Programme Introduction
The InterUniversity Programme in Food Technology in Vietnam (IUPFOOD-Asia), a Master programme in Food Technology, is jointly organised by four higher institutions in Vietnam including Can Tho University (CTU), Nha Trang University (NTU), Hue University (HU), and Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA). This Master programme in Food Technology has been constructed through collaborative network between Flemish and Vietnamese institutions including Universiteit Gent, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Can Tho University, Nha Trang University, Hue University and Vietnam National University of Agriculture under the framework of VLIR Network project. The curriculum of this programme has been developed based on benchmarking with other university curricula, especially with the Interuniversity programme in Food Technology jointly offered by Universiteit Gent and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (IUPFOOD, Belgium) and modified to be appropriate with local conditions.
The programme is coordinated by Prof. Ly Nguyen Binh (CTU), Prof. Mai Thi Tuyet Nga (NTU), Prof. Tran Thi Dinh (VNUA), and Dr. Nguyen Van Hue (HU).
Structure and Contents
The IUPFOOD-Asia programme is a two year programme representing 60 credits. The first year is common to all students and takes into account their diverse backgrounds. For the second year, students opt for one of the four majors, ‘fruit and vegetable based products (VNUA)’, or ‘animal product technology (HU)’, or ‘seafood technology (NTU)’, or ‘cereal technology (CTU)’.
Programme's Objective
The overall objective of IUPFOOD-Asia is to provide multi-disciplinary and specialized professional training in the field of food technology, with the emphasis on postharvest and food preservation engineering on the one hand and food science and technology on the other hand, to equip future personnel with the technical and managerial knowledge, skills and attitudes which they require to contribute successfully to solving problems related to food security through the production of safe foods of high quality.
The Learning Outcomes
The learning outcomes cover three generic aspects as recognized by different food professional and academic organizations: (i) a set of learning outcomes on integrated domain-specific knowledge (across the food areas) and understanding including its application, (ii) a set of learning outcomes related to professional domain-specific skills, and (iii) a domain-specific integrated scientific learning outcome, focusing on self-learning and responsibiltiy.
The translation of the IUPFOOD-Asia overall objectives and its specific international orientation into the programme intended learning outcomes is illustrated in the link below.
Domain-specific knowledge and understanding including its application
01
Understanding of knowledge in humanities and social sciences relevant to the field of study.
02
Has profound and detailed scientific knowledge and understanding of food microbiology, food (bio)chemistry, engineering properties of biological materials, food processing, bioprocess engineering in food technology, transport phenomena and engineering kinetics, and statistics.
03
Has profound and detailed scientific knowledge and understanding of food thermal processing, low temperature processing, human nutrition, sensory science, food materials science.
04
Has profound and detailed scientific knowledge and understanding of postharvest and processing technology of fruit and vegetable, cereals, dairy products, aquatic products; food packaging.
Integrated domain specific skills
05
Can critically evaluate the functionality and safety of foods in the context of human health including the relation with raw materials, their postharvest storage and processing into foods based on analytical data and scientific literature data
06
Masters the skills and has acquired the problem-solving capacity to analyze issues of food quality and safety along the food chain and to elaborate interdisciplinary and integrated qualitative and quantitative approaches and solutions (including their implementation) appreciating the complexity of food systems and the processes used while taking into account technical limitations and socio-economic aspects such as feasibility, risks, and sustainability.
07
Has acquired project management skills to act independently and in a multidisciplinary team as team member or team leader in international and intercultural settings
08
Convincingly and professionally communicate personal research, thoughts, ideas, and opinions of proposals, both written and oral, to different actors and stakeholders from peers to a general public.
Self-learning and responsibiltiy
09
Has acquired a broad perspective to problems of food security, related to postharvest and food processing.
10
Can develop and execute independently original scientific research and/or apply innovative ideas within research environments to create new or improved insights and solutions for complex (multi)disciplinary research questions respecting the results of other researchers.