understanding of the legislation regulating the research and development of food biotechnology products, as well as the legal protection provided for products and processes, the mechanisms for transferring and exploiting results and for commercializing the technology; and the ethical, social and cultural principles and regulations that are crucial in the field.

Curriculum structure and description of the skills developed

The masters is distributed in four blocks consisting of an instrumental module made up of crossdisciplinary university subjects and from the graduate programme of Technology (15 ECTS) and three specific training modules from the Masters programme (75 ECTS). The programme takes place over a period of three semesters. The first two semesters will be dedicated to the 60 ECTS corresponding to modules I, II and III (Instrumental and basic and complementary Training). The last semester will be dedicated to the practical training described in module IV (30 ECTS).

1. INSTRUMENTAL MODULE (15 ECTS): cross-disciplinary university and graduate programme sub-jects.

2. BASIC TRAINING MODULE (33 ECTS): advanced techniques in biotechnology; animal biotechnology; plant biotechnology; microbial biotechnology; biotech food; enzyme biotechnology;

3. COMPLEMENTARY TRAINING MODULE (12 ECTS): legislation and ethical aspects of biotechnology; analysis and quality control of biotechnology products; food safety and traceability; protection and exploitation of results.

4. PRACTICAL TRAINING MODULE (30 ECTS): research seminars; supervised internships in companies and research centres; introduction to research work.

Faculty profile

The faculty includes experts in various fields of food biotechnology, and is made up of academic staff from the UdG itself, from other universities, and from research centres and companies. The faculty members from the UdG work in the Plant Pathology, Food Technology and Reproduction Biotechnology research groups within the Agri-Food Technology Institute (INTEA). The invited professors are outside experts who work in the Institute of Agri-food Technology (IRTA), the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), and other research centres and universities. The Masters programme will have at its disposal the infrastructures of the sponsoring groups and of the UdG, as well as the new facilities of the Centre of New Food Technologies (CeNTA) at the Science Park of the UdG and at the IRTA in Monells.

Duration: Two-year programme.

Beginning date of the Masters: October 2006 
Ending date of the Masters: October 2007 

Academic calendar
During the first and second semesters the subjects common to University studies and to the graduate programme, as well as the obligatory subjects from the masters programme will be developed. During the third semester practical research and the in-company practicum will be developed.

Academic coordinator
Dr. Emili Montesinos Seguí   emilio.montesinos@udg.edu

Telephone:  00 (34) 972 418 427

Additional information of interest:

The most suitable training profiles are those obtained through undergraduate degrees in the life sciences, agronomical and agri-food engineering or in equivalent degree programmes in the educational system adapted to the European Higher Education Area. The admission criteria will consist of the evaluation of the applicant’s academic record in relation to the contents of the Masters programme by the Board of Admissions.

The stages of the admission process will be:
(1) pre-registration and submission of the curriculum vitae,
(2) candidate interview,
(3) publication of the list of accepted and reserve candidates.

General entrance requirements

All official university graduates (three-year degrees or more), engineers (including technical engineers) and architects (including architectural technologists) can be admitted to these studies.

Also admitted to the Masters programmes will be those candidates having completed three years of study and a minimum of 180 credits from the existing curricula, including all the official first cycle core requirements of current university studies. The completed first cycle of studies must be anticipated within the specific entrance requirements established in the official graduate programme.

Likewise, foreign university graduates can be admitted to a Masters programme if their degrees have been previously and officially approved, or without official approval if it has been verified that their studies are equivalent to the level of academic training of Spanish degrees and that they authorise admission to graduate studies in the country were they were awarded.

Entrance profiles, previous training requeriments and admission criteria

Importance is placed on the academic records of students who have completed undergraduate degrees in the Life Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Food Science and Technology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Veterinary, etc.), in Agricultural and Agri-food Engineering (Technical Agricultural Engineering in Agri-food Industries or in Farming, Agricultural Engineering) or equivalent degrees in educational systems adapted to the European Higher Education Area are given priority consideration.

Priority is also given to students in possession of the best academic records and an adequate level of previous knowledge related to the area of the masters, taking into special account the relationship with experimental, technological or biological and health science degrees, fields closely related to the food sector, and the students’ interest in receiving additional training in related areas.

Admission to the Doctoral programme

Those candidates who wish to be admitted to the doctoral programme will have to verify that they have a graduate degree or another degree declared to be the equivalent, and that their previous training is equivalent to that which is provided in the training modules of the Masters (minimum of 60 ECTS credits) included in the official graduate programme they are applying to. The applications will be evaluated by the admissions committee from each programme, subject to the report by the professor or researcher proposed by the director(s) of the doctoral dissertation.

Pre-registration and registration process

Pre-registration for official masters programmes is expected to be available on-line as of the month of May. Please refer to the web page of the Graduate School soon for further information: http://gigs.udg.edu