Program and Application Information Acting Department Chair: Dr. Jane Schuh Department Location: Harris Hall Telephone Number: (701) 231-7713 Degrees Offered: Ph.D., M.S.
Application Deadline: March 15 for entry in summer or fall semesters and September 30 for entry in spring semester.
English Proficiency TOEFL iBT 71
Requirements IELTS 6
Program Description
The School of Food Systems offers graduate study leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Cereal Sciences. Advanced work may in- volve research in the areas of proteins, carbohydrates, enzymes, and lipids of cereals, legumes, and other northern-grown crops; barley malting and brewing; wheat milling, baking, and pasta processing. Re- search in functional foods and stability of bioactive compounds in food systems are also predominant areas of research.
The department has a close working relationship with the Northern Crops Institute and the USDA Hard Red Spring and Durum Wheat Quality Laboratory housed in the Harris Hall complex.
Students are strongly urged to visit faculty members to discuss re- search opportunities. During the first year in the program, the student will, with his or her adviser, prepare a research proposal.
Admissions Requirements
The Cereal Sciences graduate program is open to all qualified gradu- ates of universities and colleges of recognized standing. To be admit- ted with full standing status to the program, the applicant must meet the Graduate School requirements found on page 5 and have ade- quate preparation in biochemistry/chemistry and the biological scienc- es, including microbiology.
Financial Assistance
The number of assistantships varies from year to year, depending on industrial support, grants, and the number of students in residence. Applicants are considered on the basis of scholarship, academic per-
formance, and financial need. The application to the Graduate School, including the three letters of ref- erence and official transcripts, is required to be considered for an assistantship. International students must also submit a TOEFL score. The minimum annual stipends for M.S. and Ph.D. students are
Faculty
Douglas C. Doehlert, Ph.D. (associate)
University of Wisconsin, 1982
Research Interests: Oat Variety Devel- opment, Quality of Oats and Oat Prod- ucts
Clifford A. Hall III, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1996 Research Interests: Flaxseed, Antioxi- dants, Phytochemical Stability in Food Systems
Frank Manthey, Ph.D.
North Dakota State University, 1985 Research Interests: Durum Wheat Quality, Pasta/Noodle Processing, Ca- rotenoid Deposition in durum wheat
Deland Myers, Ph.D.
Iowa State University, 1984
Research Interests: Utilization of Leg- ume and Cereal Proteins in Nonfood and Food Applications and Their Func- tionality.
Jae Ohm, Ph.D. (associate)
Kansas State University, 1996 Research Interests: Cereal Chemistry
Paul B. Schwarz, Ph.D.
North Dakota State University, 1987 Research Interests: Malting Barley Quality
Senay Simsek, Ph.D.
Purdue University, 2006
Research Interests: Wheat Quality and Carbohydrate Research
Dilrukshi Thavarajah, Ph.D.
University of Saskatchewan, 2006 Research Interests: Biofortification of Pulse Crops for Increased Micronutri- ent Bioavailability: Iron, Zinc, Beta Car- otene, and Folic Acid
Pushparajah Thavarajah, Ph.D.
University of Saskatchewan, 2004 Research Interests: Food Nutrient- Nutrient Interactions, Bioavailability Chemistry of Carbohydrates, Phenol- ics, and Bioactive Compounds, and Analytical Method Development for Novel Bioactive Compound Analysis
$12,000 and $13,200, respectively, for a half-time assistantship. As- sistantship stipends may be increased as the student progresses through their program after achieving milestones such as proposal defense, preliminary exam completion, etc.) In addition, graduate tui- tion is waived for students with assistantships.
Degree Requirements
The Master of Science program requires a minimum of 20 semester
credits of course work with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better. The Ph.D. program requires the completion of a minimum of 40 semester credits of course work with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better.
With assistance from the adviser, a supervisory/advisory and examining committee is established and a plan of study developed. The student is required to prepare and defend a written research proposal. For M.S. candidates, a written examination on course work is required prior to scheduling the final oral examination at which the student defends the thesis and is asked questions covering academic subject matter.
Ph.D. candidates are required to take a preliminary written and oral examination covering academic subject matter and a final oral defense of a research-based dissertation.
Research Facilities and Equipment
The department maintains specialized equipment that evaluates cereal and food quality including labor- atory equipment, such as spectrophotometers, gas chromatographs, a particle size analyzer, LC-MS, GC-MS, high-performance liquid chromatographs, various electrophoretic devices, a differential scan- ning calorimeter, Rapid ViscoAnalyzer, and computer terminals. Flour mills, ranging up to pilot-plant size; two completely equipped bake shops; continuous bread-baking equipment; rheological instru- ments for dough testing; several pasta-processing units; malting equipment; Asian noodle making equipment; soymilk/tofu processing machines; a wet processing pilot plant; labscale HT/ST extruder; and a microbrewery are some examples of the specialized equipment.
In addition, the department has access to equipment and instrumentation in the Northern Crops Institute and USDA Hard Red Spring and Durum Wheat Quality Laboratory housed in the same building com- plex.
Dennis P. Wiesenborn, Ph.D.
Rice University, 1988
Research Interests: Food Engineering, Process Development, Oilseeds Pro- cessing
Charlene Wolf-Hall, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1995 Research Interests: Food Microbiology and Food Safety