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CASS-Academy

About the academy

Applications for CASS-Academy 2021 are now open.

Apply now to CASS-Academy 2021

Students who take part in the CASS-Academy program are provided with hands-on training alongside academic experts and other industry professionals. After the 12-week program, students will have gained skills, experiences and industry and academic insights into the area of sensory science.

The 12-week program spans Trimester 1 and Trimester 2, usually from April until September. There are three rotations, which each run across four consecutive weeks.

Learn more about CASS-Academy 2021

Skills and knowledge you'll gain

Students will learn how to:

  • apply basic and advanced sensory methodologies useful in industry and research
  • critically analyse scientific papers in the areas of consumer and sensory science
  • understanding basic sensory methodologies, consumer science and data analysis.

Rotations

In each rotation, students will be taught and mentored by our academic experts on how to conduct and execute various research methodologies, analyse data, and write and present reports.

After the last week of each rotation, students will present their experiences and project findings to the CASS department with an oral presentation and submission of a short written report.

The successful completion of each rotation will be marked with a badge on students' program graduate certificate.

The following provides an outline of a rotation:

  • Week 1: Training or journal article analysis on rotation topic
  • Week 2: Practical data collection (laboratory or in-field)
  • Week 3: Data analysis and evaluation using industry-standard techniques and analysis software
  • Week 4: Presentation compilation

Presentation: Rotation presentation to be presented to the CASS department on the Tuesday following the end of week 4.

Schedule

The CASS-Academy program is designed to be flexible and work with the majority of students' availabilities. We try our hardest to be flexible with students' timetables and usual work hours. However, some of the program dates are set and clashes with personal commitments may be unavoidable.

The program is designed to provide you with the best possible sensory science exposure with a minimal amount of contact hours (30–40 hours across 12 weeks).

Good time management skills are essential. The program will also include some excursions that may fall on weekends.

Please contact CASS if you have any questions regarding timetabling of the academy.

Benefits

    With the number of graduates in the area of food and nutrition increasing, there is fierce competition for graduate job positions. Employers are now placing a greater emphasis on what additional skills and experience graduates have obtained aside from their formal university education.

    As part of the CASS-Academy you'll:

  • develop highly sought after industry skills, experiences and networking
    opportunities
  • have hands-on experience within the Deakin CASS state-of-the-art sensory
    research centre
  • have the opportunity to co-write and contribute to research papers intended for publishing
  • coordinate and conduct an in the field consumer science test
  • tour a food industry manufacturing and R&D site. Conditional acceptance into the sensory honours program for 2021*
  • receive a certificate of program completion and a letter of recommendation.

I initially applied for CASS Academy as it was a new area of food science I hadn’t explored in the first two years of my undergraduate. The program allowed me to work with leaders in research and create industry contacts!

Lily

2017 CASS-Academy graduate

Eligibility

Any third-year Deakin student currently studying the Bachelor of Food and Nutrition Sciences or Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in food studies or nutrition is eligible to apply.

A WAM score of 65 or above is advised.

Please note that the CASS-Academy program is a Faculty of Health-approved program, but it's not a Deakin-approved course unit.

How to apply

To apply, complete the online application form by the due date.

The application contains the following questions (max 100 words each):

  • What is your future career goal?
  • Why does sensory and consumer science appeal to you?
  • What is your motivation for applying to the CASS-Academy?

After submissions are received, the top 20 shortlisted applicants will be notified and attend a formal interview.

The top four successful applicants will then be notified via email or phone.

Successful applicants for CASS-Academy will be determined based on their overall demonstrated passion to further their study or career path into the areas of sensory, flavour or consumer science.

Being a student in the CASS-Academy not only gave me the opportunity to gain employment within the CASS laboratory, but also led me to complete an honours year in sensory marketing, and now I have gone on to begin a PhD within CASS.

Bella

CASS-Academy graduate

Contact us

Centre for Advanced Sensory Science
+61 3 9244 3753
Email CASS

Twitter
@DeakinCASS

Visit us
Centre for Advanced Sensory Science
School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences
Deakin University
221 Burwood Highway
Burwood VIC 3125