Why choose food or nutritional sciences?

For more information, please contact:

Dr Carol Wagstaff Admissions Tutor

Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences

University of Reading Whiteknights, PO Box 226 Reading, RG6 6AP United Kingdom

foodbio-ugadmissions@reading.ac.uk Tel +44 (0)118 378 4701Fax +44 (0)118 378 6331 www.reading.ac.uk/food

‘The University of Reading has a great reputation in the food industry. Industry feedback ensures that the course continues to meet our needs.’Libby Good, English Provender Company

Why choose food or nutritional sciences?A guide to undergraduate and postgraduate opportunities at Reading

Why choose food or nutritional sciences?

Why study at Reading?• A range of degree courses that equip our graduates

with the skills needed for a career in the food industry.

• Support for securing a year long placement from our dedicated Senior Tutor.

• One-year paid industrial/professional training secured in companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg’s, Innocent and Mars.

• 90% of our graduates have a graduate level job within a year of graduation.

• The only department of its kind to have facilities for nutrition intervention trials, sensory work, microbiology and food processing under one roof – leading to an integrated degree programme giving you excellent training.

• Cutting-edge research facilities that are available to students as part of their undergraduate study.

• A course structure that is relevant to your chosen degree from the start.

• Modules available, such as New product development, with an industry-led remit.

• Scholarships and prizes sponsored by industry partners.

• Vibrant student society RUFANS (Reading Undergraduate Food and Nutrition Society), offering industry visits, lectures, social events and a supportive network across all years in the department.

• Highly-ranked system of student support including your own personal tutor.

• Variety of teaching methods including practical work, farm and industry visits, seminars, lectures, debates and student-led presentations

• An individual final-year research project where you will be part of one of our research groups engaged in real scientific research.

• Opportunity to undertake summer training and work experience placements.

Department of Food and Nutritional SciencesOther entrance routes

We welcome applications from mature students and overseas students with equivalent qualifications to A levels. These include International Baccalaureate (5,5,6 at Higher Level) and Access to Higher Education Science courses (Distinction, Distinction, Merit at Higher Level). Please contact the Admissions Tutor, Dr Carol Wagstaff, to discuss your particular require-ments. email: foodbio-ugadmissions@reading.ac.uk

MSc coursesOur MSc courses are all one-year, full-time modular courses starting in the first week in October and ending during the following September. They are heavily over-subscribed so you are encouraged to apply early, preferably by the end of May of the year you wish to start. Food and Nutritional Sciences at Reading is unique.

Reading has the largest department of its kind in the UK and we are internationally recognised for the quality of our teaching and research in many aspects of food and nutrition. Under one roof, we have leading experts in all of the component dis-ciplines – no other UK department can make this claim. You will be taught by acknowledged world authorities in areas as diverse as human nutrition, food analysis, food processing, microbiology and sensory analysis.

For further information contact Dr David Jukes, MSc Admissions Tutor. email: food@reading.ac.uk

Postgraduate research opportunitiesWe currently have over 100 PhD and MPhil students, who each belong to one or more of our three research groups.

Visit our website www.reading.ac.uk/food to identify a potential supervisor whose research matches your interests and to view current PhD opportunities.

For further information contact Dr Bernard Mackey, PhD Student Admissions Tutor. email: food@reading.ac.uk

Why choose food or nutritional sciences?

Choosing a degree in Food or Nutritional SciencesFood and Nutritional Sciences underpins one of the biggest industries in the UK and the world – people will always need to eat, but increasingly consumers are becoming aware of the effects their food choices have on their health and well-being.

Healthy eating messages, food as part of a healthy lifestyle, and the production of nutritious, conven-ient food are issues that constantly have a high public profile. Our degrees provide you with the sci-entific background to make a difference to the way that food is made and the benefits it confers to the population. It is a diverse and constantly evolving subject, always in demand by industry and educa-tion, and always moving forward as exciting discov-eries are made. Our graduates are in great demand by a wide range of employers and our alumni have risen to the very top in their subsequent careers.

The Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at Reading has an excellent reputation for the quality of its teaching and research and is the leading department of its kind in the UK. Uniquely within the UK, we have facilities for everything from human clinical trials, food manufacture and processing, sensory evaluation, microbiological and molecular analyses under one roof. This ensures that we have an integrated approach to our teaching and research, to the benefit of our students and our industrial partners. We are a medium-sized depart-ment with around 50 academic and support staff, thus ensuring individual attention and a friendly, caring atmosphere.

Why choose food or nutritional sciences?

ScholarshipsGenerous university entrance scholarships and industry-sponsored Department scholarships for each year of your degree are available for well-qualified applicants. Many of our undergraduates return from their industrial placement with an offer of a job after graduation, and this can include financial support during the final year of your degree. Please see our website for the most up-to-date information: www.reading.ac.uk/food

Our coursesWe offer a range of degree programmes in both three and four-year format, with the latter including a paid year in industry, taken at the end of Part 2. All of our degrees are science-based, but the emphasis of each reflects the diversity of careers within food and nutritional sciences. We received the highest possible score in the last teach-ing quality assessment for our student support, and we were praised for the high quality of our degree programmes and the facilities available to our stu-dents for practical work.

BSc Food Science (D610, 3 years full-time or D615, 4 years full-time including Industrial Training Year)

Our graduates are recognised as professional food scientists by the Institute of Food Science and Technology. Food Science is the scientific study of the quality, safety and nutritional properties of foods. The degree course pro-vides multi-disciplinary academic training covering areas of science including chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and human nutri-tion. The safety, flavour and nutritional quality of food are topical issues in science that impact on the quality and enjoyment of our daily lives.

The food industry has a constant demand for food scientists who possess strong scientific skills, combined with an understanding of how to manage the industry’s response to consumer issues concerning food safety and nutrition. Our Food Science graduates are able to pursue successful careers in the food indus-try, government departments concerned with food production and safety, and in education. Standard offer: 300 UCAS points including at least one science A level and one science AS level or equivalent.

BSc Food Science with Business (D690, 3 years full-time or D691, 4 years full-time including Industrial Training Year)

The Food Science with Business course offers you the unique opportunity to develop skills in business alongside your scientific expertise. The food industry is Europe’s largest and argu-ably most important business and employs over one million people in the UK alone. Graduates from this course are well qualified to enter directly into a management posi-tion in the food industry or related sectors. For its continuing success, the food industry needs managers with up-to-date scientific knowledge who can make informed decisions about the future of their business. Standard offer: 300 UCAS points including one science A level or equivalent.

BSc Food Technology with Bioprocessing (D622, 3 years full-time or D621, 4 years full-time including Industrial Training Year)

The study of Food Technology with Bioprocessing emphasises food engineering and the impact of the chemistry and microbi-ology of food materials on the manufacture of safe and high-quality end products. Our Food Technology with Bioprocessing gradu-ates have an in-depth knowledge of raw food materials and how they can be handled, proc-essed and/or packaged to offer the consumer safe, convenient and healthy products.

Our course will develop your technological expertise and scientific knowledge to provide you with the skills needed for a career in the food industry or related sectors and our graduates are highly sought-after by the food industry. Standard offer: 300 UCAS points including at least one science A level and one science AS level or equivalent.

BSc coursesBSc Nutrition and Food Science (BD46, 3 years full-time or BDK6, 4 years full-time including Professional Training Year)

This course is accredited with The Nutrition Society so that graduates can become ‘Regis-tered Nutritionists’. Nutrition & Food Science is a scientific study of the health and chemical aspects of the food that we eat. The course provides a strong academic training in the science of nutrition and the related disciplines of food science, physiology, biochemistry, genetics and microbiology.

Nutritionists with training in food science are at the forefront of new product development, packaging design and relaying health messages to the consumer. Our degree provides graduates with the expertise to work in nutrition education and promotion, and within government depart-ments concerned with public health issues. Standard offer: 300 UCAS points including two science A levels or equivalent.

BSc Nutrition with Food Consumer Sciences (B4D6, 3 years full-time or B4DP, 4 years full-time including Professional Training Year)

This course is accredited with The Nutrition Society so that graduates can become ‘Registered Nutritionists’. Nutrition with Food Consumer Sciences students will work at the interface between companies, health professionals, policy makers, and the con-sumer, to assess the clarity and scientific merit of the advice and food on offer, and to analyse the consumer’s response to it. The degree programme will provide a strong aca-demic training in the science of nutrition with related areas of food science and consumer studies. Standard offer: 320 UCAS points including one science A level or equivalent.

‘This course has equipped me with skills that give me an edge in the highly competitive field of food science. Having a degree from a reputable and well-respected university such as Reading, which is hailed as a Mecca for food studies, will stand me in good stead for the future.’ Dulekha Katsuriratne, BSc Food Science with Business.