Master's in Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health (online)

The online master's specialisation is designed for part-time study (approx. 20 hrs/week) to combine work and study in the context of Life-Long-Learning. A course programme of 2 years will be followed by a tailor-made internship and master's thesis. During the courses you will closely collaborate with lecturers, tutors, and fellow distance-learning students on a virtual learning platform. The course programme includes a stay of one week on Wageningen Campus together with all other students in this programme. There may be options to organise the academic internship and master's thesis in your own professional context, either part-time or full-time.  

Check the Study Handbook for the complete programme schedule and description.

Overview of content in Year 1:

• Introduction Descriptive Epidemiology and Public Health (HNH28303)
• Introduction Analytical Epidemiology and Public Health (HNH28803)
• Causal thinking in Epidemiology (HNH30403)
• Epidemiology and Public Health Policies (CHL33303)
• Assessment of Nutritional Status (HNH33903)
• Advanced Statistics for Distance Learning (MAT-25303)
• Randomised Controlled Trials: Design and Analysis (HNH31903)
• Essentials of Nutritional Physiology (HAP32303)
• Nutrition and NCD: Cancer and Cardiometabolic Diseases (HNH20503)
• Translation of theory to projects (continuous course) (YNH60312) 

Overview of content in Year 2:

• Observational Designs and Assessment of Validity (HNH32403)
• Intermediate Analytical Epidemiology: Confounding and Effect Measure Modification (HNH32903)
• Advanced Analytical Epidemiology (HNH33403)
• Assessment of Dietary Intake (HNH34403)
• Evaluation of Dietary Assessment Methods (HNH34903)
• Evaluation of Public Health Interventions (CHL33803)
• Miscellaneous Tools in Epidemiological Research (HNH35903)
• Translation of theory to projects (continuous course) (YNH60312)

Prior to starting with your thesis or internship, you should have successfully completed at least 24 EC from this MSc programme. 

• Master's thesis (36 EC)
• Academic internship (24 EC)

Students can opt for continuing on a part time basis or switch to a full-time Master's thesis and / or Academic Internship.

On the virtual learning platform you will follow pre-recorded knowledge clips, participate in online group work, join forum discussions and give peer reviews. The exams are online as well. 

Personalised support is a cornerstone of education at WUR. That’s why our students have access to a higher number of lecturers, study advisors, and student counsellors than at other universities in the country. This extra guidance helps prevent dropouts and brings a personal element to your studies, demonstrating our authentic dedication to your academic success. 

• Master's in Nutrition & Health (On-Campus)
  The on-campus MSc in Nutrition & Health is broader and more flexible, offering multiple specialisations. This allows students to tailor their path according to their interest, whether they prefer epidemiology and public health, lab-based molecular research, or applied sensory/food science. Because it is full-time and campus-based, students have more access to lab facilities, direct supervision, and in-person collaboration. It is well suited to recent graduates who want immersive academic training and to those targeting research-intensive careers such as a PhD. However, it is less flexible for working professionals due to its intensive format.
• Master's in Food Technology (online)
  Another comparable online option is the Online MSc in Food Technology, which caters to those interested in the engineering, microbiology, and process optimisation side of food science rather than nutrition and health. Like the online epidemiology programme, it is designed for part-time study alongside a career, but it requires short stays on campus for laboratory practicals. The emphasis here is on food product development, food quality and safety, and sustainable food processing, making it attractive for careers in the food industry or regulatory sectors. It differs fundamentally in scope: where the epidemiology programme trains health researchers and public health professionals, the food technology programme prepares engineers and product developers for roles in the agri-food sector. 

Graduates from the master's in Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health greatly value the research skills they acquired in the programme. After graduation, many of them begin working as researchers or PhD students. Another group becomes advisors, trainers or take up other jobs in the private sector.

The majority of graduates finds employment at universities (including university medical centres), research institutes (TNO Nutrition or RIVM), in the public sector (national, regional and local governments, Netherlands Nutrition Centre, District Health Authorities, World Food Programme, WHO, FAO) and some find employment in companies involved with nutrition and health. As graduates progress in their careers, they usually advance to a (more) managerial level. Graduates work in both developing and developed countries.

Student Career Services facilitates WUR students towards the labour market. If you need help in your orientation towards your future career. 

Purpose and reason for the admission requirements

The admission requirements for the online master's programme Nutrition Epidemiology and Public Health are defined in such a way that the students should be able to successfully complete the programme nominally in two years. To comply, an understanding is required of human biology, nutrition, epidemiology and/or public health. Additionally, a basis in research methodology is necessary to execute the advanced research projects in the master’s programme. The programme values a broad influx of students from different backgrounds and stages in their careers. Therefore, only two of the mentioned four topics need to be covered.

The criterion used for admission is

a WUR BSc degree in Nutrition and Health, or equivalent.

The norm for this equivalence is

An assessment of the candidate's expertise in at least two or more of the following topics:

• Biology (Human biology)
• Nutrition
• Epidemiology or Public health
• Research methodology with statistics

Not all topics mentioned need to be mastered at the same level; they will be weighed by the Admission Board per individual application.

Method of assessment whether this norm is met

• Transcript of records displaying the content of previous course subjects and project work;
• Curriculum vitae displaying relevant work, internship and/or project experience on an academic level in a relevant field if applicable.

Scores attributed by the Admission Board

Admitted / not admitted / admitted under condition obtaining the BSc or MSc degree / not admitted with offer of pre-master

Admissible study programmes

Study programmes of which the graduates may meet the knowledge requirements of Nutrition Epidemiology and Public Health are for example: Nutrition Sciences, Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Health Sciences, or Nutrition and Dietetics (with research focus).

Students with other degrees can be admitted based on the actual courses in their previous study programme and/or relevant work experience. 

You can apply for this Master's here.

Compensation of knowledge gaps

The Admission Board may allow and/or suggest compensation of knowledge gaps by:

• a GPA≥7.0* for the previous education for small discrepancies as new knowledge is sufficiently easily acquired;
• a GPA≥7.0* and an individual pre-master's programme for larger discrepancies that can be compensated in ≤30 ECTS and one year of study.

*Check the Application & Admission page for the International credentials evaluation guide for international equivalencies to a Dutch GPA>7.0. This guide includes compensating factors for a slightly lower GPA the Admission Board may include in their judgement.

Contact us through the contact button above to discuss the possibilities of a pre-master or how to mitigate knowledge gaps if you are still in the process of obtaining your degree.

Find out more about enrolment and fees of a pre-master's programme.

The programme’s tuition fees depend on your nationality. EU students pay the statutory tuition fees just like the University’s on-campus students. Non-EU students get a 50% reduction of the regular on-campus tuition fees for Non-EU/EFTA students outside Europe.

Read more about tuition fees of this online master’s.

General information about studying at Wageningen University can be found on this page.