MSc in Human Nutrition
Surveys show that lifestyle diseases will constitute the largest global health problem in 2020.
Our diet plays a very significant role in the development of, for example, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and thus in the development of lifestyle diseases that are a burden on the individual, society and the healthcare system.
There are therefore plenty of reasons for the heavy focus on the significance of food for health and disease.
As a graduate from the MSc programme in Human Nutrition, you are an expert on diet, nutrition and health, and you can therefore contribute to handling the global health challenges.
As of 2010, the language of instruction is English.
Read an interview with the student Julie Aarestrup.
Content:
Admission requirements
Profile
Career opportunities
Structure
Teaching
Student life
Application
Contact
To get admitted to the MSc programme in Human Nutrition, you must have a degree from a relevant BSc programme.
Among LIFE’s own BScs, BScs in Food Science, Natural Resources and Biology-Biotechnology, among others, qualify for admission to the programme.
Other BSc degrees in science and Professional Bachelor degrees also qualify for admission. You can read more about the specific admission requirements here.
Our society is highly focused on food and health. Our diet is, among other things, important in relation to growth, development and wellbeing, and healthy nutrition can promote performance and the quality of life in all age groups.
As a graduate from the MSc programme in Human Nutrition, you have a solid understanding of the principles, methods and tools of nutritional science. You obtain knowledge about the conversion of energy and nutrients and about the importance of the diet in the various stages of life.
You gain insight into the effects of nutrition on health and disease, and you know the cultural significance of our food and eating habits.
What competences will I acquire?
With an MSc degree in Human Nutrition, you master methods of measuring and assessing nutrient intakes and energy requirements. You can initiate and manage prevention initiatives, as you learn through your studies to define target groups, set intervention levels, select activities and plan evaluations.
You are also able to monitor and consider the many aspects that influence people’s relationship to food. You can identify Danish players within the health sector and their areas of responsibility. And you will be qualified to understand the interests of the international, national and local players in relation to the nutrition-related treatment of disease.
As an MSc in Human Nutrition, you have many different job opportunities, e.g.:
- Health coordinator, e.g. involving preparation of preventive diet information campaigns
- Management and teaching within medium-cycle higher health education
- Management within project and development work, including nutrition-related assessment of food products, e.g. in the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration or the National Board of Health, Denmark
- Gathering, processing and assessing nutrition scientific knowledge about, for example, the development of new dietary supplements or functional food, e.g. Nestlé or Unilever
- Nutrition consultant in patients’ associations and special interest groups, e.g. the Danish Cancer Society and the Danish Heart Foundation
- Consultancy in relation to the nutrition situation in countries with undernourishment and malnutrition problems
- Teamwork in respect of designing, conducting and assessing nutrition-related studies and clinical tests, e.g. at Novo Nordisk and Pharma Nord
- Admission to a three-year PhD programme at the university or another research environment
Read an interview with Per Brændgaard Mikkelsen, independent consultant, writer and lecturer in human nutrition.
The programme consists of both compulsory and elective courses. Instruction is in the form of lectures, seminars, practical and theoretical exercises, and there will be a good deal of project work.
The programme consists of:
- Compulsory courses
- Thematic courses
- Electives
- Thesis
The programme is organised as follows:
A block is 9 weeks long and equals 15 ECTS.
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The dark fields are compulsory courses |
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The medium-coloured field is the thesis |
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The light field is an elective course |
Compulsory courses
The compulsory courses form the foundation of the programme and take place in the five first blocks. You learn how to create health-promoting activities in the area of nutrition. You acquire knowledge about the content of nutrients in foods and their metabolisation as well as their importance for overall health.
You can, for example, focus on teenage obesity, the effect of fish oil on the risk of sudden death from heart failure or the potential of GMO foods to solve global problems with undernourishment etc.
Thematic course
The thematic course on human nutrition takes up all of block 3 and will train you to define and analyse a nutrition-related topic within a fairly wide subject area. The work is project-based and problem-oriented and takes place in groups supplemented by lectures and seminars.
Elective courses
Electives represent approx. 1/8 of the programme. You may choose among courses on nutrition at LIFE – the Faculty of Life Sciences, e.g. International Nutrition and Health.
You may also choose courses on a completely different topic and at other universities in Denmark and abroad.
Thesis
You will finish your studies by writing a thesis. Here, you will be working independently on an academic topic of your own choice. You may either do experimental work or analytical work based on collected data.
Teaching on the MSc programe in Human Nutrition
Instruction is in the form of lectures, seminars, practical and theoretical exercises, and there will be a good deal of project work. You will be working both independently and in project groups.
Student life at LIFE is absolutely unique – both with regard to the physical and the academic environment. The Gardens, which are part of the Frederiksberg Campus, are popular among both students and locals. In the summer months, you can drop by Café Væksthuset located in an old greenhouse for a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a delicious sandwich.
As a student, you can join student clubs and societies of a more or less academic nature. Regardless of whether you are interested in choral singing, hunting, solving equations or something else entirely, there is a club for you.
The Faculty always has a large number of international students who contribute to the dynamic and exciting student life that you will be a part of. You will also have plenty of opportunity to travel abroad in connection with your studies.
Would you like to hear from a student what it is like to study on the MSc programme in Human Nutrition at LIFE? Then you can read an interview with the student Julie Aarestrup.
Applicants with a BSc degree from Denmark must apply before 1 April to start the programme the following September.
Applicants from Scandinavia, the EU and Lichtenstein must apply before 1 April to start the programme the following September.
Applicants from countries outside Scandinavia and the EU must apply by 1 January to start the programme the following September.
Tuition fees
You are always welcome to contact the faculty’s student counselling service, LIFE Student Services, if you have any questions about the programme, student life etc.
You can contact Student Services on tel. +45 3533 3533 or by email to .
Each spring, the faculty’s MSc programmes host open house events. At these events, you have the chance to meet directors of studies and students, who can tell you more about the programme.
Kirsten Jenlev , - last update:13 April 2012