International Master in
This two-year master provides you with sound knowledge of current and future challenges in food sciences, combining innovation and authenticity, and offering you the opportunity to interact closely with the food industry. The programme is a joint initiative with the Universities of Parma and Udine, known worldwide for their excellence in higher education in the field of food sciences.
The course aims at training professionals who are able to work confidently in areas of food sciences, such as technology, engineering, microbiology, chemistry and sustainability.
After the first year, you can choose among four different profiles:
The last learning track is offered in partnership with the University College Cork, Ireland. Students will have the opportunity to spend up to two semesters in one of these European partner institutions.
The programme is supported by industries belonging to AssoImprenditori Alto Adige - sezione Alimentari - and Südtiroler Bauernbund - Unione Agricoltori e Coltivatori Diretti Sudtirolesi. This partnership will allow students to write their research thesis with joint tutorship from both the university and the food industry. Participating companies are: Assolatte, Barilla, Consorzio Gorgonzola, Consorzio Grana Padano, Consorzio Parmigiano Reggiano, Consorzio Prosciutto di San Daniele, Consorzio Montasio, Consorzio Tutela Speck Alto Adige, Despar, Dr. Schär, Forst, Loacker, Mila, Pan, Unione Parmense degli Industriali, VOG Products and Zuegg.
We offer online information sessions in the coming months during which the master programme will be presented and where interested students can address their questions to professors and students. The Info Sessions take place on the following days:
Degree class: LM-70
ECTS credits: 120
Duration of the course: 2 years
Courses will be taught in English
Places available: 40 EU + 8 non-EU
Campus: Bozen-Bolzano
Tuition fees: ca. € 1200 per year
The first year mainly includes modules on Food Technology and Food Microbiology, which are common to all learning tracks.From the second year onwards, modules become specific to the profile chosen and you will be able to choose from four profiles and a range of free choice courses to customize your study program.
In the study plan you can find the partner university of the courses of your interest. In the course offering instead you can find the course descriptions.
Degree Course Director: Prof. Matteo Mario Scampicchio
Student Representative in the Course Council: Dima El Janoudi
Currently we offer exchange programmes partner universities all over the world as part of a large network of collaboration with industries in Italy and abroad where you can complete your internship. In particular, this master offers one dedicated path with the University College Cork, Ireland (5 available places with possible grants from local food companies) and two Erasmus programmes with two globally leading universities in food sciences, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Wageningen University & Research (WUR).
Graduates of the programme are placed in companies in the food industry, and specialise in research and development; food processing; product design and development; management and control of food processing; food automation technology; the development of methods to guarantee food authenticity; quality control; and the development of innovative processes to enhance the nutritional value of foods and the sustainability of the food chain.
The course provides students with the tools to pursue a career as a consultant or to work in managerial roles, mainly in the food industries, and in companies that link the food supply chain, from manufacturing to storage and distribution, including large-scale retailers, and public and private centres dedicated to planning, managing and improving processes. Our graduates design and innovate all food processes and products to guarantee and enhance the sensory, nutritional and sustainable quality of the food chain.
Well prepared and ready for the job market. On the website of AlmaLaurea you can check statistical data about graduates’ satisfaction and their employability.
Find out more about our international study programmes and ask all the questions to lecturers and students who have chosen unibz for their studies.
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Everything you need to know as a degree-seeking applicant or as an incoming exchange student
You can find all you need to know in order to apply and gain admission to this study programme by browsing through the information below.
Application: 03/03 - 06/05/2025 (by noon local time)
Language exams (online): 17/03/2025 (registration: 03 – 09/03/2025) and 16 - 17 and 22 - 23/04/2025 (registration: 24/03 – 08/04/2025)
Publication of ranking lists: by 27/05/2025
Payment of the 1st instalment of the tuition fees: by 05/06/2025 (by noon local time)
Enrolment: from 11/07 - 14/10/2025 (by noon local time)
Application: 28/05 - 21/08/2025 (by noon local time)
Language exams (online): 23 - 27/06/2025 (registration: 28/05 – 15/06/2025) and 28/07/2025 (registration: 11 – 20/07/2025)
Publication of ranking lists: by 04/09/2025
Payment of the 1st instalment of the tuition fees: by 12/09/2025 (by noon local time)
Enrolment: from publication of the ranking list until 14/10/2025 (by noon local time)
The faculty can open additional application sessions for single study programmes in August and in September if there are available places. More information on additional sessions will be published in due course.
Intensive language courses: 01 - 19/09/2025 (Monday to Friday, 6 h/day)
Freshers Days: 29 - 30/09/2025
Classes: 29/09 - 23/12/2025
Exams (extraordinary session): 11 - 23/12/2025
Holidays: 24/12/2025 - 06/01/2026
Classes: 07 - 24/01/2026
Exams: 26/01 - 21/02/2026
Classes: 02/03 - 02/04/2026
Holidays: 03 - 06/04/2026
Classes: 07/04 - 13/06/2026
Exams (extraordinary session): 14 - 23/05/2026
Exams: 15/06 - 11/07/2026
Exams: 24/08 - 26/09/2026
EU citizens and citizens given parity of treatment
Early Bird Application: 30
Late Application: 10
Non-EU citizens (living abroad)
Early Bird Application: 8
The programme will only be offered if a minimum of 12 newly enrolled students is reached.
In order to gain admission to this programme you need one of the following qualifications:
MAT/01-09 - Mathematical Logic; Algebra; Geometry; Mathematics Education and History of Mathematics; Mathematical Analysis, Probability and Statistics; Mathematical Physics; Numerical Analysis; Operations Research
FIS/01-08 - Experimental Physics; Theoretical Physics and Mathematical Models and Methods; Physics of Matter; Nuclear and Subnuclear Physics; Astronomy and Astrophysics; Physics of the Earth and of the Circumterrestrial Medium; Applied Physics; Didactics and History of Physics
CHIM/01-07 - Analytical Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; General and Inorganic Chemistry; Industrial Chemistry Science and Technology of Polymeric Materials; Organic Chemistry; Chemical Foundations of Technology
CHIM/10-11 - Food Chemistry; Chemistry and Biotechnology of Fermentations
BIO/01-05 - General Botany; Systematic Botany; Environmental and Applied Botany; Plant Physiology; Zoology
BIO/09-11 - Physiology; Biochemistry; Molecular Biology
BIO/13 - Experimental Biology
BIO/18-19 - Genetics; General Microbiology
MED/07 - Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology
MED/42 - Hygiene and Public Health
AGR/01-04 - Agricultural Economics and Rural Appraisal; Agronomy and Field Crops;
Arboriculture and Fruitculture; Vegetable and Ornamental Crops
AGR/07 - Agricultural Genetics
AGR/09 - Agricultural Machinery and Mechanization
AGR/11-13 - General and Applied Entomology; Plant Pathology; Agricultural Chemistry
AGR/15-19 - Food Science and Technology; Agricultural Microbiology; Livestock Systems Animal Breeding and Genetics; Animal Nutrition and Feeding; Animal Science
VET/04 - Inspection of Foods of Animal Origin
VET/06-07 - Parasitology and Animal Parasitic Diseases; Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology
ING-IND/10 - Thermal Engineering and Industrial Energy Systems
ING-IND/13-17 - Applied Mechanics; Mechanical Design and Machine Construction; Design Methods for Industrial Engineering; Manufacturing Technology and Systems; Industrial Mechanical Plants
ING-IND/23 - Applied Physical Chemistry
ING-IND/25 - Chemical Plants
ING-IND/34 - Industrial Bioengineering
ING-INF/01 - Electronics
ING-INF/05 - Information Processing Systems
SECS-P/13 - Commodity Sciences
SECS-S/01/02 - Statistics; Statistics for Experimental and Technological Research
*If you have graduated abroad, the correspondence of credit points awarded to scientific sectors will be based on the contents of the exams passed during your previous study career.
Until your graduation, you will be admitted conditionally. You must have achieved your degree by the enrolment deadline, otherwise you will be excluded.
To be admitted you must fulfil the language requirements indicated in the section “Language requirements”.
According to national regulations, simultaneous enrolment in a maximum of 2 programmes is possible (however, the two programmes must not belong to the same class, e.g., LM-70/LM-70 and must differ for at least 2/3 of the course contents).
The official teaching language is English. Therefore, the following language requirements apply, otherwise you will be excluded from the admission procedure:
Entry level (to gain admission)
English: B2
The levels of the Common European Framework of Reference apply.
You can demonstrate your language proficiency in the application portal (in the section “upload language certificates” and/or “enrol for language exams”) after you have created an application in the section “create/manage applications”.
You can demonstrate language proficiency through:
For information on studying in three languages also visit the following page.
Your application must be submitted online through the Application Portal. The deadlines are indicated in the “Deadlines” section.
Please note: Mendacious declarations will be criminally prosecuted and will result in the automatic exclusion from the ranking list.
You might apply for more than one study programme. If you are excluded in the first session, you might apply again in the second one.
Considered as equivalent are:
Only one application period is offered. After the deadline it is not possible to apply anymore. Application fee: € 50.
Once the ranking list has been published, if you have gained admission, secure it by paying the first instalment and then start your visa application on the Universitaly portal. The application on Universitaly is mandatory, otherwise you will not be allowed to enrol. On Universitaly you can apply for one study programme only.
If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the maximum number of available places (see section “Available places”), you will be assessed for admission based on your academic qualifications.
The Admission Committee can assign up to a max. of 100 points based on the:
Applicants who have already graduated take precedence over applicants who have not graduated yet.
If scores are equal, the younger applicant will be given priority (art. 3 L. 127/1997)
In the application portal, you must upload:
1. Qualification:
The above must contain the following information: final grade, exams passed with grade and date of passing, credit points, scientific fields (the latter only for Italian titles).
For qualifications obtained abroad, also: scale of grades awarded by the university of provenance (with a minimum final grade to obtain the qualification and a maximum final grade achievable).
The Faculty reserves the right to request a description of the contents of the courses and/or teaching hours where necessary.
2. Excel file: Please use the file available in the application portal.
Please note: mendacious declarations will be sanctioned by criminal law and will result in your automatic exclusion.
Ranking lists
The Admission Committee will only evaluate the documents uploaded in the portal by the application deadline. The ranking lists with the admitted students will be published here and are only valid for the respective academic year.
If you have been admitted to more than one study programme, you can secure your admission for a maximum of 2 programmes by paying the designated rate twice. By confirming your place, you renounce admission to the other programmes.
1. Choose the study programme and pay the fees (to secure your admission) in the application portal.
The deadlines are indicated in the “Deadlines” section.
If you do not meet this deadline, you will automatically be excluded and the next applicant in the ranking list will be admitted.
For EU citizens and citizens given parity of treatment only: any remaining places of the early bird application, will be offered in the late application.
Please note that you do not gain full student status by only paying the tuition fees. This status will only be acquired upon enrolment. If you have secured your admission, there will be no refund of the tuition fees unless you do not pass your Bachelor final exam or, in the event of non-EU applicants living abroad, you do not receive the documents necessary for enrolment from the Italian authorities in your country.
2. Enrol online in the application portal.
The deadlines are indicated in the “Deadlines” section.
Enrolment is recommended as early as possible, so you have the possibility to upload incomplete documents before the deadline.
If you do not meet the enrolment deadline, you will be excluded and the next applicant in the ranking list will be admitted.
Admission with reservation:
If you do not have the required academic qualification, you will be given a conditional offer for a study place and you must submit your qualification upon enrolment. If you achieve your qualification after the enrolment deadline, you cannot enrol, and you will lose your place which will be offered to the subsequent applicant in the ranking list. Advice: If you achieve your qualification after the enrolment deadline, you should not pay the tuition fees to confirm the study place. You will be able to submit a late enrolment request and, only if there are study places still available, you can enrol by 13 December 2024.
If you have gained your qualification abroad, you must upload:
If you have gained your qualification abroad in one of the Countries that are signatory to the Lisbon Convention you must also upload:
If you have gained your qualification abroad in a country that is not a signatory to the Lisbon Convention, you must also upload:
unibz performs the necessary checks on your foreign qualification and in case of doubt reserves the right to request additional documents.
Please note that if you do not possess a valid admission qualification, you can be excluded with Rector’s decree even after enrolment.
If you are a non-EU citizen living abroad:
If you are eligible for admission (check the ranking lists) and have also applied on Universitaly, the Italian Authorities in your own country will issue you the entry visa for studies/university.
This will allow you to arrive in Italy to enrol for the study programme that you have applied for, after passing the admission procedure.
According to Italian law, within 8 working days of your arrival in Italy, you must have applied for the residence permit: as soon as you arrive, get in touch with the Advisory Service and you will be given the necessary information for starting the procedure.
Once you will obtain your residence permit (permesso di soggiorno), you have to hand it in at the Student Office personally or via e-mail.
Students intending to transfer from another Italian University to unibz must submit to the Student Office - at the beginning of the academic year - a copy of the transfer application presented at the university of provenance.
Fees amount to € 1200
Delayed payment of the second instalment will result in a fine being levied. If you have not paid the tuition fees, you will be unable to take exams and will not be able to transfer to other universities or other study programmes.
If you drop out of a programme, interrupt your studies or are excluded from studies, you are not entitled to reimbursement of the fees.
Exemption from the tuition fees (and the provincial tax) is granted to:
Students who benefit from a scholarship granted by the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano are entitled to receive a refund of the tuition fees.
Credit points from previous university studies can only be recognised after enrolment if the exams taken at the university of provenance are equivalent in content to those offered at unibz. You can fill out the application after enrolment.
The Advisory Service provides support regarding your choice of study. In many cases a simple call or a short request is enough to get the relevant information (Tel. +39 0471 012100).