The Doctoral Programme in Food Chain and Health (acronym FoodHealth) is a multidisciplinary doctoral programme in food sciences covering food science research throughout the whole food chain. The multidisciplinary doctoral programme enables the examination of food from several complementary perspectives, as well as cooperation with the whole food sector. The food research areas are e.g. food chemistry, food control, food economy, food hygiene, food microbiology, food technology, food toxicology, meat inspection, microbiology of primary production and nutrition.
A doctoral degree in the programme comprises of a doctoral thesis and 40 credits of doctoral studies. The studies are divided into discipline-specific and transferable skills.
We also organise research seminars, where you get to present your own work, receive feedback and get to know your fellow doctoral researchers.
Courses in research ethics and transferable skills are offered throughout the academic year by the Doctoral School in Environmental, Food and Biologiacal Sciences (YEB).
Cell Biology Club (by ILS doctoral programme )
Microbiology seminars (by MBDP doctoral programme)
Virus Club (by MBDP doctoral programme)
Developmental biology journal club (by ILS doctoral programme )
Genome club (by ILS doctoral programme )
Viikki Food Science seminars, program: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/vfs-seminars/
FoodHealth biennial meeting takes place during autumn. The event consists of inspiring speakers and relaxed get-together. The biennial meeting aims to gather FoodHealth doctoral researchers, supervisors and board members to meet in relaxed atmosphere every second year. Biennial meeting participants are rewarded with one study credit.
FoodHealth encourages doctoral researchers to organise a minisymposium prior to their doctoral defence and provides funding for it on the condition that the doctoral researcher - not the thesis supervisor - takes the main responsibility of organising the event.
The topic of the minisymposium must be wider than the title of the doctoral researcher's PhD thesis and be of general interest. The minisymposium must be at least a half-day-event with 3-4 presenters. The speakers of the minisymposium may include, for example, the defence opponent, dissertation pre-examiners and other scientists working in the field of the minisymposium.
The maximum sum of the funding is 1000 € per symposium and it can be used for speakers' travel and accommodation expenses as well as for the symposium coffee service. Planning officer of FoodHealth or coordinator of YEB Doctoral School can help with the arrangements if needed.
Funding for a minisymposium must be applied at least six weeks before the planned symposium date. To apply, please send the doctoral programme planning officer (foodhealth-info(a)helsinki.fi) a free-form application with the following:
After funding is secured you should book a room for the symposium and advertise it. An advertisement should be delivered to the planning officer who will post it on FoodHealth's homepage and to relevant email-lists.
Many courses relevant for FoodHealth doctoral researchers are organised all over the world.
You may find interesting and useful courses among these:
Since the founding of the doctoral programme in 2014 more than 60 doctoral candidates have graduated from FoodHealth.
You can find FoodHealth dissertations from 2019 onwards from the University's digital repository HELDA.
48. Yujie Wang, 1 June 2018
Role of lipids and phytate in oxidative stability of cereal beta-glucan
47. Asmo Kemppinen, 27 April 2018
Chromatographic and Mass Spectrometric Determination of Molecular Species of Short-Chain Triacylglycerols in Butterfat
46. Göker Gurbuz, 23 March 2018
Investigations on protein-lipid interactions under oxidative conditions
45. Yulong Bao, 16 March
Protein oxidation in meat: Effects on texture and water-holding
44. Tuuli Koivumäki, 3 March 2018
Whey protein oxidation: LC-MS investigations of peptide markers
43. Abdul Ghafar, March 2 2018
NOVEL FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS FROM UPGRADED BIOPOLYMERS: POLYSACCHARIDE AEROGELS
42. Xia Yu, 19 January 2018
Characterization of Lactobacillus pili and the niche-adaptation factors of intestinal Lactobacillus ruminis
41. Noora Mäkelä, 10 November 2017
Cereal β-glucan in aqueous solutions: Oxidation and structure formation
40. Anna Murros, 27 October 2017
Identification and characterization of yersinia from food and environmental sources
39. Sara Kovanen, 22 September 2017
Molecular Epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni in the Genomic Era
38. Sini Forssell, 15 September 2017
Perspectives into the sustainability promise of alternative food networks
37. Taneli Tirkkonen, 16 June 2017
Porcine mycobacteriosis caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies hominissuis
36. Essi Päivärinta, 12 May 2017
Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) and its components as chemopreventive constituents in ApcMin mice and human colon adenocarcinoma cells
35. Tuija Kantala, 28 April 2017
Presence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) and markers for HEV infection in production swine, human patients with unexplained hepatitis, and veterinarians in Finland
34. Katja Selby, 24 March 2017
Growth temperature variation and heat stress response of Clostridium botulinum
33. Bhawani Chamlagain, 25 November 2016
Fermentation fortification of active vitamin B12 in food matrices using Propionibacterium freudenreichii: Analysis, production and stability
32. Tiina Läikkö-Roto, 11 November 2016
Enhancing the efficacy of local official food controls in finland
31. Outi Nyholm, 4 November 2016
Virulence variety and hybrid strains of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in Finland and Burkina Faso
30. Satu Tähkäpää, 28 October 2016
Challenges in implementing food safety legislation
29. Xin Huang, 30 September 2016
Metal-catalysed oxidation of cereal prolamins for gluten-free applications
28. Qiao Shi, 29 September 2016
Synthesis and structural characterization of glucooligosaccharides and dextran from Weissella confusa dextransucrases
27. Riina Tolvanen, 2 September 2016
Control of Listeria monocytogenes in the food industry
26. Jiao Liu, 29 June 2016
Denaturation of myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic proteins in pale, soft and exudative-like meat: Effects on water-holding
25. Katariina Rommi, 10 June 2016
Enzyme-aided recovery of protein and protein hydrolyzates from rapeseed cold-press cake
24. Satu Olkkola, 3 June 2016
Antimicrobial Resistance and Its Mechanisms among Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter upsaliensis with a Special Focus on Streptomycin
23. Janne Huovila, 16 April 2016
Tapauskohtaisuuden taju - Julkisen ravitsemusymmärryksen yksilöllistyminen ja ravitsemusasiantuntijuus 2000-luvun mediateksteissä
22. Susanna Heikkinen, 29 January 2016
Biodegradable films from cereal arabinoxylans
21. Ann-Katrin Llarena, 14 December 2015
Population genetics and molecular epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni
20. Aino-Maria Immonen, 27 November 2015
Essays on emotional influences in consumer food choice: Understanding emotional intricacies in consumers' price vs. ethicality trade-off decisions, and perceptions of genetically modified food products
19. Matthew Omoruyi, 6 November 2015
Mutagenic and oestrogenic activities of commercially processed food items and water samples: a comparison between finland and Nigeria
18. Jose Martin Ramos Diaz, 30 October 2015
Use of amaranth, quinoa, kañiwa and lupine for the development of gluten-free extruded snacks
17. Suvi Suurnäkki, 25 September 2015
Anatoxin-a and odorous metabolites in cyanobacteria: molecular detection of the producers
16. Hairan Ma, 11 September 2015
Role of chemical and enzymatic modifications of milk proteins on emulsion stability/properties: Approaches for more stable protein emulsions
15. Carolin Kolmeder, 28 May 2015
Metaproteomics of the Human Intestinal Tract to Assess Microbial Functionality and Interactions with the Host
14. Riitta Rahkila, 8 May 2015
Taxonomy and diversity of coccal lactic acid bacteria associated with meat and the meat processing environment
13. Annelie Damerau, 28 March 2015
Oxidative stability of solid foods with dispersed lipids
12. Yagmur Derman, 2 February 2015
Stress response of group i and ii clostridium botulinum
11. David Kirk, 30 January 2015
Alternative sigma factors F, E, G, and K in Clostridium botulinum sporulation and stress response
10. Eveliina Palonen, 9 January 2015
Sequence variability of virulence genes and stress responses in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
9. Jonna Jalanka, 5 December 2014
Characterization of Intestinal Microbiota in Healthy Adults and the Effect of Perturbations
8. Zhen Zhang, 28 November 2014
Characterization of neurotoxin gene location, toxigenesis and cold tolerance in clostridium botulinum
7. Kevin Deegan, 22 November 2014
A novel pre-treatment for cheese production: Biochemistry, sensory perception and consumer acceptance
6. Katja Hätönen, 24 October 2014
Challenges in measuring glycaemic index
5. Maria Rönnqvist, 24 October 2014
Noroviruses on surfaces: Detection, transfer and inactivation
4. Maija Marttinen, 24 June 2014
Dietary plant sterols and stanols from enrichment: Effects in an experimental model of colon cancer and intake in the Finnish population
3. Laila Seppälä, 11 April 2014
Domestic apple cultivars: Sensory descriptions and consumer responses
2. Minnamari Edelmann, 7 March 2014
Occurrence and natural enhancement of folate in oats and barley
1. Sonja Virtanen, 21 February 2014
Epidemiology of Yersinia enterocolitica on pig farms.