Work experience and projects

Work placement and end of master's project

Before finishing your Master's in Gastronomic Sciences, you will already be working as a professional in a leading company, a restaurant, a technology centre or in the R&D unit of a university or research centre. The close relationship that the Gastronomic Sciences Faculty - Basque Culinary Centre has with the gastronomy, hotel and catering and food industry sector gives students the opportunity to obtain practical and real knowledge about the working world throughout their studies due to the Project Based Learning model. This is because you will have the opportunity to undertake work experience at the same time as you are studying.

Also, in the second year you will complete the Master's Final Project during a 5 month period in a company or technology centre where you will have to undertake a project, such as carrying out research on satiation or preparing innovative products such as black ginger.

Both the work experience and the Final Master's Project can be carried out in companies and organisations related to gastronomic sciences and food, at a national or international level. An opportunity that will allow you to gain experience, get to know new situations and develop the skills and abilities that are needed in a role like yours.

PBL Model

At Mondragon Unibertsitatea we believe that practice is the key to successful learning. Therefore, in the Gastronomic Sciences Master's Degree you will learn how to solve real challenges using the practice-based educational model and the challenges that various companies will present during the Master's programme.

Therefore, throughout the Master's programme, renowned companies and people from the gastronomy and food sector will pose challenges to which you will have to respond using the knowledge and skills acquired on the course. To respond to these challenges and projects, you will have to research, analyse, experiment, discuss and, above all, apply everything you have learned in the classroom.

In short, you will learn via an educational model that will allow you to complete the Master's Degree with professional experience.

Raquel Martin

Researcher at Unilever R&D, Global Nutrition.

"Nutrition I started my Master's Degree after completing a Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics at the Madrid Complutense University. I did my Master's Project at the University of Copenhagen, where I developed a food reformulation project for cancer patients using 3D food printing. After presenting my thesis I returned to Copenhagen to continue working on the project as a research assistant for another 7 months. I subsequently got a place in a programme for new researchers at Unilever Research and Development and I am currently working as a researcher at the new innovation centre the company has opened in Wageningen, the Netherlands. "

Marta Castillo

Project Manager in an international Sensory Analysis company.

“I entered the Master's after studying a degree in Biotechnology at Barcelona University. I currently work as a product manager in a sensory analysis company. What I like best about my work is the opportunity to provide companies with scientifically sound solutions to guide their innovation and development processes, based on the organoleptic characteristics of the products and their perception. The aim is to assist in the decision-making process related to the launch of new products, thus reducing the high failure rate, which currently exceeds 80% in the food industry. ”

José de la Rosa

Manager of The Food Alchemist Lab at the Future Food Institute.

“A graduate in Biology from Seville University and a member of the very first course of the Master's in Gastronomic Sciences, I have always had a great interest in gastronomy and the sciences that it encompasses. Also, I have always felt that gastronomy is a solution to social problems. Moved by this concern, I decided to do my Master's Final Project at the Future Food Institute in Italy, where I now work. The Future Food Institute is an ecosystem that focuses on innovation in the agri-food sector. I am responsible for managing the Food Alchemist Lab, their R&D centre that seeks to reinvent the waste concept through the use of methodologies such as fermentation and other enzymatic transformations. We impact the restaurant sector, industry and education via training, consultancy, etc. ”.

Andrés Schrei

Researcher at RAICES Culinary Innovation Centre

“Originally from Guatemala, I graduated in Business Administration and trained as a chef at the Institut Paul Bocuse before joining the Master's programme. My Final Master's Project consisted of creating a protocol for the conservation of regional ingredients from Guatemala for their commercial exploitation in the high end restaurant industry. I am currently working at RAICES Culinary Innovation Centre on a project to document and disseminate Guatemalan cuisine. I am a staunch believer that gastronomy is the way to develop and preserve culture. I also work as an expert consultant in gastronomy for FAO Latin America in a school meals programme to combat malnutrition at a national level. ”.

Work placement

You will have the opportunity to gain work experience and do your Final Masters Project in leading companies and Technology Centres related to food and the gastronomic sciences, both in Spain and abroad:

 

More about Work Experience

 

Master's Final Project