Nutrition Honours (B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.)) (90 credits)
Offered by: Human Nutrition (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Degree: Bachelor of Science (Nutritional Sciences)
Program credit weight: 90
Program Description
B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.); Honours in Nutrition is intended for students who are interested in gaining a concentrated research experience in Human Nutrition. Students in the B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.) Nutrition Major program who have a CGPA of at least 3.6, and a grade of at least A- in all NUTR courses can apply to transfer in Winter U2 term. It is the responisbility of each student to find a professor to support and supervise a research project. Graduation requires completion of a minimum of 90 credits, with CGPA of at least 3.6, and a grade of at least A- in all NUTR courses. Students who do not maintain Honours standing may transfer registration to the B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.) Nutrition Major.
Degree Requirements — B.Sc.
This program is offered as part of a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree.
To graduate, students must satisfy both their program requirements and their degree requirements.
- The program requirements (i.e., the specific courses that make up this program) are listed under the Course Tab (above).
- The degree requirements—including the mandatory Foundation program, appropriate degree structure, and any additional components—are outlined on the Degree Requirements page.
Students are responsible for ensuring that this program fits within the overall structure of their degree and that all degree requirements are met. Consult the Degree Planning Guide on the SOUSA website for additional guidance.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (75 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AEMA 310 | Statistical Methods 1. | 3 |
Statistical Methods 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Measures of central tendency and dispersion; binomial and Poisson distributions; normal, chi-square, Student's t and Fisher-Snedecor F distributions; estimation and hypothesis testing; simple linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance for simple experimental designs. | ||
| ANSC 234 | Biochemistry 2. | 3 |
Biochemistry 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Metabolism in humans and domestic animals. The chemistry of alimentary digestion, absorption, transport, intermediary metabolism and excretion. | ||
| ANSC 323 | Mammalian Physiology. | 3 |
Mammalian Physiology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A study of the organization, functions and regulation of various organ systems in mammals. The nervous, endocrine, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, digestive and reproductive systems are discussed. | ||
| ANSC 424 | Metabolic Endocrinology. | 3 |
Metabolic Endocrinology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A detailed study of the endocrine system and its role in the maintenance of homeostasis in higher vertebrates, including the endocrine regulation of energy balance. | ||
| FDSC 200 | Introduction to Food Science. | 3 |
Introduction to Food Science. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course enables one to gain an appreciation of the scope of food science as a discipline. Topics include introductions to chemistry, processing, packaging, analysis, microbiology, product development, sensory evaluation and quality control as they relate to food science. | ||
| FDSC 251 | Food Chemistry 1. | 3 |
Food Chemistry 1. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A study of the chemistry and functionality of the major components comprising food systems, such as water, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. The relationship of these components to food stability will be studied in terms of degradative reactions and processing. | ||
| FDSC 305 | Food Chemistry 2. | 3 |
Food Chemistry 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A study of the chemistry and functionality of the minor components comprising food systems, such as enzymes, anthocyanins, carotenoids, additives, vitamins and essential oils. The relationship of these components to food stability in terms of degradative reactions and processing. | ||
| LSCI 204 | Genetics. | 3 |
Genetics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The course integrates classical, molecular and population genetics of animals, plants, bacteria and viruses. The aim is to understand the flow of genetic information within a cell, within families and in populations. Emphasis will be placed on problem solving based learning. The laboratory exercises will emphasize the interpretation of genetic experimental data. | ||
| LSCI 211 | Biochemistry 1. | 3 |
Biochemistry 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Biochemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids; enzymes and coenzymes. Introduction to intermediary metabolism. | ||
| LSCI 230 | Introductory Microbiology. | 3 |
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals. | ||
| NUTR 207 | Nutrition and Health. | 3 |
Nutrition and Health. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Provides students who have a basic biology/chemistry background with the fundamental information on how macronutrients, vitamins and minerals are metabolized in the body, followed by application to evaluate current issues of maximizing health and disease prevention at different stages of the lifecycle. | ||
| NUTR 214 | Food Fundamentals. | 4 |
Food Fundamentals. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Food composition and structure. Scientific principles underlying physical, chemical, and nutrient content changes during food preparation. The role of ingredients and nutrients, and their interaction in food preparation. Culture of food including historical context and sustainability. Sensory evaluation and food safety. | ||
| NUTR 307 | Metabolism and Human Nutrition. | 3 |
Metabolism and Human Nutrition. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course looks at the importance of nutrition from the molecular to the organismal levels in human health and disease. The focus will be on the significance of nutrients in regulating metabolism, and impact of genotype in the metabolism of nutrients. | ||
| NUTR 322 | Applied Sciences Communication. | 3 |
Applied Sciences Communication. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The principles and techniques of communicating applied sciences to individuals and groups in both the professional and public milieu. Effective public speaking and group interaction techniques. Communication materials selection, development, use, and evaluation. Writing for the media. Balancing risk and reason in communicating scientific findings. | ||
| NUTR 337 | Nutrition Through Life. | 3 |
Nutrition Through Life. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Nutrient utilization, requirements and recommended allowances as related to physiological development throughout the life cycle. Physiological, psychological and environmental determinants of eating behaviour. | ||
| NUTR 344 | Clinical Nutrition 1. | 4 |
Clinical Nutrition 1. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Clinical nutrition assessment and dietary modification of pathological conditions including hypertension, lipid disorders and cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, COPD, introduction to diabetes, dysphagia. | ||
| NUTR 401 | Emerging Issues in Nutrition. | 1 |
Emerging Issues in Nutrition. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Investigation, discussion and presentations of emerging issues in nutrition. | ||
| NUTR 450 | Research Methods: Human Nutrition. | 3 |
Research Methods: Human Nutrition. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to how diverse approaches to nutrition research including international, community, laboratory, clinical, molecular, meta-analyses are necessary to advance the field of nutrition. Emphasis on ethics, scientific method, research process and analysis of results. | ||
| NUTR 491 | Honours Research 1 . | 3 |
Honours Research 1 . Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The first part of a research project under the supervision of a faculty member in the School of Human Nutrition. Development of research proposal, including literature review, objectives, and research plan. Presentation and submission of written proposal. | ||
| NUTR 492 | Honours Research 2 . | 3 |
Honours Research 2 . Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The second part of a research project that tests the hypothesis developed in the research proposal. Collection of data, initial interpretation of findings, progress report and plan. | ||
| NUTR 493 | Honours Research 3. | 3 |
Honours Research 3. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The third part of a research project under the supervision of a faculty member in the School of Human Nutrition with completion of study, data analysis, and written progress report. | ||
| NUTR 494 | Honours Research 4. | 3 |
Honours Research 4. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Completion of research project, with final interpretation of data in written manuscript-style report and defended in conference-style presentation. | ||
| NUTR 507 | Advanced Nutritional Biochemistry. | 3 |
Advanced Nutritional Biochemistry. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Specialized advanced topics in human nutrition, biochemistry and metabolism, including the dietary absorption and metabolism of iron, copper, and selenium and their role in energy metabolism, antioxidant defence, toxin elimination, and redox signaling and food source contamination, nutritional toxicology, and the negative impact these toxins have on metabolic networks and antioxidant defences. | ||
| NUTR 537 | Advanced Human Metabolism. | 3 |
Advanced Human Metabolism. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced topics in regulation and dysregulation of metabolism integrating mechanistic pre-clinical approaches to studying human health and disease. Presentation and critical analysis of metabolic research. | ||
| NUTR 551 | Analysis of Nutrition Data. | 3 |
Analysis of Nutrition Data. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Practical application of theoretical concepts in data analysis covering issues of study design, data collection, database organization, and statistical analysis using SPSS statistical software. Applications of statistical tests, reporting and interpretation of results, and data visualization. | ||
Elective Courses (15 credits)
15 credits chosen in consultation with the research supervisor, a limited number of credits may be taken at other Quebec and/or Canadian universities.