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FORWARD
University
Under review

Master of Science in Food Technology and Industrial Processing

Scaling a food product from a pilot batch to an industrial line, and keeping it compliant enough to export, is where most African food manufacturing ambition fails. This programme is built for that specific failure: process scale up, plant ...

MScCampus18 months (3 semesters)Intake August 202790 credit units

The four facts

What you actually need to compare

Award and entry
MSc
A
Duration and mode
18 months (3 semesters)
Campus. Includes 12 months of paid, assessed cooperative education.
Cost
UGX 3,600,000 per year
Tier 2 laboratory classification. Includes UGX 600,000 annual laboratory premium.
Outcome targeted
Food process engineer, production and plant manager, quality assurance manager
Reviewed by 2031. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed.
Fee structure Key dates 90 credit units

Pricing Model 5.1 · The Forward Standard

Master of Science in Food Technology and Industrial Processing fee

UGX 3,600,000 per year

Laboratory tier
Tier 2
Annual premium
UGX 600,000
Per semester
UGX 1,800,000
Whole programme
UGX 5,400,000
Approximate USD
≈ USD 1,421

What this fee includes

  • Teaching, practice tutoring, assessment and competency verification
  • The Amagezi platform and AI tutor around the clock
  • All learning materials
  • Every examination, including first resits
  • Identity card, library, guild, sports and basic wellbeing
  • Co-op placement matching and the Capability Passport
  • Graduation and the statutory NCHE fee
  • Online application

Employment thesis

What this programme is designed to produce

Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.

Roles

  • Food process engineer
  • production and plant manager
  • quality assurance manager
  • product development lead
  • export compliance manager
  • food manufacturing consultant
  • manufacturing founder.

Employer types

  • Food and beverage manufacturers
  • dairy, grain, coffee and horticultural processors
  • export companies
  • equipment suppliers
  • standards and regulatory bodies
  • and industrial development programmes.

Target outcomes we hold ourselves to

  • Senior technical and management roles in a growing manufacturing sector with acute shortage of qualified process engineers.

Compulsory · The Forward Core

How the Core works →

Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.

  • AI Fluency
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Ethics and African Context
  • Human-Advantage Skills
  • Enterprise

Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning

Read the co-op commitment

Am I eligible?

Check yourself against the published requirements

7 questions written specifically for Master of Science in Food Technology and Industrial Processing. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.

Question 1 of 70%

What is the highest qualification you hold?

Requirement tested: A completed bachelor's degree in a cognate field, or a recognised equivalent with professional experience.

Curriculum structure

The same degree, in both pathways

Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.

Path One term plan shown

Path One · The Term Model

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 1Year 1
30 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 501
Applied Intelligence for Professionals
Both
42-2-0
FDC 502
Research Evidence and Method
Both
42-2-0
AFT 510
Advanced Food Engineering and Unit Operations
Both
64-2-2
AFT 511
Advanced Food Chemistry and Microbiology
Performance
63-2-4
AFT 512
Process Analytics and Statistical Quality Control
Performance
52-2-4
AFT 513
Food Regulation, Standards and Certification
Both
53-2-2
TERM 2 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 2Year 1
30 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 503
Governance, Ethics and Leadership of Intelligent Systems
Both
42-2-0
AFT 520
Process Scale Up, Validation and Technology Transfer
Performance
71-0-12
AFT 521
Plant Design, Utilities and Process Economics
Both
64-2-2
AFT 522
Advanced Product and Package Development
Performance
51-0-8
AFT 523
Export Systems, Traceability and Audit Readiness
Both
53-2-2
AFT 524
Advanced Elective
Objective
32-2-0
TERM 3 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 3:Year 2
30 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
AFT 530
Dissertation: Industrial Process or Product Commission
Performance
200-2-38
AFT 531
Manufacturing Operations, Maintenance and Lean Systems
Both
53-2-2
AFT 532
Research Communication and Technical Reporting
Objective
54-2-0

Total credit units: 90

Curriculum source

Forward University Curriculum Compendium

Assessment

Coursework + project + integrated exam

Work-integrated learning

12 months paid co-operative education

Your week at Forward

A typical week on Master of Science in Food Technology and Industrial Processing

Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Mandatory live session Flexible bite-sized lesson Optional event

Curriculum explorer

Drill into the degree, step by step

Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.

Step 1, choose a year

Step 2, choose a term

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 1

Year 1 · this step is worth 30 CU

Cumulative

30

Programme total

90

30 CU of 90 CU completed by the end of this step (33%)

Step 3, choose a course

Pick a course to see the detail

Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.

The twelve Forward capabilities

What this programme develops in you

Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.

  • C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C10Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent

Critical capabilities for this programme: Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy · Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.

Programme Learning Outcomes

What you will be able to do

Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.

  1. PLO 1Design and optimise industrial food processes and their unit operations.
  2. PLO 2Scale a product from pilot to industrial production with documented validation.
  3. PLO 3Design plant layout, utilities and process economics for a manufacturing investment.
  4. PLO 4Implement and audit advanced food safety and quality management systems.
  5. PLO 5Achieve regulatory and buyer compliance for regional and international markets.
  6. PLO 6Conduct applied research or a development project to commission standard.

Why this programme exists

Scaling a food product from a pilot batch to an industrial line, and keeping it compliant enough to export, is where most African food manufacturing ambition fails. This programme is built for that specific failure: process scale up, plant ...

Admission requirements

A Bachelor's degree of at least Second Class Lower Division in food science, chemical or agricultural engineering, chemistry, biotechnology or a cognate discipline. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.