Abstract:

Sensory and Consumer Research Sciences have been recognized as key discipline for consumer goods companies, encompassing different tools for guiding and validating the innovation process of product development and making communication and understanding between different areas of the companies easier (production, marketing, Research & Development).
Sensory and consumer sciences are really scientific disciplines based on psychology, physiology of perception and statistics, as well as food technology.

The need to educate sensory professionals is a great challenge. For the food small and medium size companies it is crucial to have trained professionals in this field who bring in new ideas and young enthusiasts and use the sensory and consumer sciences with rigor and in a way that information obtained can manage to advantage. But resources of time and money in small and medium size companies are quite limited and the working rhythm really intense.

Web based programs allow students flexibility, attractive and friendly courses. They offer advantages also from the economical point of view and the possibility of being able to interact with other participants via foro.

INNSENS, a European Commission funded project in the Life Long Learning program, will provide European SMEs with abilities and competencies that will help them in the innovation process by means of vocational and educational training.

The general project’s objective of INNSENS is the creation of an innovative and efficient on line learning training program for the Food & Drink SMEs sector related with Sensory Analysis and Consumer Sciences.

The Project involves three main steps: exploration of the needs in the Food & Drink SMEs, creation of an on-line course (design, structure, contents, interrelationship between participants and e-platform) and piloting of the e-learning course by means of 50 European SMEs in the Food & Drink sector.

INNSENS is being executed in collaboration with 5 European partners, ainia (Spain), IBA Bucuresti (from Rumania), SIK (Sweden), SSICA (Italy) and UCPH (Denmark).

In this moment, contents of the course and the on-line platform are being finished and piloting of the course to begin. Piloting will provide partners with valuable information to improve the course for further editions.

Keywords:

Sensory, consumer, e-learning, vocational, skills, Moodle.