About the Scheme
The placement scheme allows MSc students to experience and participate in an industrial environment.    It enables students to demonstrate their ability to investigate and diagnose an issue or problem, collect and analyse relevant data, derive logical and supportable conclusions and to make recommendations for modification or change in the area they have investigated.


Possible Projects
The MSc students for the projects available are from the quality assurance area.  Common sources of topics are:

• Problem-solving, product quality and process improvement
• Monitoring and control of product quality and safety
• Review of current practices in food safety and quality management
• Compliance to food legislation

Examples of project areas:

• Investigation of quality control problems during food production
• Improvement of existing measurement techniques or monitoring methods in quality control
• Auditing a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system
• Assessment of the compliance of a food production process with food legislation

Company Involvement
The students on placement do not expect to receive any payment but placement organisations do contribute towards the student's travel costs.   Your company can interview placement students to assess the best fit for your organisation.  The usual arrangement is for a named person from the placement organisation to be the point of contact. The placement then involves liaising with the student to:

• ensure the project is completed
• ensure any issues during the placement are overcome
• review the placement experience

The project can be commercial in confidence and the student will only publish information with the agreement of the company involved.


University of Leeds Input
Each student will have a named academic overseeing their project work.  The academic will assist with the initial project design and also assist the company in monitoring the progress of the work.    At the end of the project the student will produce a report and present this to the academic and company.


About the Students
Students on placement bring with them a variety of skills and abilities that can be of benefit to your organisation.  Industrial placements provide students with the opportunity to develop as competent professionals in the food and drink industry.  The MSc programme at the School of Food Science and Nutrition is a full-time course on which students with a variety of backgrounds study.  


Further Information and Getting Involved
The placement begins week commencing 7th June 2010 and typical projects last between 6 - 8 weeks.  For larger projects additional students can be placed with your organisation but the project cannot exceed the 8 week limit.  If your company is interested in a student placement with the University of Leeds School of Food Science and Nutrition then contact Dr Graham Clayton on 0113 343 7593 or g.clayton@FoodChainCIC.co.uk