Galician Inter-university Master’s Degree in Aquaculture

Socio-economic and environmental developments

Aquaculture: strategic sector

This master's degree has been designed to provide students with advanced, specific and multidisciplinary knowledge aimed at academic, investigative and professional training in aquaculture. You will learn the knowledge, skills and basic aptitudes that will allow you to: design and carry out research in the field of aquaculture; design, manage and control freshwater and marine facilities, assessing their environmental impact and responding to the R&D&I needs of the sector and implementing strategies that allow the future development of the aquaculture industry.

IN DETAIL

10

PLACES

90

ECTS CREDITS

THREE APPROACHES

Training based on academic, professional and investigative approaches. A development that has the collaboration of the social agents involved in all areas related to aquaculture in Galicia.

TWO PROGRAMMES

This master’s degree allows you to develop professionally in the field of aquaculture of your choice: aquaculture production or biotechnology in aquaculture.

INTERNSHIPS AND RESEARCH

Immerse yourself in the business fabric of aquaculture production through professional internships or advance your research career based on specialization in biotechnology.

Advantages of studying the Master's Degree at the UDC Faculty of Science

Strategic sector for development

Marine and freshwater aquaculture makes up a strategic sector of development from a socio-economic and environmental point of view, both for Galicia and at a national level. This implies an ever-increasing need for highly skilled human capital.

Expanding labour market

Industry and administration need graduates who can be incorporated into companies or different public institutions (technology centres, research centres, universities, etc.) to carry out management or R&D&I tasks in Aquaculture.

ACCESS PROFILE

Preferred access degrees are undergraduates or graduates in Biology, Marine Sciences or Veterinary Science, although this master’s degree is open to other degrees related to experimental science and health.

COURSE OBJECTIVE

Graduates of this master’s degree can lead to jobs both in companies and in aquaculture research centres. For companies, graduates in the speciality of Aquaculture Production have a suitable profile to form part of R&D or production control teams. Those trained in the speciality of Biotechnology have a more research-oriented profile and to continue their training in doctoral programmes.

Industry and administration demand university graduates to carry out R+D+I tasks in the aquaculture sector

€ 835,80

first year tuition fee for EU students

MACUIG (EU)

Approximate price of one academic course (60 credits)
Since the master's degree lasts a year and a half, 50% more must be added for the second year's enrolment

ENROL

€ 1462,80

first year tuition fee for non EU students

MACUIG (non EU)

Approximate price of one academic course (60 credits)
Since the master's degree lasts a year and a half, 50% more must be added for the second year's enrolment

ENROL

FIRST YEAR

Descripción

30 ECTS must be taken in compulsory subjects taught in the first term (BASIC MODULE). The biological bases of aquaculture (physiology, genetics, pathology, etc.) and basic subjects of management of aquaculture facilities are explained in these theoretical and practical subjects, both from the point of view of water and facilities as well as that of economic, legal or environmental management. Once the basic knowledge has been reached, in the second term the student must specialise by opting for one of the two programmes offered.

Speciality 1: Aquaculture production

The teaching will be about the cultivation of different groups of organisms of interest in aquaculture. These are theoretical-practical subjects in which the students will acquire the necessary skills and knowledge about the current state and future perspectives of the cultivation techniques of different organisms. These subjects are complemented with other complementary subjects related to auxiliary crops, water quality, facilities, business management, etc. In order to obtain the speciality, the student must obtain, at least, 18 ECTS credits in the subjects of the Culture I and Culture II Modules, with the obligation to take the three optional subjects linked to this speciality, and the other 12 credits may be from the other speciality.

Speciality 2: Biotechnology in aquaculture

The training is focused on biotechnological applications of interest in modern aquaculture that include, among other knowledge, the management of genetic resources, the development of new biotechnological tools for production or quality control. As in the previous case, in order to obtain the speciality, the student must obtain a minimum of 18 ECTS credits from the Biotechnology Module, with the obligation to take the optional subject linked to this speciality, and the other 12 credits may be from the other speciality.

SECOND YEAR

To complete the master’s degree, students must take one of the practical subjects of the END OF MASTER’S DEGREE SPECIALISATION in the first term and, subsequently, carry out and defend their END OF MASTER’S DEGREE PROJECT. Students who opt for the specialisation in Aquaculture Production will have to take the subject of a Company Internship and those who opt for Biotechnology, the one for Initiation into Research.

The Master’s Degree ends with the preparation and public defence of the END OF MASTER’S DEGREE PROJECT.

SYLLABUS

Basic Module

Introduction to aquaculture (3 ECTS)
Biology of cultivable aquaculture animals (3 ECTS)
Biology of cultivable algae (3 ECTS)
Physiology of cultivable aquaculture animals (6 ECTS)
Genetics applied to aquaculture (3 ECTS)
Immunology (3 ECTS)

Pathology Module

Pathology in aquaculture (6 ECTS)
Diagnosis of diseases (6 ECTS)
Development of prevention and control tools (3 ECTS)
Tools for epidemiological analysis (3 ECTS)

Culture Module I

Feeding and nutrition (3 ECTS)
Water quality and management (3 ECTS)¹
Toxicology and toxic tides (3 ECTS)
Management of aquaculture companies (3 ECTS)¹
Quality, processing, and traceability (3 ECTS)

¹Linked to the speciality of Aquaculture Production

Culture Module II

Microalgae and zooplankton cultivation (3 ECTS)¹
Macroalgae cultivation (3 ECTS)
Fish culture (6 ECTS)
Cultivation of bivalve molluscs (6 ECTS)
Cultivation of other invertebrates (3 ECTS)