International Master in Olive Growing and Oil Technology
Current edition: 1st part: September 2023 – May 2024 / 2nd part: September 2024 – June 2025
More than 98% of the production of olive oil and table olives is to be found in the Mediterranean Basin, where this agricultural system has been developing for thousands of years, characterized by its adaptation to the environment and its empiricism.
Several factors have modified the olive production and processing systems of the last decades. The crisis of traditional agriculture and the greater appreciation of olive oil due to its organoleptic attributes and its beneficial influence on health, are probably the two most important features. As a consequence, considerable advances have been made in olive growing and olive oil technology that make specialist training necessary.
The Master has been offered since 1995 and its contents are updated and revised for each new edition. It is held every two years.
The Master is held in Cordoba and in Seville, jointly organized with the Universidad de Córdoba (UCO), the Junta de Andalucía (JA), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the Olive Oil Council (OIC) and the Fundación Patrimonio Comunal Olivarero. It is structured in two parts (120 ECTS) held in two academic years, and it is an official Master of the Spanish university system within the framework of the European Space for Higher Education.
The Master enables participants to:
- Acquire an up-to-date knowledge of the scientific bases, the traditional methods and the most innovative technologies for the optimization of production, the progressive intensification of orchards and the adaptation to different environmental conditions
- Orientate growing in order to obtain quality productions
- Master the basic concepts and acquire experience in the operations of oil and table olive processing and in quality determination and control
- Become acquainted with the economic framework of the sector in order for it to be increasingly more competitive in traditional and in new markets
- Be initiated into research, critically applying acquired knowledge, capacities and abilities to the treatment of problems related to olive growing and oil technology
- Exchange experiences and points of view, enhanced through a programme developed in a highly international and interprofessional context
Duration:
- First part (first academic year): end of September-May, 60 ECTS
- Second part (second academic year): 10 months, 60 ECTS