Food Systems Innovation

During this master you gain the knowledge and skills needed to become a T-shaped professional: both generalist and specialist, deploying your specialist knowledge in an integral and interdisciplinary manner and developing and implementing innovative routes to solutions.

You learn to point out challenges, recognise and valorise opportunities for innovation and facilitate transdisciplinary cooperation. You do this by working on existing food issues from practice with various actors and interests. This way, the Food Systems Innovation master trains you to become a professional that connects large-scale systemic thinking with concrete professional fields within the food system.

The study programme is divided into different phases. These phases support you in becoming an expert that is able to apply new insights, explore food systems, design interventions and create new solutions.

• Introduction phase: you get acquainted with transitions theory and systemic thinking
• Experience phase: exploring, intervening and creating.

During the phases, theoretic knowledge on i.a. food system transitions, challenges and perspectives is combined with training for professional skills, ranging from design based research to project management and from entrepreneurship to leadership. You will research the challenges the food system faces and work on innovative tools with which changes can be brought about. Application and experimentation are a common thread through the complete curriculum: your knowledge and skills are applied and tested in a series of stimulating assignments, often related to real-life challenges. A central role is reserved for reflection and feedback, captured in your portfolio, to monitor your learning process and grow your capacity for continuous development.

The master Food Systems Innovation trains you to develop ground-breaking solutions for complex issues through a system and transition approach. You become a change agent, who, with other actors, designs clever, trans-domain innovations which contribute to a healthier and more sustainable food system.

For admission to the master Food System Innovation, we require you:

1. to have completed a University of Applied Sciences (UAS) bachelor study programme (national or international) on the subject of food.

• For example: Food Technology, Food Commerce, Food Innovation, Food and Health, Food and business and Agribusiness.

• If you have not completed one of the bachelor's programmes mentioned above or a similar programme, you may be admitted under certain circumstances. Whether you will be admitted depends on your motivation and your knowledge of food systems, health and ecology or the circular economy. Do you want to know more? Please contact programme leader Elise Gieling.

2. to write a motivation letter;

3. to master a certain level of English fluency:

International students:

• A minimum score of 575 in the TOEFL English test or
• A formally recognized equivalent such as the IELTS (level 6.5), Cambridge CAE C or IBT (90) (as set out in the rules in the Code for Master students)

Students with a Dutch nationality:

• A minimum score of 575 in the TOEFL English test or a formally recognized equivalent such as the IELTS (level 6.5), Cambridge CAE C or IBT (90), or
• A grade 7 (Dutch VWO diploma) or grade 8 (Dutch HAVO diploma), or
• An achieved bachelor programme with at least one semester of education taught in English, or
• Being a native English speaker, or
• Being a candidate with an International School (IB) diploma

When you graduate in a year’s time, you will be awarded a state recognized Master of Applied Science.

Professional careers

• Advisor: offers strategic advice to different clients and ensures that innovative processes are initiated and implemented;
• Innovations project manager: coordinates innovation projects from the initial idea right up to the implementation;
• Entrepreneur: combines innovative strength and corporate social responsibility, and introduces sustainable innovations to the market;
• Intrapreneur: an entrepreneur in a large company, who is able to freely develop future-oriented products and services;
• Researcher: researching large scale developments and innovative solutions, in academic or business environments.

Accompanying costs for the master, i.a. working visits, boot camp week and city study trip, are estimated at €900,-

Check all scholarship options here.