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FDSC40520

Academic Year 2026/2027

Food Microbiology & Safety (FDSC40520)

Subject:
Food Science
College:
Health & Agricultural Sciences
School:
Agriculture & Food Science
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Amalia Scannell
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
Online
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module is for students taking the Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or MSc in Food, Nutrition, and Health.

The course will address four key questions intrinsic to applied aspects of food microbiology:
• What microbes are important in food spoilage and foodborne disease?
• How are these microbes identified, differentiated, and enumerated?
• What are the important factors determining microbial growth in food?
• How can these factors be manipulated to ensure food quality and safety?

The module will be delivered through the UCD VLE system and will consist of:
• Online lecture material and recommended reading lists
• Audio demonstrations by the lecturers
• Asynchronous discussion threads

Students are not required to attend lectures at the UCD campus as part of the course. Students are expected to spend a total of 110 hours workload during the trimester consisting of:
• Lectures uploads during the trimester:
• Discussion threads
• Autonomous learning
• Project research and writing

Assessment will include continuous assessment: 2 group research projects

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this course the student should be able to:

• Propose methods to enumerate and differentiate different classes of Bacteria.
• Identify and describe the main pathogens and spoilage microorganisms associated with specific food types.
• Describe the basic principles of food spoilage and preservation.
• Devise preservation/fermentation protocols using intrinsic and extrinsic food-related factors.
• Successfully resource and critically review reliable published literature, and integrate key concepts appropriately in written assignments.
• Work in a team in an online environment.

Indicative Module Content:

The course will address four key questions intrinsic to applied aspects of food microbiology:

• What microbes are important in food spoilage and foodborne disease?
• How are these microbes identified, differentiated, and enumerated?
• What are the important factors determining microbial growth in food?
• How can these factors be manipulated to ensure food quality and safety?

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Expert

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Expert

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Expert

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Proficient

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Proficient

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Proficient

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Proficient

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Proficient

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Proficient

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Not addressed

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Competent

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

30
Autonomous Student Learning

48
Lectures

6
Online Learning

36
Total

120

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module will be delivered online. Lecture material and supporting text as well as required reading will be provided to the students. An online discussion board, monitored by a tutor will be used to capture and address student queries on module content and assessment criteria. A set of 'just-in-time' online classes/ discussions will be mediated by tutors and/or Module Coordinators to support student learning. Assessment will focus on developing resource curation, concept map development, critical thinking, and communication through Scientific Writing. Assessment will include elements of negotiated learning and peer-peer learning. Assessment Rubrics will be provided in advance of assignments to feed forward into the learning process and alert students to assessment expectations. Students will also self-review their work prior to submission using these rubrics to demonstrate an understanding of the learning requirements for each assignment and to analyse the quality of their work in an objective way.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

While there are no learning Pre-requisites in this module, because it is a MSc. module it will be expected that graduate students can write effectively. It might be useful to read through some basic microbiology text as the course does, by its nature contain a considerable level of technical information, which may prove challenging for a beginner, particularly in where English is not a first language.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade Component repeat (in-module) Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): This assignment can be undertaken as a group or as an individual. the key skills to demonstrate are resource management, development of an evidence-based review addressing a question selected in class Week 6 Graded No
40
 No
Group Work Assignment: This assignment allows students to demonstrate course knowledge while also developing key group work skills Week 12 Graded No
50
 No
Reflective Assignment: This Reflective journal should be updated periodically and include, Evidence of Individual research, Personal Rubric Reviews of group submissions, and a critical refelction of your learning journey. Week 14 Graded No
10
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

The assessment of this module will take place in two assignments. Assignment 1: Students will be required to work in a group to prepare a research table and write a short paper. By following the guidelines and consulting the rubric, students should be able to self-assess their performance. Post-assessment feedback will be qualitative (poor-excellent) with suggestions on areas of the rubric that require attention for the next assignment. Peer assessment/ contribution scores must be submitted by each student individually, to the peer assessment assignment portal on Bright Space upon submission of the group assignment. Assignment 2: Students will remain in the same assessment groups as for Assignment 1 and will work collaboratively to produce a group mind map & essay on the topic provided. As before, guidelines and an assessment rubric will be provided in advance, and feedback will be qualitative with comments indicating areas for improvement. Peer assessment/ contribution scores must be submitted by each student individually, to the peer assessment assignment portal on Bright Space, upon submission of the group assignment. After grading, students may make an appointment to discuss assessment grades at a time convenient to both Module Co-ordinator and the student.

The following books are listed as required reading. Thy are available as e-books via UCD library website; www.ucd.ie/library
Fundamental Food Microbiology (2nd Edition, Bibek Ray)
Food Microbiology (Martin R. Adams & Maurice O. Moss)
Food Microbiology: An introduction (Thomas J. Montville & Karl R. Matthews)
Food Microbiology: Fundamentals and Frontiers (3rd Edition, Edited by Michael P. Doyle and Larry R. Beuchat)
Handbook of Food Safety Engineering (Edited by Da-Wen Sun).
In addition, the Bad Bug Book will be an important resource (http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/CausesOfIllnessBadBugBook/)

You may be directed to other section-specific material as the module progresses.

Name Role
Dongli Dong Tutor
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