Sustainable Food Systems MSc

Providing nutritious, safe and affordable food for all in a sustainable manner is one of the greatest challenges of our times. Food practitioners need to able to respond to food safety and security concerns, shifting attitudes towards food and farming, changing diets and demographics, as well as balance global economic and environmental pressures.

This course comes at a time when food and its implications on our health and planet is making headlines. Current challenges include malnutrition and obesity, the food waste-hunger paradox, and food’s devastating environmental impact. Global food consumption and production accounts for a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, making our food choice the most effective way to address climate change.

Food is the single strongest lever to optimise human health and environmental sustainability; however, transforming our food system is not an easy task. Our food system is highly complex; it works across different scales, from the local to the global, it involves a wide range of interconnected actors, it has environmental, social, economic and political drivers and implications.

Our MSc in Sustainable Food Systems, therefore, uses a holistic systems thinking approach to understand, evaluate, and deconstruct the complexity of the food system, in order to formulate sustainable solutions addressing the grand challenges we are facing, such as food security and global environmental change.

Programme team

The Programme Leader, Dr Effie Papargyropoulou, is an Environment Social Scientist passionate about sustainability and food who works within the School of Earth and Environment. She is also a part of the Sustainability Research Institute and has a wealth of experience both in industry and in academia in Malaysia – meaning that she is able to present a variety of different perspectives throughout her teaching.

This course is innovative and interdisciplinary, bringing together expertise from across the University including the schools of Earth and Environment, Food Science and Nutrition, Psychology, Geography, Biology, the Institute for Transport Studies and Leeds University Business School to make up the wider programme team.

Active research environment

This Masters degree builds on the success of the University’s interdisciplinary research on the theme of Food. Through strong collaborations with the Global Food and Environment Institute, you will not only be exposed to cutting edge research but also given the opportunity to collaborate with industry, policymakers, non-governmental organisations, and the third sector.

You’ll be exposed to the latest thinking and research in a wide range of disciplines underpinning food sustainability in order to successfully apply your knowledge and skills to real-world challenges.

The programme’s strength lies in its interdisciplinary nature and the integration of concepts, approaches, and perspectives from different disciplines in each module, offering a seamless narrative throughout the course.

Discover our research

Food Safety and Nutrition: A Global Approach to Public Health is a free online course, delivered via Futurelearn, exploring the challenges of ensuring food security faced by researchers, policymakers and individuals worldwide.

Learn how large-scale change like industrialisation, globalisation, population growth and climate change affects food safety and understand the consequences for the world’s health and nutrition.

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This course will equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to become an effective leader in the transition to more a sustainable, efficient, healthier, and fairer food system.

Through this Masters you will have the chance to become familiar with the research methods and analytical techniques used in sustainability research, the capabilities individuals require to lead change in the food system, and tools and skills required in the food industry.

During the fieldtrip you’ll gain first-hand experience of the challenges in balancing the three domains of sustainability (environment, people, and economy) and the implications of a local, regional or global food systems. The cost of the fieldtrip is covered in the course fee.

On completion of this course, you’ll be able to:

• demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of concepts, information and techniques at the forefront of one (or several related) disciplines investigating food systems sustainability;

• apply systems thinking approaches to critically and creatively evaluate the complexity, current and future challenges, research and advanced scholarship in food systems;

• diagnose and propose solutions to the the real-world challenges that food sustainability presents.

Fieldtrips

On this course, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a number of fieldtrips to food production and consumption sites, including a week long fieldtrip to a food producing region. Through these fieldtrips you’ll be exposed to the interconnected nature of our local, regional or global food systems, and the challenge of reconciling competing local and global, environmental, economic and social priorities.

Other off-campus learning opportunities may be offered through collaboration with commercial partners such as the University of Leeds Farm. The University of Leeds Farm is operated as a commercial business, which also hosts research and innovation projects and can provide a platform for collaborative research and innovation with industry, government and public research organisations.

Want to find out more about your modules?
Take a look at the Sustainable Food Systems module descriptions for more detail on what you will study.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

For more information and a full list of typical modules available on this course, please read Sustainable Food Systems MSc in the course catalogue

Modules

Year 1

Learning and teaching

Our groundbreaking research feeds directly into teaching, and you’ll have regular contact with staff who are at the forefront of their disciplines. You’ll have regular contact with academics through lectures, seminars, tutorials and small group work.

Problem based learning is at the heart of this programme. All key disciplinary or theoretical perspectives are embedded in each module to encourage innovation and interdisciplinarity. For example, you’ll work in teams to tackle complex sustainability challenges that require you to incorporate diverse resources such as existing knowledge, data collection, interpersonal skills, reflections and reasoning ability in order to meet these challenges.

Independent study is also important to this course, as you develop your problem-solving and research skills through the extended research project which culminates the programme. You’ll produce an original piece of research investigating a real-world challenge that food sustainability presents.

You will be assigned a personal tutor, who will maintain contact with you throughout the year and offer pastoral guidance. They will help you to settle into the university and clarify any procedures, as well as helping you prepare for employment on graduation. You will also receive administrative support from SEE’s dedicated Student Education Support office.

Our Virtual Learning Environment will help to support your studies: it’s a central place where you can find all the information and resources for the School, your programme and modules.

You can also benefit from support to develop your academic skills, within the curriculum and through online resources, workshops, one-to-one appointments and drop-in sessions.

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Assessment

You will be assessed by a combination of traditional assessment techniques such as essays, presentations, report writing, and assessment techniques for the problem-based, experiential and blended learning elements of the programme such as group work, case studies, reflective reports, e-portfolios, assessed contributions to moderated online discussions.

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in a relevant subject such as (but not limited to) earth and environment, sustainability, geography, agriculture, biology, food science, nutrition, business and management, sociology, politics or public administration.

Applicants with a 2.2 will be considered on a case by case basis where applicants can demonstrate relevant work experience or aptitude in a relevant specialist field. Graduates from other disciplines and those with professional experience in the sector will also be considered.

We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. For more information please contact the Admissions Team.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Science (6 weeks) and Language for Science: General Science (10 weeks). 

We are now offering online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals.  To find out more, read Online Academic English pre-sessional (10 weeks) and Online Academic English pre-sessional (6 weeks).

Read about differences between our online and on-campus summer pre-sessionals.

If you need to study for longer than 10 weeks, read more about our postgraduate pre-sessional English course.

How to apply

Application deadlines

Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

29 July 2022 – International applicants

9 September 2022 – UK applicants

Apply

This link takes you to information on applying for taught programmes and to the University's online application system.

If you're unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.

Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.

Admissions policy

University of Leeds Taught Admissions Policy 2022

Fees

• UK: £12,750 (total)
• International: £25,250 (total)

Read more about paying fees and charges.

For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees.

Additional cost information

Because we recognise the value of field experience the school heavily subsidises or covers the transport and accommodation costs for all compulsory taught field courses.

We hope to run our fieldwork activities as planned for the 22/23 academic year, but it might not be possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are continually reviewing the situation and will communicate any decisions to applicants and offer holders at the earliest possible opportunity.

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more about additional costs.

Scholarships and financial support

If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There may be help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government.  Find out more at Masters funding overview.

A degree from Leeds and the experience you'll gain here will give you the edge to find the career you want. Your course will give you the experience and knowledge that employers are looking for to help you secure a job.

University of Leeds students are among the top 5 most targeted by top employers according to The Graduate Market 2022, High Fliers’ Research.

This course will equip you with both the necessary knowledge and skills (such as systems thinking, problem solving, strategy and policy making) to become an effective change agent that will lead the transition to more sustainable food systems. Through its interdisciplinary nature, it offers a holistic or systems-based perspective of the food system and balances critical thinking with practical solutions which is key to enhancing employability prospects.

This programme is ideal for those intending to pursue a range of future employment roles in management and decision making positions, in a wide range of organisations such as but not limited to agribusiness, food processing, retail, non-governmental organisations, charities, social enterprises, governmental organisations and policy making bodies e.g. Defra, WRAP, regulatory bodies, food standards organisations, consultancy, international organisations e.g. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Further study

Many of our graduates have secured positions on PhD programmes in the UK and internationally. The Sustainability Research Institute hosts a range of PhD programmes, offering many opportunities for students graduating from this MSc course.

Careers support

At Leeds we help you to prepare for your future from day one. Our Leeds for Life initiative is designed to help you develop and demonstrate the skills and experience you need for when you graduate. We will help you to access opportunities across the University and record your key achievements so you are able to articulate them clearly and confidently.

You’ll have access to the wide range of careers resources and support from your Careers Service. You’ll have the chance to attend industry presentations, book appointments with qualified careers consultants and take part in employability workshops and webinars. Our careers fairs provide further opportunities to explore your career options with some of the UKs leading employers.

You will also have full access to the University’s Careers Centre, which is one of the largest in the country.

There are also plenty of exciting ways you can volunteer during your time at Leeds. Find out more at the Leeds University Union website.