Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid

MODULE 1: ESSENTIAL OILS

• Understanding of main physiological, botanical bases of volatile formation in plants;
• Ability to use the plant potential for enhancing accumulation of volatiles and essential oil yield in different crops;
• Ability to practice optimal methods of plant cultivation in order to sustainable producing of essential oils;
• Capacity to plan the production process and manage appropriate resources for effective plant farming;
• Ability to rule the various agronomical and technical measures in the production system.
• To master the various extraction processes of essential oils and their applicability;
• Capacity to appraise a concrete example of an extraction process;
• To master the post-extraction processes of essential oils;
• to master the various physicochemical parameters allowing to control the quality of an essential oil;
• to master the basic concepts of chromatography and their application to the quality control of essential oils;
• master the basic concepts of European legislation on essential oils in different sectors such as food, cosmetics and agronomy;

MODULE 2: ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• Ability to design appropriate strategies for the company;
• Ability to analyse and diagnose the environment and the company itself, development and management of business plans and conducting studies of profitability of EOs investments;
• Capacity to conduct a resource efficiency assessment;
• Capacity for economic and administrative management.
• Capacity for leadership of multidisciplinary human teams and teamwork and in international contexts. Capacity for organization and planning.

Adequate language skills: good reading comprehension skills with the topic of EOs.

MODULE 3 : FINAL WORK

During this module, the students will have to propose to the group of supervising professors a subject on which they will work in a personal and individual way. This work should allow them to take an overview of the existing literature on a subject and develop it in a personal way. It should contain knowledges from Module I and Module II in a proportion of:

Option 1) 25% of Module I and 75% of Module II

Option 2) 75% of Module I and 25% of Module II)

Develop:

• Adequate language skills: good reading comprehension skills with the topic of EOs.
• Adaptability: flexible attitude towards changing circumstances (sectoral, design, production, innovation, history etc.) and acknowledgement of the constant need to learn new skills and new concepts in a changing environment;
• Logical reasoning abilities: problem identification, creative search for solutions (both well-known ones and new ones), ability to follow logical inferences and elaborate formal reasoning in issues related with resource efficiency and sustainable green growth.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND TEACHING METHODS:

The   course consists of online learning modules, recommended readings, videos prepared by each professor, case studies on business and research, so as forums for students and professors, and individual projects. Webinars. Personal work.

PRESENTATION OF THE CERTIFICATE:

The e-learning course will last around 3 months. It will have the following structure: E-learning/interactive: introductive modules on a wide range of topics on EOs:  Introduction to Essential Oils-basic terms, Active principles, Applications Essential Oils-New Challenges, Cosmetic industry, Agri/Food industry and Medicinal uses, Entrepreneurship and personal work (15 ECTS, 390 hours student's work). It will be available through the UPM MOODLE e-learning platform.  40 participants are expected from all over EU. 

STRUCTURE: 

Module 1: Essential oils (9 ECTS) (Module Coordinator: Marie-Laure Fauconnier) 

Unit 1. Introduction and definition of EOs (Prof.: Carlos Calderón. 1,5 ECTS)

Unit 2. Source of EOs, plant cultivation and collection (Prof.: Eva Z. Németh (0,5 ECTS), Peter Radácsi (0,5 ECTS) & Gosztola Beata (0,5 ECTS)

Unit 3. Post-harvesting and processing techniques (Prof.: Marie-Laure Fauconnier (1,5 ECTS))

Unit 4. Quality control and regulations (Prof. Marie-Laure Fauconnier (1,5 ECTS))

Unit 5. Biological activities in Eos (Prof.: Akos Máthé (1,5 ECTS))

Unit 6. Food/Flavour and Cosmetic applications (Prof. Carlos Calderón (1,5 ECTS))

Module 2: Entrepreneurship (3 ECTS) Module Coordinator: Prof. Carlos Calderón

E-learning practical training: New Challenges and Applications in Essential Oils Market-Entrepreneurship -Business Idea/Plan Proposal

 Prof.: Carlos Calderón (0,5 ECTS), Carmen Avilés (1,0 ECTS), José Luis García (1,0 ECTS) & Florin Ioras (0,5 ECTS)

Module 3: Final work (3 ECTS) Module Coordinator: Prof. Carlos Calderón

Individual and personal work on a particular aspect of EO (subject to be validated by the professor)

Panel of evaluating professors: Prof.: Carlos Calderón (0,6 ECTS), Marie-Laure Fauconnier (0,6 ECTS), Éva Z. Németh (0,6 ECTS), Péter Radácsi (0,6 ECTS) & Gosztola Beata (0,6 ECTS)