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Foundation in Sensory Science online seminar series (April/May)

 

Over a series of LIVE training seminars we will cover how the human senses make measurements, the contents of the sensory tool box, how to select and train the right people for each test and how to set up, run and analyse the right test for your objective.

IFST Accreditation: candidates attending the full course can opt to sit the examination and gain the IFST Foundation Certificate in Sensory Science.

Seminars will run over 4 days lasting 2hr-2.5hr with Q&A. There is an optional 1 hour revision session at the end of the course week. The IFST certifcate examination is scheduled 1 week post course completion. 

 

Seminar 1: Mon 28th April 2025, 10:30am-12:30pm (BST), £190

An Introduction to Sensory Science and the human senses

The first seminar in our Foundation series will introduce you to sensory science; what it is, why we do it, and when. We will also discover how sensory evaluation is used in industry.

You will learn about the human senses and how we perceive certain product qualities. We will look at all five senses to understand how they each function alone and how they cross over to give our overall perception of a stimulus.

Understanding Sensory Methodologies

We will discover what is in the toolbox of Sensory methodologies, including Discrimination, Descriptive and Consumer.

This session will look at how to choose the correct assessor for each test and how many assessors you might need. We will cover experiment design, understanding your objectives and setting a hypothesis. We will then go on to discuss analysing results and drawing conclusions.

 

Seminar 2: Tues 29th April 2025, 10:30am-12:30pm (BST), £190

Understanding Descriptive Profiling Methods

The third topic in our Foundation series is all about descriptive profiling methods; we discover what they are, when should they be used and why.

You will learn how to focus your objectives, set a hypothesis and train panellists for descriptive work.

Screening panellists

This session walks you through the screening process for new descriptive panellists. We look at the exercises recommended to ensure each panellist has the right level of sensory acuity, descriptive ability and the personality needed to succeed on the panel.

We discuss the ISO standards for screening, setting up a typical screening protocol and how to screen for specialist assessments.

 

Seminar 3: Weds 30th April 2025, 10:30am-12:30pm (BST), £190

What is QDA and how to you use it?

What is Quantitative Descriptive Analysis and how to you use it? What are the pros and cons? In this seminar, we will discover how to train panellists and generate descriptive attributes. You will learn about qualitative and quantitative references, validating a lexicon and rating products.

We will then discuss experimental design and how to set up practically, covering physiological and psychological errors, and how to motivate panellists.

This session includes an additional practical session lasting 30 minutes.

Undertaking QDA Data Analysis

How do you summarise and visualise the results of QDA projects?

In our sixth module, learn how to analyse panel performance, make use of significance Testing, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multiple comparison Tests, and draw conclusions

 

Seminar 4: Thurs 1st May 2025, 13:00-15:00pm (BST), £190

Affective tests

Module seven in our Foundation Series will look at the different types of affective test; what are they, why you should use them, when and how.

You will learn how to understand your objective, set the hypothesis and design a successful project.

We cover how to create an effective screener to recruit the right consumers, what types of questions should be included and how to investigate consumer emotions. We also look at how to analyse consumer data and draw conclusions from it.

 

Controlling the test environment

Our final section will look at creating the right space for testing, how to control the environment and putting in the correct evaluation protocols.

Learn how to correctly serve representative samples, sample identification and presentation order (randomisation and balancing; first order effects; dummy samples).

Finally we discuss clearing the nose and cleansing the palate.

 

Seminar 5: Revision session - full course attendees only - Fri 2nd May 2025, 12pm (BST)

A revision session will run on Friday 2nd August 2024, for those attending the full course, from 12-1pm (BST).

 

IFST exam - full course attendees only - Fri 9th May 2025, 12pm (BST)

The IFST examination starts at 1pm (BST) lasting 45minutes.

 

Candidates attending the full course opt to attend a revision session with our trainers and sit the examination to gain the IFST Foundation Certificate in Sensory Science. The cost of the revision session and final day examination is included in the full course bundle price.

 

Click here for more details and to book a place!

 

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