The professional master’s program (2 years) is accredited by ARACIS (Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) and trains specialists in the fields of nutritional consulting and healthy lifestyle. Graduates of this master’s degree:

• can offer nutrition consulting services, by designing personalized nutritional programs, specific to the age, profession, current physiological or pathological condition of the client;

• educationally, they can contribute to the implementation of correct information on rational nutrition, based on consuming a balanced diet – through schools, written and spoken media;

• may work in governmental organizations or NGOs, at national or international level, which have specialized departments, or are fully focused on regional and global nutrition policies and programs (eg World Health Organization, UNICEF, FAO, etc.);

• may work in food quality control laboratories (including toxicology) or to test and approve new food supplements.

Also, the graduates of this master’s program can pursue doctoral studies, thus being able to occupy academic or scientific positions, as well as in private or state companies with a specific profile.

The master’s program provides graduates with the following knowledge and skills: (excerpts from the Diploma Supplement):

a) Knowledge

The student: knows the notions in the field of nutrient biology and biochemistry; knows the relationships between the three fundamental processes by which the body gets and uses its substances and energy: digestion, absorption and metabolism; knows the storing and use of the absorbed substances; knows the nutritional needs by age groups and communities; knows the types of groups (communities); knows how these groups need to be formed in order to function; knows the working methods of the nutritionist, as a group leader; knows the methods for assessing the health of groups; knows the physiological changes during pregnancy, lactation and each age; identifies how to correct lifestyle errors; knows and identifies nutritional imbalances; knows the factors that maintain unhealthy behaviors; knows how to prevent and intervene in obesity and eating disorders; knows the explanatory patterns of behaviors, cognitions and emotions involved in eating; knows the diversity and complexity of food sources of animal and plant origin; is aware of the role of traditions and the historical past of different human communities in the current use of food resources; is familiar with international standards and European and national legislation on risk factors, food quality and hygiene; understands the main legislative and institutional issues in the context of food quality control; understands how the body’s biochemistry is adapted for the storage, metabolism and detoxification of xenobiotics; knows and understands the correlations between nutrients and fitness activities; understands how the body’s biochemistry is adapted to the needs of different types of effort; knows and understands the major topics of debate in contemporary bioethics and academic ethics.

b) Skills

The student: has the ability to use the notions of biochemical and physiological processes in understanding the complexity of the human body; has the ability to explain, with diagrams, the biochemical and physiological processes of nutrition; has the ability to work in a microbiology laboratory or to apply biotransformations in processes in the modern food industry; can design and implement an intervention plan for obesity, bulimia or anorexia; has the capacity to evaluate the biochemical and organoleptic characteristics of some food products newly introduced in our country, in the conditions of globalization; is able to implement the rules of good food practice (GFP) and good laboratory practice (GLP); has the ability to develop standard laboratory work procedures; can design a toxicology experiment, collect, analyze and interpret data, apply calculation methods and draw conclusions; is able to design and implement a nutrition counseling plan; can form a working group, identify the strengths and weaknesses of a group and direct it towards the proposed goal; has the ability to critically evaluate the diet in order to advise on a proper diet; can design a physical activity plan tailored to individual needs; can develop a series of skills related to the practice of writing, in all its forms, from the technique of making a conspectus to conceiving a scientific work.

Admission is based on the license grade (100%). The tie-breaking criterion is the grade of the years of study.

Contact person: Lecturer. Dr. Anca Stoica (anca.stoica@ubbcluj.ro)