Bioeconomy in a food perspective - knowledge delivery from university to society

Graduate students will be an essential contribution for solving future food challenges and for bringing bioeconomy forward. Providing highly relevant knowledge, tools and industrial network into the study program will prepare and motivate the students to engage in bioeconomy also after graduation. This education model assumes that there are contact points and cooperation between students and different actors in the food value chain. The students will get an inter-disciplinary approach and understanding valuable for their future applied jobs for the food sector. The food technology studies at NTNU are partly demand-driven. This means that the study programs are dynamic and should reflect the future need for knowledge in the sector. The close cooperation with the industry players are essential for the working relevance. The bachelor studies are mainly serving candidates for the food, feed and subcontracting industry in addition to the food safety authorities. In 2018, the first master students in Food and technology are ready for the labor marked. Sustainability, bioeconomy and filling future knowledge gaps in the food sector was among the key drivers for starting up. The master students should get a deeper understanding of food technology and safety aspects but at the same time a broader perspective of the possibilities and limitation regarding sustainable food. Elements such as regulatory affairs, sustainable production, green biotechnology, food safety and production efficiency permits relevant and topical discussions during their studies and a valuable combination of knowledge for their future jobs. Figure 1 illustrates examples of how the university work together with the industry to develop the needed knowledge and skills. The students learning arenas involve internship in the food sector (supervised by both industry and academia), visits to policy makers for understanding the regulatory framework and problem solving of industry challenges in the labs etc. The board of the studies comprises industry representatives. Additionally, the academic staff and the industry cooperate in R&D and innovation projects where students are participating. Our students are particularly engaged in bioeconomy and improving raw material utilization is a popular topic for student theses. Recent examples (spring 2018) are; increased utilization of respectively monkfish liver, cod milt and side streams from fish oil industry. A national survey where the students evaluate their study programs (Studiebarometeret.no/en) demonstrates that Food technology studies at NTNU are among the best nationally (4.7 of 5.0) regarding Working life relevance, Provides good career opportunities and Cooperate well with the workplaces in the labor marked. We experience that students meeting industry challenges during their study sees a broader range of possible job opportunities and have a higher success rate in finishing their studies. Finally, contact points between academia and actors in the food value chain will also update the teaching staff on the student’s future working arenas. Students are our main delivery of knowledge to the society and we have high expectations in their contribution to the field of bioeconomy. They might even be the once defining the new jobs in the food sector?