International food science summer school comes to Penn State ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A two-week food science summer school was hosted by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences this past July, giving undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to learn from experts both internal and external to the University.

Participants from Penn State; the University of Pittsburgh; California State University, Fresno; University of Arkansas; and Graz University of Technology in Austria attended the course. Niklas Pontesegger, a university assistant at Graz, said he was thrilled by the course’s hands-on curriculum.

“The summer school was not only the perfect opportunity to learn from experts in food regulation, production and analysis, but we also got a behind-the-scenes look at a variety of activities and workshops,” Pontesegger said. “We even had exciting experiences producing chocolate and ice cream.”

Food science brings together people from many different disciplines who are interested in the overarching topic of food and beverages, according to Helene Hopfer, associate professor of food science at Penn State and leader of this year’s course. A chemist by training, she uses chemical and instrumental analysis to determine what influences a person’s perception and acceptance of different foods.

But food science is not just chemistry, she stressed. It’s a multidisciplinary field combining specialities such as engineering, nutrition and microbiology.

“The beauty of this program is that it's for anybody who's interested in food from a science and analysis point of view,” Hopfer said. “About a third of the students were officially enrolled in a chemistry program. But there were also people that work on packaging materials and inorganic elemental analysis.”

Aidan Lusk, a third-year student in food science at Penn State, agreed that the course was welcoming of everyone from any background.

“The summer program solidified my sense of belonging within the food science community,” Lusk said. “ I met wonderful people while gaining knowledge regarding both the scientific and the cultural and interpersonal aspects of food science.”

This year’s course began in Washington, D.C., where attendees met with Penn State alumni working at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Hopfer said the intention of this part of the course was to expose students to the regulatory framework around food in the U.S. and to contrast it with regulations in the EU. The group then traveled to State College after a pit stop at the Hershey Company to tour its research and development facilities.

Once participants arrived in State College, they attended lectures, worked in groups to research food misinformation, and attended a few “practical sessions” to see how chocolate and ice cream are made.

“We made chocolate and ice cream because Penn State is quite known for its research on ice cream and chocolate,” Hopfer said. “Understanding how a raw ingredient is turned into a finished food product exposes students to lots of different processing steps. And we were tasting throughout the process, to see how the product changes, and why each of these steps is necessary to get the final end product. And you know, who doesn't like chocolate?”

The group work was another way to connect students — whether undergraduate or graduate, European or American, chemists or biologists. Hopfer remarked that groups were chosen deliberately to mix students of different degree levels and majors.

“Groups had to research a common food fad related to a particular food ingredient,” she said. “We put the students together so that they had complementary skill levels. For example, the food scientist could explain something to the chemist, and the chemist could explain something else to the food scientist. And it highlighted cultural differences too, especially with regulations that are quite different in the U.S. versus Europe.”

Connecting over cultural differences was an integral part of the course, Hopfer added.

“These summer schools are a really cool opportunity to experience a cross-cultural exchange," she said. "And it's not just cultural learning, but it's also peer learning. I told them at the end of this course that this network exists for the rest of your life. And so, if you ever go anywhere, look up these people. Maybe they still want to see you again!”

At the end of the course, the students presented a seminar during which the groups discussed the food fads they researched, and the graduate students presented on the research they conduct at their respective home institutions.

“Because we had such a breadth of graduate students presenting their research, I wanted to show these undergrads what graduate students work and spend so much time on,” Hopfer said. “Grad school might have seemed very daunting to them, but now they’ve met and spent two weeks with these people and know that they can do it too.”

However, Hopfer wanted to send the message that grad school isn’t the only posisble career path.

“When we went on the different tours and talked with employees of the FDA, those people all shared how they ended up in their current jobs, because I think that's important,” she said. “Even if you don't go to grad school, there are lots of opportunities for bachelor’s food scientists as well.”

Pontesegger, like many of the other students, said he was appreciative of the variety of perspectives he experienced during the course.

“The insight into the careers of our peers was very instructive and a great orientation to better understand the path after graduation,” he said. “The great atmosphere on campus and the spirit of the international group made the summer school something very special.”

The 2025 International Food Science Summer School will be held in Austria at the Graz University of Technology, following a tour around Vienna. For more information, interested individuals can email Erich Leitner ([email protected]).

This summer school session was supported by the Ag Sciences Global office and the Department of Food Science in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Among those from Penn State providing programming during the session were Jared Ali, associate professor of entomology, and food science faculty members Joshua Lambert, Robert Roberts, Josephine Wee, Gregory Ziegler and Yi Zhang. Also contributing programming were Scott Lafontaine, University of Arkansas; Jamie Levitt, California State University, Fresno; and Erich Leitner, Graz University of Technology.