Food Solutions

The Food Solutions (FS) programme goal’ is to raise awareness of global food challenges and promote entrepreneurship as a possible career path.

The programme develops a combination of:

• Entrepreneurial skills to help you become a sustainable kind of food innovator.
• Key technical skills tailored to your career ambitions in the sector

A unique aspect of this programme is that you not only solve a real-world challenge within a multi-disciplinary team and possibly turn them into viable businesses but also get to know different academic and industrial perspectives of the food system and increase the competitiveness of your future employing companies. Each course provides a distinctly different challenge faced by the food industry and how you could overcome it supported by your host University and mentored by experts from industry, research and science.

The Food Solutions programme is designed for students who:

• Have a passion and commitment to drive the transformation to a more sustainable food system
• Currently in, or have been in, a degree in one of the following fields include, Agricultural Sciences, Food science, Nutrition, Engineering, Packaging technology, Economics and Management, Business or Marketing, Informatics and Computational science. This Programme expects predominantly M.Sc. and to some extent also B.Sc. and/or Ph.D. students.

Master your critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the dynamic world of the Food Solutions Programme! 

Please find below the application links for the each challenge:

By the end of the programme, you will be able to: 

• Critically assess a real-world food industry challenges from an integrated business, scientific, ethical and inter-generational perspective. 
• Collaborate in a team environment using a challenge-based approach. 
• And much more!.. 

The Food Solutions Programme has been awarded with the EIT Label since 2023. This accreditation is a quality seal awarded to excellent non-degree programmes with a strong focus on innovation and entrepreneurial education, aligned with the EIT-specific learning outcomes and other quality criteria required for the EIT Label. You can find more info on the EIT label and the EIT Overarching Learning Outcomes at https://eit.europa.eu/our-activities/education/eit-learning-outcomes.

Upon completion or during your entrepreneurship education, you can start a business in the food industry. You could earn your first merits from consulting or finding management work for a company. Here is a small selection of job ideas that could follow your entrepreneurship development program such as 

• Start your own business. 
• Work at a start-up 
• Consultant 
• Innovation Manager
• Intrapreneur 

Another focus lies in development or research for companies in the food sector, as well as public institutions. Corresponding jobs are offered by state or federal government agencies and offices, insurance companies, and private consulting firms. 

In Food Solutions, you will benefit from entrepreneurship and product development education to produce an innovative, tangible food solution. You will work within a multi-disciplinary team and be supported by your host University and mentored by experts from industry, research and science. 

Programme Structure:  

🏁 Project Kick-Off: 

In March, you will attend the live kick-off event introducing you to the challenge. After this event, you will be supported in the next steps for problem definition and ideation. 

💡 Entrepreneurship Spine (E-Spine): 

There are five E-Spine learning blocks spread throughout the programme, each consisting of a live workshop, online self-learning material, and a final task. Each learning block is designed to help you develop your venture and viable business case. 

💬 Industry Mentoring: 

Facilitated by your host University, you will be able to access mentoring by industry experts as a team to discuss your ideas and get guidance and insights. 

🎤 Presentations & Feedback: 

There are four pitch sessions between the kick-off and final pitch event where you will present your idea so far as a team and receive feedback to help you steer and improve your solution. 

♻️ Prototype Development: 

Throughout the programme, you will be supported by your host University to design and develop a prototype for your solution as a team. 

🏆 Final Pitch Event and Submissions: 

In November, you will submit your final assignments in Canvas and present your pitch live to a jury panel. There will also be prizes presented to winning teams. 

Join us on this extraordinary journey to shape the Food Systems Industry!