With over 80 members of academic staff, we also offer a broad range of expertise that allows you to choose options that reflect your interests as you progress through your degree programme.

Factfile

Degrees

 Degree Programmes

Degrees

 Degree Programmes

 Our Degrees

Food science is the hidden science behind many of the foods you buy from supermarkets every day. It is a multidisciplinary subject involving the application of sciences such as chemistry and biology to the study of food. Studying a broad-based curriculum, you will gain an understanding of the raw materials that will become food, how these interact, and how food science can have dramatic implications for human health. 

Our degrees are designed to give you comprehensive training in all aspects of food science but with a unique focus on its modern role in influencing human health and disease. Whilst providing a solid core of knowledge in food science, we also offer unique specialisations in nutrition and microbiology. 

With this combination of skills you will be able to appreciate how food can be produced safely and with maximum nutritional and beneficial value to human health. These are key attributes for graduates hoping to enter the food sector where the leading companies are seeking to exploit the food science and nutrition revolution that has led to the concept of novel and functional foods. 

With this foundation of knowledge and skills, combined with the practical experience gained during our professional training year, you will be eminently employable in the food industry and related areas.

BSc (Hons) Nutrition and Food Science (BD46)

Nutrition is concerned with the role of diet in disease, whilst food science is associated with the study of the chemical nature of food. There is considerable overlap between these subjects. As a nutritionist you may be concerned with the beneficial components in a food, but as a food scientist you will need to ensure that a food bought from a supermarket contains the optimum amount of these components. 

We have designed a unique degree not only to provide you with a thorough understanding of food composition, food safety and analysis, but also to give you a high standard of experience in nutrition.

BSc (Hons) Food Science and Microbiology (CD56)

The presence of microorganisms in foods can have dramatic consequences. Whilst some are of an extremely hazardous nature, others can be beneficial and used to improve foods. 

We recognise that there is an important interface between food science and microbiology. For example, as a food microbiologist you may study food-borne pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, but as a food scientist you will learn how to alter the characteristics of foods to eradicate these organisms. 

This is a unique degree programme, which targets this interface, and produces graduates with a sound training in food science and food safety in combination with an in-depth background in microbiology.

Other degrees you may be interested in:

Biochemistry
Biomedical Science
Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Microbiology
Nutrition/Dietetics

Programme

 Programme Overview

The recommendation ‘Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food’ was made by Hippocrates in 400 BC. Today, we know that this holds true, as food science has revealed that many foods contain natural components that can prevent or delay many of the illnesses that lead to premature death. 

Our programmes aim to provide you with a broad and integrated understanding of food science. Being delivered in a department that carries out world-class research, our degrees offer you the opportunity to appreciate the latest developments in this subject. 

Food safety also forms a key component of both degree programmes. You have only to open a newspaper with their frequent food safety scares to appreciate how food can be a major source of disease-causing chemicals and microorganisms. 

Level 1 covers a wide range of subjects to give you the broad scientific background required for food scientists. 

At Level 2 your studies become more specialised and you will focus on many different aspects including food science, food microbiology, nutrition and food analysis. A specific focus during your studies at Level 2 is on preparing you for your professional training year. You will acquire key skills which will help you not just on placement, but in your future employment. 

Level 3 will give you a high degree of specialisation, including an understanding of novel foods. You will have the opportunity to perform your own research project carried out under the supervision of a member of academic staff. This will give you the opportunity to explore a research area you are especially interested in and develop specialised lab-based skills and experience.

 Programme Structure

Professional Training

In the third year, you will have the option of a salaried placement with an industrial leader in the UK or overseas. We place great emphasis on organising a successful placement for you that will involve a high level of personal responsibility. To help ensure that you have a successful experience, you will be visited by a tutor on average three times during the year. 

The placements are research-based, allowing you to extend and enhance your practical abilities, and sharpen your leadership, communication and teamwork skills. All this enables you to relate your knowledge to the solution of real problems. In the competitive world of graduate employment, companies are more likely to consider applicants who have previous professional experience. 

Employers may sponsor the final year of your study and many offer our students employment on graduation. 

Our placements can be international or UK-based and are with many of the leading food companies and agencies, including Waitrose, United Biscuits, Unilever, Nestle, Nutricia, Yakult, the Food Standards Agency, Abbott Nutrition, Mars Confectionery, Sainsbury’s and Dairy Crest.

Why Surrey?

 Key reasons to study Food Science 2012 at Surrey

• The Times Good University Guide 2011 ranks Surrey third in the UK for Food Science
• Rated as one of the top research faculties in the country by the latest Research Assessment Exercise
• A degree programme recognised by the Institute of Food Science and Technology
• State-of-the-art teaching laboratories
• Cutting-edge expertise from staff at the forefront of their fields
• Unique Food Science degrees with an emphasis on food safety and nutrition
• A flexible modular structure which caters for your aspirations
• Salaried placements with leading food retailers and manufacturers in the UK and overseas
• Excellent employment and salary prospects

Careers

 Top for Jobs

Graduates over the last few years have entered employment in roles such as:

• Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association – Senior Research Officer and PhD
• Geest Plc – Product Development
• Princes Foods – New Product Development
• Sugar Bureau – Nutrition Scientist
• Tesco – Technical Development Executive
• Unilever – Process Development Officer

 Career Opportunities

Over the last decade our employment figures have been amongst the best in the UK, with impressive salaries being paid. We place 85 per cent of our graduates into graduate-level jobs, compared with the national average of 66 per cent. Our graduates have found exciting careers in the major food companies and retailers worldwide. 

An important aspect of food science is understanding the crucial link between diet and health so that foods can be developed which have maximum nutritional value. You could be involved in research in the ultimate and most recent application of food science, the development of novel foods. 

These include foods with new synthetic ingredients which are used to replace fats or lower cholesterol uptake, foods with novel health-promoting extracts from plants, or foods that have been altered by genetic manipulation. 

You will find our graduates in schools, hospitals and boardrooms. You will not, however, find them unemployed. You can see this by looking for Surrey amongst the top universities for employment in both general and in subject-specific league tables. 

The majority of our graduates go immediately into the job market, and positions often follow naturally from a successful professional placement, but further study comes a close second. This includes taught MSc programmes and PhD studentships.

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Teaching

Our degrees are modular and based on a structured programme, allowing you to pursue the subjects essential to your degree whilst offering flexibility. 

On average, you will have approximately 24 hours of contact time each week (lectures, practicals and tutorials), and you will also be expected to undertake private study for a similar amount of time (laboratory write-ups, essays and other coursework).

Assessment

All modules are assessed as you progress through the degree programmes. Each module is assessed individually and credits are awarded for the successful completion of each one. You can accumulate marks gradually towards your final degree classification rather than everything resting on one final examination performance. Assessment takes place through a combination of examination and/or coursework, practical examinations and practical reports.