Profile & activities

On this page, we've gathered information on our research profile and the disciplines involved in the programme. Here, you will also find information on the studies and the type of activities and networks that await if you join the doctoral programme.
Research areas

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.

Courses and studying

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).

Events and activities

Sem­inar series taking place at the Viikki cam­pus:

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/

Bi­en­nial meeting

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.

Minisym­po­sia prior to doc­toral de­fence

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:

  • The title of your PhD thesis
  • The title and a short description of the minisymposium including its scientific relevance
  • A tentative list of invited speakers and the topic they are asked to cover in their talk (the exact titles of the talks can be decided later on)
  • A budget for the minisymposium including the speakers' travel and accommodation costs

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.

Courses and workshops elsewhere

Many courses relevant for FoodHealth doctoral researchers are organised all over the world.

You may find interesting and useful courses among these:

Dis­ser­ta­tions

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.