Food packaging is omnipresent in our daily lives, making it possible to better protect food, ensure its desired quality, and reduce food waste. Unfortunately, a lot of packaging is designed as single-use, and certain forms of packaging use a lot of resources to produce. Consumers and governments are therefore increasingly demanding innovative and sustainable packaging, driving companies towards more socially responsible packaging strategies. But at the same time, consumers expect food packaging with high standards to offer good quality foods, decrease contamination risks, and extend shelf life. Creating the right packaging strategy requires food packaging expertise. Food packaging science is a discipline that applies principles from four major scientific fields (material science, food science, information science, and socioeconomics) to understand packaging material properties, food packaging requirements, and the packaging system. While the linked advanced master’s programme on Sustainable Food Packaging combines all elements in a holistic manner (www.sfp.ugent.be), this postgraduate programme allows students to focus on either the side of Materials, Food, or Sustainability.

The one year postgraduate programme consists of four or five courses, 20 ECTS in total, depending on the elective track, spread over seven months (September – March).

Depending on the chosen track and the respective courses, 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).

Please consult the programme brochure for more information.