The BBSRC has awarded funding for four major new training programmes for industry specialists working in vital niche areas within the agri-food sector.
The BBSRC Advanced Training Partnerships will provide postgraduate-level professional development in the area of agriculture and food production for a large number of industry specialists across the UK.
Scientific and technical staff working in the sector will be supported to develop the skills necessary to ensure that the UK continues to make significant contributions towards national and global food security.
Around 100 individuals will undertake professional doctorates under these schemes and several thousand Masters Level CPD modules will be undertaken, with many students building up to a full Master qualification.
The four partnerships have been awarded a total of GBP12m and bring together companies with research and training organisations.
Each one will operate under the leadership of an academic institution.
Partnerships will develop and deliver specialist training programmes for postgraduate degrees, as well as continuing professional development courses.
Each programme will focus on a particular research area, and the four are complementary, covering the full range of food production from soil to plate.
The training will be delivered flexibly to ensure that specialist staff from a range of companies can benefit.
This will include distance learning, short courses, work-based training, research placements and secondments.
Training modules can be built into full Masters degrees and partnerships will also be developing Professional Doctorates in agricultural and food sciences.
'Sustainable and efficient food production' will be led by the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Science (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University, with Bangor University, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany and a number of industrial partners.
This training partnership will look to address the high-level skills needs of pasture-based agriculture in the UK, focusing on increasing efficiency and reducing environmental impact of extensive beef, sheep and dairy farming.
'Establishment of a strategic training hub for the advancement of the UK agri-food industry' will be led by the University of Nottingham with Harper Adams University College, Cranfield University, Rothamsted Research and a number of industrial partners.
This programme has been designed in response to feedback from industry about training needs and will be flexible and responsive, spanning the entire agri-food chain, including soils, water, crops, animals, post-harvest, food and nutrition.
The aim is to provide participants with lifelong membership of a vibrant community of colleagues in industry and academia, enabling them to obtain a wide range of technical and contextual skills that can be deployed for maximum impact across the chain.
'Food quality and health - sustaining the future' will be led by the University of Reading with Rothamsted Research, University of Birmingham, Leatherhead Food Research and a number of other industrial partners.
This partnership brings together experts working on the food chain from production to consumption, from academia and industry, focused on delivering high-quality and real-world-relevant training for the food and production industries.
'Advanced training in intensive livestock health and production' will be Led by the Royal Veterinary College with University of Cambridge, University of Newcastle, University of Edinburgh and a number of industrial partners.
This consortium will focus on the pig and poultry industry, to provide specialist training to veterinarians, as well as other animal scientists working in this sector.
