KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITY:
Graduates:
• will have knowledge and understanding of basic scientific subjects of a biological, technological, applicative and economic nature concerning the transformation and preservation of food products also through the application of case studies;
• will have sound knowledge of basic subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry;
• will have knowledge of the physical properties of food;
• will understand the role and meaning of microbial inactivation;
• will understand the role of nutrients for the health of human beings;
• will have knowledge of quantitative risk assessment principles;
• will have knowledge of the principles and procedures of food preservation;
• will have knowledge of the principles and current practices of process technologies and the effects of process parameters on the quality of products for public catering;
• will be able to apply the basic principles and procedures of cleaning and sanitation of environments in which meals are prepared and consumed and in which raw materials and ingredients are stored;
• will know logistic principles applied to public catering and marketing principles related to this sector.
This knowledge is achieved through lectures, practical activities and seminars.
Assessment is accomplished mainly through written and oral exams, tests and personal papers.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND TO UNDERSTAND:
Graduates:
• will be able to use computer means to solve problems also by applying mathematical and statistical functions and/or methods;
• will have knowledge of food chemistry for the purpose of evaluating and controlling reactions during the formulation phases and physical treatments;
• will have the ability to identify and apply sanitation actions and techniques to inactivate, destroy or render harmless the main pathogens and spoilage micro-organisms;
• will have knowledge of problems related to the production of ready-to-eat food for specific categories of consumers (children, elderly, celiac, etc) and will have the ability to apply instruments/procedures/ actions to introduce them into the market;
• will have knowledge of food spoilage and deterioration mechanisms and will have the ability to identify and apply methods to control them;
• will have the ability to identify and apply the unit operations necessary for producing ready-to-eat food products;
• will have the ability to use computer instruments and specific software for solving management/organisational problems related to public catering;
• will have the ability to apply the European regulations in force on the production and sale of food for the public catering sector.
Achieving the ability to apply the knowledge and understanding listed above is accomplishedthrough the study of research and application cases indicated by the professors, practical activities, laboratory work, bibliographic research, individual and/or group projects e.g. preparation of HACCP plans and of specific formulations.
Specific tasks are used to assess the students' command of instruments, methods, and critical autonomy; assessment methods include: written and oral exams, essays, practical activities, and problem solving activities. Internships are assessed through the student's presentation of a report which is reviewed and approved by the supervising professor.
JUDGEMENT SKILLS:
Graduates:
• will be able to select the analytical techniques suitable for the study and the solution of practical problems;
• will be able to plan food products in relation to consumer's needs and consumption trends;
• will have the ability to identify and assess the microbiological risk factors related to raw materials and ready-to-eat products also in relation to the type of users;
• will understand the principles that make a food product safe for consumption and will be able to identify health risks that may derive from chemical contaminants in food;
• will have the ability to understand the sources and variability of food materials and to identify their impact on transformation operations;
• will have the ability to identify the most appropriate preservation methods for different types of food;
• will have the ability to identify suitable packaging systems for public catering food;
• will have the ability to identify the causal factors and assess autonomously the suitability of a process or change in the formulation or packaging to achieve a specific practical result such as longer shelf-life, improvement of organoleptic characteristics or microbiological food safety;
• will have the ability to individually and autonomously analyse case studies and study them through reports on specific issues;
• will have the ability to judge the operational conditions and actions needed in a specific context on the basis of information obtained from updated literature;
• will have the ability to use computer means and instruments.
Judgment skills are developed mainly through practical activities, seminars also involving speakers from other universities or from industries, preparation of personal papers focusing on the catering distribution sectors and on the evolution of consumption, and through internship activities and the preparation of the final paper.
Certain course units and the preparation work of the final paper include project and seminar work where students are asked to constructively assess each other's work.
Assessments include projects or reports on specific themes, oral presentations and the assessment of the ability to constructively participate in seminars.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Graduates:
• will have the ability to interact professionally with producers of public catering systems;
• will be able to communicate with different professional figures such as technicians and staff of public control bodies, producers of raw materials and semi-finished products, personnel in large distribution chains, cooks and people operating in maintenance and sanitation;
• will have the ability to prepare reports and documents necessary for bids in the public catering sector;
• will have an adequate proficiency in one foreign language, English, French, German or Spanish, in the field of specific competences to exchange general information and read foreign scientific texts;
• will be able to express in writing and discuss, within the context in which they operate, issues of interest related to the degree programme with good propriety of language and ability to pick out essential points;
• will be able to work in a group.
Written and oral communication skills are developed in particular during seminars, practical activities and course units that provide for the preparation of reports, written papers and their oral presentation.
Communication skills are developed in different ways within the course units and are assessed through written or multimedia papers, oral presentations, coordination of or participation in group work, participation in seminars, and text comprehension.
The final paper, offers students another opportunity to elaborate upon and assess the ability to analyse, elaborate and communicate the work carried out.
LEARNING SKILLS:
Graduates:
• will have knowledge of the history and sociology of food consumption, of the evolution of eating behaviour, and of factors influencing the choice of public catering users;
• will have the ability to keep updated on topical matters such as food law, its evolution and compliance with European regulations;
• will have the ability to identify and consult autonomously the national and international sources of regulations related to the sector and information on the introduction of new procedures in the catering sector;
• will have the learning skills necessary to undertake further studies (2nd cycle degree programmes and professional master's degree programmes) with a high degree of autonomy.
The learning abilities acquired are the result of the entire period of study, in particular home study, preparation of individual papers, and preparation of the final paper.
Learning skills are assessed in different ways. In this sense the following activities are of great importance: tutoring of home study, initiatives supporting students in planning and organising their study time, bibliographic research and updating activity, discussions during seminars, correction and re-writing of papers. A great part of the overall number of study hours is dedicated to home study, to offer students the possibility to continuously check and improve their learning skills. The paper for the final project contributes to developing learning skills as students are asked to understand and tackle new information not necessarily provided by the supervising professor.
