Presentation

Presentation

The objective of the Agrofood Chain program is to create awareness of the scientific, social and economic realities of the modern agricultural and food industries and to provide scientific and practical training in an international context.

The MAFC program is a two-year master program, entirely taught in English, with a multidisciplinary and custom-made program based on excellence in teaching and research.

In partnership with

Objectives

To meet both this objective and also to ensure the employability of our graduates, the courses are designed to develop specific knowledge about innovative and sustainable agriculture and food industry.

They are articulated around three core disciplines : agronomy, economics and ecology. In order for our graduates to acquire a global and comprehensive vision of the complexity of agrofood chains, these core disciplines are completed by other disciplines, such as plant and animal genetics, biotechnology, product quality, food safety, nutrition and marketing.

The main originality and strenght of this program are built upon a multidisciplinary approach, which consists in the integration of all these different disciplines in real-life case studies and tutored projects run individually or by groups.

Knowledge and skills

The development of sustainable food systems in the current context of demographic, food and ecological transitions raises many challenges.

To face these latter, our graduates shall be able to analyse and understand the complexity of the agricultural and food chains, to diagnose problems, and to provide innovative and sustainable answers.

In addition to in-depth and specific knowledge on issues related to the agricultural and food sectors, students are also trained to acquire skills necessary to lead research and development projects in an international environment: research and managerial skills (project and team management, research methodology, scientific and corporate communication, computer sciences, applied statistics), as well as diverse social skills (adaptability, creativity, open-mindedness to interculturalism and to fieldwork).

Admission

Access condition

The Agrofood Chain program recruits high potential and motivated students since the program is non only demanding in terms of integration of knowledge from different disciplines and skills, but also intense in terms of the articulation of theoretical lectures with tutored projects and training periods.

 The entry requirements are the following:

-       For the first year (Master 1):  BSc or equivalent after 3 academic years minimum in the fields of plant or animal biology, agronomy, food science, ecology or agricultural economics.

-       For the second year (Master 2): Master 1 Agrofood chain or equivalent degree after 4 academic years minimum.

-       Spoken and written English language requirements: recognized qualifications or tests giving evidence of C1 language proficiency. Scores required: TOEIC 701 minimum; IELTS 6.5 minimum; TOEFL paper 580 minimum; TOEFL CBT 237 minimum; TOEFL IBT 92 minimum; Cambridge CAE.

Admission decisions: Based on a combination of criteria (academic degrees and performances, motivation letter and possible interviews, proficiency in English, work experience...), decisions of acceptance are taken and pronounced three times a year: end of January, March and May, depending when the complete application form is received.

Program

Training content

Semester 1 (M1): 30 ECTS

- all modules are compulsory -

Four disciplinary modules in agronomy, ecology, economics and biotechnology sciences (Level 1) + one multidisciplinary module + two multidisciplinary modules (“discovery of food processing”; “analysis of the agrofood chains from a sustainability perspective”) + a research methodology module (Level1) + two modules in scientific communication in English and communication in French + a group case study of an agrofood chain + a multidisciplinary problem resolution project to conduct individually.

Semester 2 (M1): 30 ECTS

- all modules are compulsory -

Four multidisciplinary modules (“governance and performances of agrofood chains”; “rural development and local agrofood chains”; “agroecology”; “management of natural and human resources”) + one research methodology module (Level 2) + an international global seminar associating different universities worldwide + two modules in scientific communication in English and communication in French + a two-month internship in a research lab or in a company. 

Semester 3 (M2): 30 ECTS

- all modules are compulsory -

Four disciplinary modules in agronomy, ecology, economics and biotechnology sciences (Level 2) + two multidisciplinary modules (“food security, food safety and nutrition”; “risk and uncertainty management in agrofood chains”) + a research methodology module (Level 2) + a project management module + a group tutored project + a multidisciplinary research project to conduct individually.  

Semester 4 (M2): 30 ECTS

A five-month internship in a laboratory or in a company, with completion of a research project leading to the final Master thesis and oral defense.

Trainings

The Agrofood Chain program aims to develop student’s specific knowledge, skills and professional experience through the importance given during the first and second years of the program to, on the one hand, real-life case studies and tutored projects run individually or by small groups, and on the other hand, training periods.

During real-life case studies and tutored projects, students have to do a bibliographical search to formulate the issue of the study and working hypotheses, to collect data through field interviews or experiments, to run data analyses and to communicate the results of the study (oral presentations or written reports and scientific posters). The subjects are related to the development and management of sustainable agrofood chains. Their complexity shall bring students to develop a multidisciplinary approach and diverse skills, including creativity. The exercises are conducted under the supervision of one or several professors.

Training periods are dedicated to internships done in agricultural and food enterprises or in research institutes. Students are given the responsibility of conducting a project, which shall prepare them to either continue on a Ph.D. program or find a job. It is the responsibility of the student to find their internship. This latter is done under the supervision of two supervisors, one in the enterprise or in the research lab, and one permanent professor of the Master program. Developing quality products or a quality control process for an enterprise, assessing the sustainability of a rural development project or of an agricultural policy for a state agency, conducting a research project on a specific issue are examples of internships.   

And after ...

Further studies

After their Master degree, about one-fourth of the students enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the areas of agricultural and food sciences. 

Career prospects

The Agrofood Chain program is designed to train future researchers and executives aiming at international careers in either the private or state sectors of agriculture, agrofood, environment and non-food valorisation of agro-resources. Researchers in food enterprises and agricultural research institutes, experts for governmental and international institutions, academics, associates in consulting firms, advisors in cooperatives are examples of job positions hold by former students.