BSc Human Nutrition FAQs

No, this degree is in Human Nutrition. It will give you a broad understanding of the science behind nutrition and cover the many areas in which a nutritionist can work – public health nutrition, communication, food regulatory affairs, research, molecular nutrition etc. Although you will cover some aspects of clinical nutrition, you will not receive a dietetic qualification on graduation. If dietetics is a career path you wish to follow after graduation, there are e several dietetic post graduate courses in Ireland and the UK, which you would be eligible to apply for. The title of dietitian is now protected in Ireland and all dietitians must be registered with CORU to practice. There are several dietetic post graduate courses available in Ireland and the UK which you will be eligible to apply upon graduation. UCD offers a CORU-registered two-year Masters in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics.

Dietitian - A dietitian applies the science of nutrition to the feeding and education of groups of people and individuals in health and disease. Dietitians work in a variety of settings such as hospitals, community health, policy-making, food service or industry. The training of a dietitian looks at the treatment of ill health and health promotion as a healthcare professional.    In Ireland, the dietitian title is protected and only graduates of appropriate degrees with sufficient training are able to be registered with CORU (https://coru.ie/health-and-social-care-professionals/education/approved-qualifications/dietitians/). A similar registration is required within the UK through the HCPC.

Nutritionists – A nutritionist applies the science of nutrition to groups and individuals, but the training focuses more on the role of nutrition in preventative health. Clinical training is not part of the degree so they will not be able to work in hospital or healthcare settings. Nutritionists do work in consultancy, private practise, industry, public health, and many other settings.  There is no state registration of nutritionists at present in Ireland. The registration in the UK is recognised but it is a voluntary register and not a requirement to be able to practise as a nutritionist.

What are the key differences between nutrition and dietetics?
Dietetics applies the science of nutrition to the feeding and education of groups of people and individuals in health and disease. The key difference between nutrition and dietetics is that the dietetics training focuses on developing clinical skills in the area of disease management and health behaviour change, while nutrition focuses on developing skills in preventative health through nutrition. All dietetics courses must include nutrition, but nutrition courses are not qualifications in dietetics. If you want to become a dietitian within a Bachelor’s degree, you must study in an accredited course. In Ireland, the details of all accredited courses can be found at www.coru.ie and in the UK from www.hcpc.com

Yes, a postgraduate MSc in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics is available. After completion of the BSc Human Nutrition, you can apply to undertake the MSc in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics. More information is available from www.ucd.ie/phpps/

There are two stages to becoming a Registered Nutritionist:  the first is initially registering as a Registered Associate Nutritionist (ANutr); then after approximately 2 years of work experience in the field of nutrition, you can apply to change your registration to  Registered Nutritionist (RNutr).  Our course is accredited with the Association for Nutrition (AfN), which means you are automatically eligible to become a Registered Associate Nutritionist on graduation.

The title of Nutritionist is not a protected or regulated one so there are no restrictions on starting practice upon graduation.  Professional registration with voluntary organisations like the Association for Nutrition as a nutritionist is a step that we would recommend for our graduates as it demonstrates your commitment to practising in an ethical and professional manner. It is also a means of differentiating yourself from individuals without formal training in nutrition as only high-quality degrees are eligible for this accreditation.

Our graduates work in a wide variety of fields. The training and education you receive at UCD will provide you exposure to many different career paths. Graduates have gone on to a number of jobs within the food industry, health promotion, research and many more. 

Those interested in public health nutrition may work in the area of health promotion and population health in such places as Health Promotion Unit, Safefood, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, etc. Nutritionists are also sought after within industry, working in areas such as marketing, food regulatory affairs, etc.

If you wish to specialize, you can look to complete post graduate courses in areas such as sports nutrition, dietetics, molecular nutrition and public health nutrition. You may also wish to go into research and complete a Masters by Research or a PhD. The contacts you will make during your PWE and your final year research project will be invaluable for this.

During the first year you will cover the basic science subjects – chemistry, physics, biology, and maths. This will give you great foundations to build your nutrition knowledge over the following years. You will also cover an introduction to nutrition science and physiology for nutrition, which will be your first steppingstones to starting your path to becoming a nutritionist.

Your second year teaching becomes much more nutrition-focused. You will have several nutrition modules covering nutritional biochemistry, nutrition research methods and more applied nutrition.

Your third year is a full placement year, where you will work within a nutrition team in your chosen placement site. Examples of research placements include University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States Agricultural Department (USDA), Wageningen University (Netherlands), University of Aberdeen, University of East Anglia, University of Reading (UK). Placements also occur in Industry (Danone, Nutricia, Unilever), health promotion (FSAI, Safefood, Nutritics) and hospital settings (National Maternity Hospital, Children’s University Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital). Whilst on placement, you will complete a short research project and several assessments that contribute to your degree in UCD.

Your final year is based back at UCD. You will cover a wide variety of nutrition areas such as molecular nutrition, public health nutrition, nutrition and consumer, food regulation and nutritional biochemistry. You will also complete a full research project that answers an original research question.

The easiest way to understand this is that food science is the science of getting a food on the table, of good nutritional value, looking nice, tasting nice and staying fresh. A nutritionist is concerned about that food once it has been consumed – so what happens when people eat certain foods (biological effects), what people eat, why etc. Nutritionists are more concerned with the interaction of food and health, what foods/nutrients are linked to particular health problems and understanding ways to modify disease risk.

A good food scientist will have a good understanding of nutrition, but perhaps not in as much detail as a nutritionist. A good nutritionist should have some understanding of the composition and chemistry of foods they are examining intake of but they will not have the depth or breadth of understanding that a food scientist has.

The two professions work hand in hand, but the science behind them is different, one more concerned with chemistry of food (food science) and the other the biochemistry of food (nutrition).