Wageningen University and Research Center

In this course, aspects of quantity and quality of water are studied at the sub-catchment scale both in theory and in field and laboratory practices. Students learn to apply computational methods in hydrology and chemical & biological measuring techniques as applied in analyses of surface water systems and water quality. The course covers definitions, concepts, processes, flow equations, systems analysis, and (sub-)catchment modeling approaches, measuring methods, and quantification of elements. Specific topics are relationships between landscape morphology and water quality, hydrological cycle (precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, groundwater), the interaction of groundwater and surface water, (drainage theory, design discharge, dimensioning of drainage and discharge systems, rainfall-runoff relationships in catchments), characterization of water types and aquatic ecosystems by chemical and biological field measurements (nutrients, chloride, alkalinity, oxygen, light absorption, composition of macro-fauna), experimental analysis of eutrophication processes in the laboratory.

This course covers the basic principles, legal structures, and processes of governance at the EU level. The course introduces the EU's history, its main institutions and legal frameworks, the policymaking process, and the political struggles that take place around a number of issues that are relevant to the life sciences domains. The first half of the course provides a general background to the EU, including its history, main institutions, decision-making procedures, and implementation pathways. The second half of the course discusses the development of a number of relevant policy domains, including the internal market, marine policy, environmental policy, agricultural policy, and food policy. At the end of the course, students are able to explain the functioning of the EU’s main institutions and policies, use and analyze official EU documents and legislation, and critically appraise an ongoing policy debate.

FQD633 is the first module of the online course on Product and Process Design. This first module focuses on the principles of consumer-oriented food product design. Group work is an essential part of this module. Deadlines are in place to ensure appropriate progress of the (group) work. The online course on Product and Process Design focuses on design aspects of food products from an integrated product and process perspective and aims at strengthening so-called T-shaped skills, i.e., the ability to tackle in-depth disciplinary technological problems in combination with the aptitude to deal with broad multi-disciplinary challenges. The online course on Product and Process Design is divided into four modules: FQD63303, FQD63403, FQD63503, and FQD63603.

This course combines knowledge from different disciplines of food science to study the effect of processing on product quality, in relation to innovation of food products, taking both a technological and a consumer perspective. The product quality is described by technological properties (e.g. chemical and physical properties). Examples include consistency, color, flavor, and appearance of the food. An introduction to sensory analysis is given, explaining the use of statistical computer programs to handle data sets from sensory analyses. In addition, the process of product innovation is analyzed in its societal context, with an emphasis on ethical issues. Moreover, the theory on chemical analysis of foods with means of chromatography techniques is given and practiced in lab-simulation tutorials. The course includes classroom lectures, (lab) tutorials, and sensory experiments. In the laboratory classes, groups produce an innovative food product starting from raw materials and compare its properties with those of an existing food product. This part of the course is also known as DIPP: Discipline Integrating Product Practical. Students perform consumer interviews on their raw materials and innovative food products. A scientific report is written on the experiments and assignments performed on the innovative food product. For this course, it assumed that students know the different food science disciplines: food chemistry, food physics, food microbiology, and food process engineering, including laboratory experience in these disciplines.

This course is focused on recent developments in Nutrition Behavior Research including the physiological and psychological determinants of food choice and eating behavior. The course includes lectures, group assignments, and a computer practical. Prerequisites course in Nutrition Behavior.

Knowledge of the chemical composition and properties of food is of primary importance to ensure product quality, safety, and stability. In the lectures of this course, the effects of processing and storage conditions on the chemical composition of the major food constituents (lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins) and phenolic compounds are discussed. Examples are the modification of lipids and the importance of lipid refining, modification of polysaccharides to optimize their properties, reactivity (e.g. oxidation) of phenolic compounds, and stability & chemical reactivity of proteins. The course focuses on the occurrence and reactivity of these compounds in different food products and raw materials, the analysis of these compounds and their reaction products, and the effect of reactions during storage and processing on the chemical composition and properties of raw materials and food products. Information discussed during the lectures is applied in tutorials, digital case studies, and a practical in which students design the experiment.

This course gives an introduction to the principles behind effective operational quality systems in these complex food production chains. Major theoretical topics of the course include the relationship between food properties and quality attributes in the food production chain; traceability of food products in the food production chain; basic principles of operations management; principles of major technological tools, methods, and techniques in quality control and inspection; and introduction to major quality assurance standards. The course contains assignments related to these 4 topics. The assignments serve as a basis for critical analysis of factors influencing the actual operation of the implemented quality system.