The 12-credit certificate in fermented foods and beverages gives students the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in the science, development, production and marketing of fermented foods and beverages.
What will I learn?
As a fermented foods and beverages student, you’ll learn about the organisms behind fermentation and explore the role they play in metabolic engineering and precision fermentation. You’ll be able to personalize the rest of your coursework with a path in science or business, so you can pursue what interests you.
Deepen you scientific knowledge with a focus on chemistry, genetics, or microbiology or enhance their business skills with a focus on marketing, supply chains, or management.
What can I do with a certificate in fermented foods and beverages?
The fermented foods and beverages certificate prepares students for a variety of careers in the fermentation industry, including business and marketing for food and beverages, scientific research, or product development.
You’ll have the opportunity to learn from local experts in brewing, cheesemaking, winemaking, baking, and more. In a previous course, students toured Lake Louie Brewing in southern Wisconsin and learned about the different equipment in a brewery, the science behind beverage production, and how beverages are bottled.
What can I do on campus?
Learn through hands-on lab courses
Take experiential learning courses and learn the theoretical and practical aspects of food and beverage fermentation directly from fermented products such as beer, wine, cheese, yogurt, kimchi, and sourdough.
Join a student organization
Make friends, develop leadership skills, compete in competitions, and learn new things in student organizations and extracurriculars! The Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences sponsors two student organizations and three competitive teams.
Advising
FAQ
Interested UW–Madison undergraduate students are encouraged to meet with the certificate advisor as early as possible to align coursework with their interests. There are no prerequisites for declaring the certificate; however, there may be prerequisites for individual courses.
No, all undergraduate students can declare the fermented foods and beverages certificate! Interested students, no matter their major, are encouraged to meet with the certificate advisor as early as possible. There are no prerequisites for declaring the certificate; however, there may be prerequisites for individual courses.
Yes! The department awards around $50,000 through numerous scholarships every academic year. The CALS Scholarships and Awards page has additional information on how to apply for scholarships.