Design for Food

Course

The Specializing Master in Design For Food, co-founded by Politecnico di Milano and Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo, integrates extensive design and food engineering skills with specific competences in the food area, related to humanities, gastronomic sciences and food technology.

It therefore provides a wide-ranging designing capacity on process and tools for the design of the food product-service system and a series of specific thematic in-depth useful for the understanding of culture, sociological and anthropological factors and also scientific and technological.

As a whole, it provides an explanatory and comprehensive overview of food systems, from agricultural production to food processing, from distribution to consumption, from planning to recycling in a circular economy perspective.

The Specializing Master trains design and consulting profiles who are able to integrate creative and operational skills, through the development of hard and soft skills, which train participants to work in multidisciplinary teams, in competitive and highly strategic contexts, in quick and dynamic private and public organizations.

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Didactics

Training objectives

The Design for Food specializing Master aims to train professionals, entrepreneurs, independent innovators, civil servants with competences in the design and management of systems, processes and products-services in the food sector.

Professional profiles characterized by a profile combining the design and experimental approach of design with the thematic knowledge of the logics of the food sector in all its extension “from field to table”, including the traditional and more advanced production and distribution systems and with a specific attention to sustainability.

The sector already expresses forms, experimentations, experiences, innovation and project-oriented cases, requires a transversal expertise able to integrate in a strategic way the different design factors.

For this reason, the Specializing Master completes the design (in the disciplinary extension of systems, strategies, services, products-services, communication) and food engineering skills, brought by Politecnico di Milano, with the thematic and specific ones in the food area related to humanities, food technology and gastronomic sciences.

Participants will be able to:

• understand the socio-economic and environmental transformations of the sector
• outline innovative models and strategic orientations for the specific sector
  design for sustainability;
• understand and design the territorial impacts of food supply chains;
• use theoretical and critical skills to define design opportunities;
• understand and use the potential of the sector’s technologies, as well as the main elements of the production processes of the different supply chains;
• design complex solutions and their articulation in terms of product, service, communication and space;
• manage the main elements of food safety and planning;
• manage all phases of the process of conception, design, development and implementation of an innovative solution in an advanced perspective that includes participatory approaches;
• use specific design tools for design.

Didactic Plan

The teaching approach combines theory and practice, by alternating lectures and hands-on activities (group works, exercises and projects).

The didactic path (FEB – JUN 2025, in Milan) is characterized by:

• Lessons: aimed to introduce the main topics of the programme and provide students with a general framework;
• Design classes: aimed to the acquisition of tools and methodologies for analysis and design development;
• Workshop: “hands-on” activities developed in collaboration with external companies and realities aimed at the application of tools and methodologies for the development of product-service ideas;
• Study Trip* in Piedmont organized in collaboration with Università degli studi di Scienze Gatronomiche di Pollenzo: 10 days spent in Piedmont with teaching modules on the UNISG campus and visits to interesting food companies in the surrounding areas.
• Study Trip* in Emilia Romagna: a complete immersion to delve into the specific food topics of a typical Italian area.

At the end of the didactic activities, the programme includes a final training experience (JUL 2025 – MAR 2026, in Italy or abroad), which can be:

• Internship: 500 hours of training experience in a partner reality of the Master or suggested directly by the participants in agreement with the Master Board
• Professionalizing Project: a scientific research activity that involves the in-depth study of issues shared between the Student and the Master Board.

* The costs of the study trips (travel, room and board) are included in the registration fee.

Title Released

At the end of the course, the Diploma of Specializing Master in “Design for Food” by the Politecnico di Milano will be awarded.

The Specializing Master program grants 60 CFU (Formative University Credits) equivalent to 60 ECTS.

Employment Opportunities

The job opportunities for graduates are manifold. These will be practitioners whose profiles combine the design and experimental approach with specific knowledge of the underlying logic of the food sector in its extension “from field to table”, considering traditional and innovative production and distribution systems, with specific attention to sustainability.

For example, we can list:

• R&D FOOD Project Manager: R&D managers for the improvement and implementation of food processing and production processes;
• FOOD Service & Product Designer: professionals specialised in the conception and design development of sustainable food products and services;
• FOOD Brand Manager: marketing managers for the development and implementation of innovative food product-service lines;
• FOOD startupper/entrepreneur: inventors and self-employed entrepreneurs capable of transforming innovative ideas into sustainable new businesses in the agri-food sector;
• FOOD Innovation Specialist: professionals and consultants of innovative food strategies and policies within companies, public institutions, research centres and third sector organisations.

Admission

Requirements

The Specializing Master welcomes candidates with a Degree or Specialist/Master’s Degree in Design, Engineering, Architecture, Economics and/or Management, Social Sciences/Humanistic Sciences, Gastronomic Sciences, Agriculture, Food Technology, or to people with other types of degrees who have also gained significant professional and work experience and who wish to strengthen their professional path in the field of food innovation, acquiring and developing specific and qualified competences.

Selection will be made on the basis of the documentation sent, followed by a possible interview in English language (remotely). The selections will be made in chronological order with respect to the date of receipt of the application, until all available places are filled.

The formal evaluation of the study title eligibility is by Politecnico di Milano. As a consequence the formal application should be done on the website www.polimi.it (the steps are described in the following weblink).

In particular, the steps that you will have to follow are those mentioned from page 1 to page 8 (by clicking on the following link you will find yourself directly in the same page shown on guidelines).

Deadlines

To take part to the selection process, the application form must be completed online within the following deadlines:

• Italian/foreign citizens with a qualification obtained in Italy and Italian/U.E. citizens with a qualification obtained abroad within August 27, 2025
• Non-EU citizens with qualifications obtained abroad by July 27, 2025

Price

The Specializing Master costs € 16.500 (€ 16.000 participation fee + € 500 enrollment fee at the Politecnico di Milano) EXEMPT VAT ART. 10 DPR 633/72.

PROMO

FAMILY SUPPORT: -50%
A chance to gift your siblings the encouragement they need to invest in their future.

FRIEND TO FRIEND: -20%
An opportunity to gift to a friend to make education the foundation of their growth.

POLI.NETWORK: -50%
A promotion designed to strengthen the bond and identity among members of the Politecnico di Milano community.

BACK TO SCHOOL: -1.000€ on Specializing Masters
The discount for those who have already trusted POLI.design and Polimi, and wish to return to study and build their future.

PER MERITO
Intesa San Paolo supports talents and gives everyone access to training. Discover more details here.

Faculty

The Specializing Master in Design For Food programme is taught by a multidisciplinary faculty, with academics from Politecnico di Milano and other universities, and a selection of external professionals.

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