For Food Science in Canada, Guelph was the only choice! Having completed my undergrad here as well, I was happy to build upon my existing relationships within Food Science. Moreover, I was also very excited to not just witness, but be a part of Guelph’s large agri-food revolution.
When an airline asks you to sign a waiver for your guitar just scribble quickly in hard to read handwriting "no thank you" and hand it back. Later if they damage your equipment you can claim you did not understand why they handed that waiver to you.
From my experience as an international student, I would request every prospective grad student to understand the core details offered by every course in the food safety and quality assurance program. I know every course is research-intensive and requires dedication and time management, but trust me, if you are passionate to establish yourself in the industry and want to ensure consistent delivery of safe food to the customers, you will develop a strong interest in the course. The application-level offered in the assignments is a reflection of how it is applied in an industrial setting and helps you crack the real-life hurdles faced in the rapidly growing industry and globalization. I would also suggest the prospective graduate students engage themselves in thoughtful conversations with their peers and develop a strong sense of food safety leadership to facilitate those conversations. It is also highly recommended to attend the food safety seminars provided by the department.
Remember that research never goes as planned and to not let failed experiments or unwanted results keep you from working hard on your degree. No one gets through graduate school without failed experiments and huge changes in their project plans.
The Biodiversity Institute/Centre for Biodiversity Genomics is the IB departments best-kept secret, in my opinion! There are endless opportunities available if you take initiative.
I advise prospective grad students to network with as many interesting people as possible. Networking is key to finding research opportunities and gaining experiences. Even simple conversations can stimulate new ideas or help solidify original ones.
I've been very privileged and lucky since coming to Guelph for my undergraduate degree back in 2010 as all of the opportunities I have been given have been gained through building strong relationships with faculty and staff on campus and finding mentors that have helped guide me along my career path. I've always found that the people on campus are incredibly giving and willing to devote their time to help out students. I've also found that simply starting with expressing an interest to be more involved and showing initiative can go a very long way to opening doors to new opportunities.
In addition to providing a stable funding guarantee, the department and college offered a number of additional travel and research funding opportunities that contributed substantially to the quality of my work.
A right step taken at a right time completely changes your identity. I won't say that your academic journey will be easy, but I am sure it will be worthy.
