sciences et technologie de l'agriculture, de l'alimentation et de l'environnement - master of science : agrofood chain par Institut national polytechnique Toulouse

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. 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.
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.