Postgraduate Programme
Food Packaging - Track: Food, Materials or Sustainability
Who should attend?
Professionals and recent graduates holding at least a bachelor’s degree, with a keen interest in Sustainability, Food and Packaging, basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel, and sufficient background in chemistry and mathematics.
Want to find out whether your background in chemistry and mathematics is sufficient? Test yourself with this self-evaluation.
Content (20 ECTS)
Track Food
Sept – Oct – Nov |
Nov – Dec – Jan |
Feb – Mar |
| – Food Packaging Materials, Machines and Conditions (7 ECTS) | – Quality of Packed Food Products (6 ECTS)
– Food Packaging: Business, Economics and Society (4 ECTS) |
– Packaging Materials: Food Safety Aspects (3 ECTS) |
| 7 ECTS | 10 ECTS | 3 ECTS |
Track Materials
Sept – Oct – Nov |
Nov – Dec – Jan |
Feb – Mar |
| – Food Packaging Materials, Machines and Conditions (7 ECTS) | – Food Packaging: Business, Economics and Society (4 ECTS) | – Packaging Materials: Food Safety Aspects (3 ECTS)
– End-of-life Strategies for Packaging (3 ECTS) – Food Packaging: Quality Management (3 ECTS) |
| 7 ECTS | 4 ECTS | 9 ECTS |
Track Sustainability
Sept – Oct – Nov |
Nov – Dec – Jan |
Feb – Mar |
| – Food Packaging Materials, Machines and Conditions
(7 ECTS)
– Sustainability in Food Systems: Theory and Concepts (4 ECTS) |
– Quality of Packed Food Products (6 ECTS) | – End-of-life Strategies for Packaging (3 ECTS) |
| 11 ECTS | 6 ECTS | 3 ECTS |
Graduates of the programme will be able to:
- Acquire knowledge and insights in food packaging systems (materials, equipment and packaging conditions) and their selected effect on the packaging chain and related aspects
- Make evidence-based decisions in food packaging based on relevant and recent scientific evolutions in food and packaging systems.
- Support in the selection of a packaging system for a certain food product considering different perspectives.
- Develop interpersonal skills to participate and collaborate in multidisciplinary teams to control and develop advanced packaging systems.
- Professionally communicate inside and outside an organisation, when designing and/or optimising a food packaging system.
- Contextualise the impact of socio-economic tendencies on food packaging systems towards society and to adapt professional goals in a future perspective, this within an international context.
Courses are evaluated as part of an individual integrative assignment in which students have to integrate and apply knowledge and competences from all the different courses making up the specific track of the postgraduate certificate Food Packaging. The student (qualitatively) evaluates a food product-packaging concept. The product-packaging concept will be predetermined before the start of the lectures. The student should demonstrate s/he is able to apply the course in an interdisciplinary way, and explain the concept from a course specific perspective.
The product of the assignment is a report (including a self-reflection) which will be presented to a jury.
Practical information
Tuition fee for academic year 2024-2025
€ 4.150,00
The tuition fee includes:
- extracurricular activities
- digital course materials
- student card and benefits
The tuition fee does not include:
- meals
- housing
- physical course materials
Payment occurs after reception of the invoice.
All invoices are due in thirty days. All fees are exempt from VAT.
- For entrepreneurs
The Flemish Government offers financial support to entrepreneurs for this programme through the SME e-wallet (in Dutch: kmo-portefeuille).
More information can be found on the Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship website in English or in Dutch.
Registration number Ghent University: dv.o103193
- For entrepreneurs/employees active in the food industry in Belgium (PC 118 and 220)
Food sector association ALIMENTO financially supports entrepreneurs and employees active in the food industry in Belgium (PC 118 and 220) who take part in this postgraduate programme.
Please visit the ALIMENTO website (track Food, track Materials, track Sustainability) for more information (in Dutch).
- For employees
Employees in the private sector are entitled, under certain conditions, to Flemish training leave (Dutch: Vlaams opleidingsverlof/VOV). They may be absent from work in order to follow a training course, while their salary continues to be paid. The employer can obtain compensation in the form of a fixed amount.
The Postgraduate programme Food Packaging is registered in the database of Flemish Training Incentives, with registration number ODB-1003222.
- Depending on the chosen track, the respective classes take place on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays from 16:15 – 20:30, and on Fridays from 08:30 – 12:30 and/or 13:30 – 17:30.
- Classes on Tuesdays/Thursdays take place online.
- Classes on Fridays require physical presence on campus (Ghent University, Campus Kortrijk. Sint-Martens-Latemlaan 2B, 8500 Kortrijk)
- Dates may change due to unforeseen reasons.
Detailed timetables for 2024-2025 will soon be available.
For an example, please consult the timetables from 2023 here:
English is used in all presentations, exercises and documentation.
Admission Criteria
The applicant must need:
- valid international passport or ID card
- certified copy of the basic diploma
- proof of language proficiency
The applicant must be proficient in English. Students who do not have a diploma Secondary or Higher Education from an institution recognised by the Flemish Government, can meet the language proficiency by providing a certificate (not older than 5 years) of one of the following tests:
- a TOEFL TEST, with a score ranging from at least 510 up to and including 559 (paper-based), or ranging from at least 72 up to and including 94 (Internet-based) or above. Participants are to specify “institution code” 2643 if they want the test results to be communicated directly to Ghent University
- an original ‘Academic Test Report Form’ (TRF) from IELTS, with an overall score of at least 6.0
- a B2 ITACE for students certificate awarded by the Ghent University Language Centre (Universitair Centrum voor Talenonderwijs, UCT), Linguapolis (University of Antwerp), the Leuven Language Institute (Instituut voor Levende Talen, ILT), or the Academic Language Centre (ACTo -VUB)
- a B2 certificate awarded by a university language centre
- the final test certificate for the course Practical English 5 or English for Written Academic Purposes, issued by the Ghent University Language Centre
- a B2 First certificate Cambridge Assessment English (former First certificate in English(FCE))
- Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic), with a score of 59 up to and including 75
- International Baccalaureate in English B (SL, level 5, 6 & 7); International Baccalaureate in English B (HL, level 5 & 6); International Baccalaureate in English A (SL, level 5 & 6); Baccalaureate in English A (HL, level 5 & 6)
Enrol
Students who need a visa need to submit an application before 1 June.
Students who do not need a visa can enrol until the start of the programme.
