This course is a baseline general course on important notions in Nutrition Research Methods. The primary aim is of this course is to introduce the students to important concepts of scientific research, nutritional epidemiology, and to link these concepts on deriving a hypothesis for a research protocol. The students will learn how to assess associations between exposure(s) and outcome(s).
Introductory methodological Systematic Review concepts will also be covered, and critical evaluation of the literature (study design and nutritional assessment methods) will be underlined, in order for the student to be able to find relevant scientific literature using acceptable search engines, but also to understand the studies design, strengths and limitations.

By the end of this course the students will be able to:

• Have a good understanding of the basic critical characteristics of a scientific study, and its contribution to the field on Nutrition & Health.
• Be knowledgeable of the tools and techniques required for assessing the order and strength of the indicators from different study types, accounting for strengths and limitations of the study design.
• To distinguish and acknowledge the main study types and association measures used each time, based on the study type.
• To use methodological assessment tools for acquiring nutritional intake information, and conduct an adequate literature review for planning a research protocol.