We all need to eat: attracting students to food science

It’s such a hot jobs market. How do you ‘sell’ food science to high school students who are unsure of their career path?

Perhaps the biggest attraction of food science is that this a science that will never die. People are always going to need to eat so there will always be a requirement for our graduates and there will always be job opportunities for our graduates.

COVID has only highlighted the need for high-quality, well trained food scientists. We are now more aware of supply chain issues, the importance of sustainability, and the impact of a growing population and the increasing number of mouths that we need to feed. There are more and more job opportunities in this sector – which is certainly an attraction for new students.

What makes the FaBA Training Centre different from other university training programs?

The FaBA Training Centre is all about people – upskilling them, training them and ensuring they are ready to take the F&B industry forward in the future.

Our students have access to Work Integrated Learning (WIL) – such as industry internships – to ensure they are industry-ready at graduation. One of the things that makes FaBA unique is that we are committed to offering some internships in regional settings. FaBA will fund scholarships for students to spend time outside of our capital cities to incentivise students to learn more about the opportunities and challenges for all Australians.

Would you expect WIL to give FaBA students the edge over other new graduates?

Absolutely. Our students will have real-world experience and high exposure to industry, whether it be through internships or when industry undertakes secondments through our university participants. This will lead to students who are ahead of the game – they will be creative and innovative in their approach; critical thinkers; and problem solvers, which is exactly what we need in the food and beverage manufacturing sector.

Can you give more detail about the university secondments available for industry?

Industry is telling us that they want access to research at the coalface. Participants can do secondments with one of the university participants so they can immerse themselves in the research. Not only can they work on a research project that directly benefits their business, but they can engage with researchers and access the fantastic infrastructure that the universities offer. For many of our industry colleagues this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to upskill in terms of research and impact.

How do researchers benefit from having industry undertake secondments?

It keeps researchers current and it makes us think about the impact our work has. For young researchers in particular, it can broaden their horizons beyond publishing papers and presenting at conferences to the translation of their research. This approach ensures high quality research that is targeted at industry problems.