MSc in Food Science and Innovation
Manchester, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Aug 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 17,000 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning, On-Campus
* UK and Channel Island students: £9,000 per year | EU and non-EU International students: £17,000 per year
Introduction
Through this course, you’ll explore 21st-century food manufacturing and develop your understanding of how the biochemical properties of food components influence how foods taste and feel, and how they impact nutrition and health.
You’ll explore sensory evaluation, food law and how global trends in trade, regulation and policy influence the sustainability and wider impact of the food chain. You’ll also consider topics such as modern production and analytical technologies, functional foods and labelling legislation, and how to ensure that foods are nutritious and safe to eat.
Technical skills are vital to the food industry and they’re an important part of this course. In our dedicated food technology and biochemistry laboratories, you’ll have practical sessions in areas of food production, evaluating the sensory properties of foods, microbiological quality, and the chemical and physical analysis of foods.
You’ll also complete a food development project where you’ll create your own innovative foods, working on everything from marketing and sensory analysis to legal requirements – and you’ll create your product too.
Past projects include beer made from waste patisserie products, functional yoghurts for elderly consumers, and sustainable vegan ice cream made with tiger nuts.
This course is also available to study part-time online.
Features and benefits
- Technical skills - You’ll learn skills in food production, sensory analysis, microbiology and biochemistry.
- Industry-standard facilities - You’ll use our on-campus food manufacturing facilities, which include a 10-booth sensory taste panel suite, development kitchens, and food biochemistry and physiology laboratories.
- Food safety - You’ll carry out all aspects of food safety testing (including food microbiology, shelf-life studies, mycology, RT-PCR, microscopy, and species identification) in our on-campus food safety laboratory.
- Professional development - You can access student membership at the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST).
Admissions
Curriculum
Course information
Our course aims to prepare you to work in the food industry, in roles that require expertise in food technology and product development.
You’ll have days with a mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions (such as product development in our food technology laboratories) so that you develop technical skills as well as academic knowledge of food science.
Through taught classes, you’ll explore topics from food law to flavour development, from sustainability to food processing and preservation.
You’ll consider the impact of health practitioners and consumers on product innovation, the effects of macronutrients and micronutrients on the human body, and how these can influence food product formulation.
And, you’ll learn about the impact of bacteria and fungi on food, carrying out microbiology practical sessions in our well-equipped food safety laboratories. This helps you to develop the skills you’ll need to study the utility and safety of microbes in foods.
In other seminar sessions/workshops, you’ll learn how to promote food safety through quality management systems, including Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). This is so that you understand how to meet the legal responsibilities of food business operators in producing safe products, as well as the quality requirements of your customers.
To assess your technical skills and scientific knowledge, you’ll complete a variety of assessments. These will depend upon the units you study but some of your tasks might be to produce laboratory reports on the chemical profile of foods and their fitness for human consumption, write a paper on the social, economic and political factors influencing the food industry, or the design of a food production factory and a food safety management system.
Year 1
On the course, you’ll study the following units:
Core units
- Fundamental Nutrition
- Molecular Nutrition And Biochemistry
- Food Composition And Analysis
- Dissertation With Research Methods
- Food Microbiology
- Food Processing
- Food Safety And Quality Management
- Innovation In NPD
- Future Food Sustainability
Career Opportunities
Many of our graduates begin their careers in new product development.
You could work in a variety of roles across the food and nutrition industry though, in areas such as quality and food safety, food manufacturing, food marketing and technical management.
Some of the roles you could pursue include food production manager, food technologist, consumer care manager, technical manager, food buyer, and legal compliance officer.