University College Cork (UCC), often referred to as “Ireland’s food university”, is reaching out to prospective students, as the application process for third-level education gets underway.

The Central Applications Office (CAO) opened this year’s application process on Monday, November 5, and UCC are urging students to consider one of their 13 food-related undergraduate courses, including a new Agricultural Sciences degree.

As well as that, the university offers a further 12 postgraduate courses in food research, across both Masters and PhD levels.

UCC’s undergraduate courses cover various areas of food research, such as agriculture, food science, nutritional sciences and food business.

UCC claims to have a strong reputation world-wide where food research and education is concerned, with the university’s researchers publishing more than 2,000 papers as of 2017, which have been referenced over 60,000 times in other research publications around the world.

As well as that, a survey of graduates showed that 88% of them found work after securing a degree from one of the courses.

The same survey pointed out that over a quarter for graduates were based oversees, which UCC claims is a sign of the opportunities for international work.

“The range of degrees on offer are excellent options for students who want to pursue a best-in-class qualification with a strong emphasis on food science, food business and research,” said Jim Corbett, director of the Food Institute UCC.

UCC has an international reputation in developing experts and researchers across the food industry.

“We will continue leading and innovating in the areas of food teaching, research and in the development of degree programmes which provide modern education, skills and training which are both valuable and essential to the food industry,” he added.