Second Level degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences
Coorte 2024/2025
President: Prof.ssa Tiziana Bacchetti - tel. 071 2204968 - e-mail: t.bacchetti@univpm.it
Quality Manager: Prof.ssa Cristina Truzzi - tel. 071 2204514 - e-mail: c.truzzi@univpm.it
Presentation
The Master’s degree programme in Food and Nutrition Sciences is a 2-year multidisciplinary course offered by the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (DISVA), with contributions of researchers and faculty members of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences (D3A). The course leads to the academic qualification of a master's degree and allows one to qualify as a biologist/nutritionist after passing the relevant State Examination.
The course is open to anyone in possession of a bachelor's degree or a three-year university diploma, or another qualification obtained abroad and recognized as suitable. Master's or single-cycle degree holders who meet the requirements are also admitted. The course reflects the increasing social awareness of the role of nutrition in maintaining optimal health, of preventing age-associated chronic diseases, and of successful aging. This concept goes beyond human health to also include pets for which the nutrition sector plays an increasingly important role in market differentiation and promotion. The course also responds to the growing interest of businesses and the market related to health foods and nutraceuticals, along with the need to promote the properties of local agri-food products. It responds to specific market demands for professional roles in the field of nutrition with expertise on aspects related to consumer’s health considering, not only nutritional assessment methods and techniques, but also aspects regarding modulation of the gut microbiome by foods and probiotics, and principles of nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics as an introduction to the concept of personalized nutrition.
Furthermore, the technological knowledge related to nutraceutical foods and to the design, implementation and validation of the efficacy of functional foods for humans and pets will also be provided, considering the regulations concerning health (health claims). In this context, the purely biomedical aspects that characterize the skills of the nutritional biologist will be integrated with knowledge related to food quality, food technologies including microbiological ones and food safety.
The course therefore aims to train highly professional figures for employment in the food, nutraceutical and animal feed industries, capable of combining knowledge of food production and processing with knowledge of the nutritional and functional value of foods. The trained professionals, in addition to the classical preparation for the profession of nutritional biologist, will also have the skills to analyze and evaluate the chemical-physical and microbiological characteristics of a food product in order to improve its nutritional quality and food safety. These skills will allow preferential access in agribusiness, nutraceutical and livestock companies. Future graduates will be able to develop traditional and innovative functional foods for both human and animal nutrition, with a special focus on pet diets. They will also be able to support companies and associations for the promotion of local products, find employment in food quality control laboratories, and deal with the management of certification systems. Further possibilities are represented by access to positions in the public sector (which currently employs about % of LM61 graduates), in national and regional health agencies involved in the design, monitoring and evaluation of programs related to nutritional issues. As part of the educational pathway, the course includes training activities aimed at the acquisition of advanced knowledge in different areas of nutrition, from the biomedical one related to human health, to the technological one related to the characterization and processing of food. The course includes seminars held annually by professionals working in this field in order to acquire knowledge and skills of great relevance for the professional activity; the course requires the fulfilment of an experimental dissertation, either at research laboratories of the Polytechnic University of Marche, or at other Universities, research institutions/companies, public or private, operating in the field of food and human nutrition. The course also requires the fulfilment of 120 hours of internship at research laboratories of the University or at external, public or private entities, companies, or laboratories, affiliated with the University, working in the field of food and nutrition.
- The training objectives of the course cover the following skills essential to the professional figure:
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- Knowledge on the quality of raw materials and the technological and microbiological processes associated with their processing.
- Use of bioprocesses for the nutritional and nutraceutical improvement of foods with special focus on local agri-food products.
- Knowledge on aspects affecting the safety of foods of animal and plant origin and the quality of the transformation processes.
- Knowledge on the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of digestion, absorption, and metabolic processes affecting nutrients. Knowledge on nutritional quality. Knowledge on the influence of food on well-being, prevention and treatment of disease, including through modulation of the gut microbiota.
- Knowledge on the relationship between human genome, human nutrition and health (nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics).
- Knowledge on agribusiness economics and marketing. Knowledge on regulations related to marketing, safety and health claims of foods, ingredients, additives and dietary supplements. - Role in a work setting:
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The Nutrition and Food Science graduate has a high professional profile related to biological applications in food and nutrition as a Health specialist, Nutritional Biologist, Nutritional Biotechnologist, Researcher in the field of Food Science. The graduate will be able to:
- coordinate both public and private laboratories in the field of Nutrition and Food Science;
- carry out research activities on the existing relationships between nutrition and health status;
- carry out freelance activities on management, research coordination and consulting for companies active in the field of human and pet nutrition;
- coordinate and manage activities in large-scale distribution companies for the food sector.
The educational activities are aimed at teaching proper diets and nutrition in the field of health and wellness with particular focus also to regulatory, safety and inherent aspects of new technologies on nutraceuticals and functional foods.
Specifically, the activities that graduates of this programme will be able to perform are:
1) evaluation of nutritional characteristics and safety of foods and their modifications induced by technological and biotechnological processes;
2) research activities, dissemination and promotion of knowledge in the field of nutrition, on the principles of food quality and safety, and on promotion of local food products aimed at operators and the general population;
3) analysis of the bioavailability of nutrients in foods and food supplements and design of experimental studies aimed at verifying their effects and identifying health claims;
4) assessment of nutritional status, including through the use of non-invasive measures for the detection of parameters useful for the assessment of nutritional and energy needs; prescription of individual or group diets, also taking into account specific pathological conditions after evaluation of the health status by a physician. - Competencies associated with the role:
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The Nutrition and Food Science graduate has knowledge on the biochemistry and physiology of nutrition, the theoretical foundations and applications of dietary sciences under physiological and pathological conditions, and knowledge on the functional role of microorganisms involved in food production, distribution, and preservation, with particular reference to foods related to the territory and the role of nutrients in regulating gene expression. The graduate is familiar with the fundamentals of classical chemical-analytical methods and techniques applied to the analysis of foods for determination of substances important both nutritionally; has knowledge about the role of functional foods and nutritional supplements aimed at both humans and pets and the biotechnological processes required for their manufacture as well as the regulations governing their health claims. The graduate also has the ability to collect and interpret data from studies useful for making independent judgments on specific problems, including reflections on social, scientific and ethical issues, as well as the ability to communicate the information collected, the ideas he or she intends to advance in his or her field of work, the problems that may arise and their solutions, to specialist interlocutors in the various fields of molecular and applied sciences, as well as to non-specialist interlocutors.
- Employment outlets:
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Graduates of this Master’s degree programme will be able to register with the Professional Order of Biologists (after passing the state exam).
The employment and professional outlets provided for graduates (Decrees on Classes, Art. 3, para. 7) are:
Graduates of the class can find employment as freelancers or salaried workers, with roles of high responsibility, in activities aimed at proper food and nutrition and knowledge of the relevant regulations in force, on the use of new technologies and the interpretation of data, including for the purpose of assessing nutritional quality, safety, suitability of food for human consumption, excess or deficient malnutrition in individuals and populations.
Specifically, the main functions that graduate students perform in the relevant work field are: assessment of the nutritional characteristics of foods and their modifications induced by technological and biotechnological processes;
- food consumption surveys aimed at the surveillance of nutritional trends in the population; analysis of the bioavailability of nutrients in foods and food supplements and their effects;
-evaluation of food safety and suitability for human consumption, including in relation to the development of guidelines and procedures relating to controls in food preparation, storage and distribution;
.collaboration on programs to study the existing relationships between food intake and health status;
- assessment of the state of nutrition at the level of individuals, populations and specific groups thereof, including for preventive purposes;
- collaboration on international training and assistance programs on food availability;
- management of enterprises and consulting companies in the field of human nutrition;
- training, information, education and outreach in prevention and food quality and safety. - The course prepares for the profession of (ISTAT codes).
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1. Biologists and related professions - (2.3.1.1.1)
2. Biotechnologists - (2.3.1.1.4)
3. Graduate researchers and technicians in the biological sciences - (2.6.2.2.1)