The University of East Anglia (UEA) has launched a new postgraduate degree to explore innovative agricultural techniques. The MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security is going to start in September 2011, and the purpose of it is to look at what techniques are needed in the world of agriculture to feed our rocketing global population. It will be the first postgraduate degree of its kind in this country and comes as a UK government-commissioned report calls for urgent action to avert a global food crisis.

This is a one-year Masters degree programme and it will be taught by experts at the Centre for Contemporary Agriculture, which is a recently-launched collaboration between UEA, Easton College, the John Innes Centre, the Institute of Food Research, the Sainsbury Laboratory, the National Institue for Agricultural Botany and the Arable Group.

The MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security will provide excellent training for students wishing to work at the cutting edge of the agri-food industry. Students will learn about the latest developments in irrigation, machinery and plant breeding, including genetic modification.

Course leader Professor John Turner, from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, says, “A world food crisis is almost upon us. Last year a drought in Russia reduced its wheat harvest by a quarter, the international price of wheat increased, and this contributed to the unrest we have seen in the world’s largest what importer, Egypt. Graduates of this exciting new course will be instrumental in applying the latest scientific methods to tackle this global challenge. They wil be part of the solution.”

For more information, please visit www.uea.ac.uk/bio or, telephone 01603 593503, or email bio.msc.admiss@uea.ac.uk

The MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security is open for applications now,

Looking for funding for postgraduate studies in 2011? Check out the exclusive bursaries on offer from Postgrad Solutions.

Content added on 28th February 2011.

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