Deliverable 1.4 : Final Report and Recommendation
WP1 contained three deliverables. The first deliverable was the investigation of Similar Postgraduate Study Programs in Asia. In this area there are altogether 36 Master programmes in food through coursework being offered across Asia. The second deliverable was the investigation of Similar Postgraduate Study Programs in Europe. The research has evolved into two phases:
a) Research for similar postgraduate courses at universities in Europe.
b) Qualitative research through questionnaires to academic experts in food science.
The third deliverable of the first work package WP1 was the investigation of similar VET programs in ASIA and specifically in the partner countries of Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand. The highlighted conclusions are:
In the 36 Master programmes in Asia, more than 65% of the offered courses focus on Science and Technology dimension and more specifically in sub-dimensions such as Food Science and Technology,Food Chemistry, Functional Food, Food Development, Food Nutrition, Food Processing and Food Safety and Quality. On the other hand, the dimension of Entrepreneurship& Innovation is in less than 10% of the offered courses. In the 134 MSc Courses at European universities, the overwhelming majority of programs are targeting the regions of Food Technology, Science and Engineering and only 15%-25% of them have a more entrepreneurial perspective concerning the food industry. According to the research in75 Academic Experts the importance of the main subject of Food Science and Food Technology is highlighted. Cambodia is an agricultural country that focus more on agro-business.
Therefore, Universities should revise and develop the existing curricula to produce human resources to response the country’s needs. In Malaysia there is a lack of short courses at professional certificate levels. Current food courses do not tailor to specific needs of local food industries particularly relating to appropriate packaging and rice processing course In Thailand, there is demand for training courses in the areas related to food innovation. The Need for sustainability of food production and manufacturing process as well as research and production development was highlighted during the research activities of the project.
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