Programme Manager: Dr John Conway

Telephone: 01285 652531 Ext: 2234

Email: john.conway@rac.ac.uk

We offer guidance and support for a wide range of research areas at Masters and Doctoral levels. These include:

Food Chain Studies

From primary production to consumers, including such areas as:

• Food safety and quality assurance.
• Industry business.
• Finance and management strategies.
• Technology adoption and adaption.
• Consumer studies.

Sustainable Development and Agriculture

Sustainable agricultural production systems, including:

• Improving the understanding of soil behaviour and management.
• The exploitation of forage legume cropping for more sustainable animal production and improved soil fertility.
• Improving sustainable economics/profitability of crop performance.
• Predictive modelling of crop growth.
• Bio-energy crops.
• Carbon sequestration and foot-printing studies.
• Climate change impacts on agriculture and food production (all within the context of biodiversity and environmental sustainability).

Soil Science

• Investigating the current state of UK soils and their fitness for purpose in food production (especially in the light of current concerns about sustainable development).
• Climate change.
• The government's new Soil Strategy.
• Opportunities for carbon sequestration in soils.

Renewable Energy and Biomass

• Opportunities and economics of renewable energy production on farms, in particular but not exclusively, biofuel and biomass systems.

Sustainable Rural Development

• Impacts of agri-environment schemes and rural policy with a focus on policy development and farmers' decision making.
• Agricultural tenancies.
• Multi-functionality.
• Rural recreation and development.

Equine Studies

• Horse breeding and genetics.
• Behavioural characteristics.
• Relationship between pregnancy and subsequent development of foals.
• Quality of pasture and preserved equine feedstuffs.

Researching at the College

Training is provided for all research students in formulating research enquiries, research methodology, statistics and IT (e.g. Genstat), and in techniques required for individual projects. Researchers are expected to contribute to our course of internal seminars and workshops, to support taught postgraduate degree courses, input to research methodology modules and presentation of posters/papers at conferences. The research community has a high level of integration with academic staff which facilitates communication and exchange of ideas.

Current PhD projects

Our PhD students are currently engaged in widely varying topics, such as:

• Legume agronomy.
• Carbon sequestration.
• Engaging farmers in reducing their greenhouse emissions.
• Food quality and security.
• Developing crop performance models for novel forage crops.
• Fairtrade coffee.
• Evaluation of models for assessing milk quality.

Our students are from equally varied backgrounds: Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Italy, Poland, and the UK, to name but a few.

How to apply

We welcome enquiries from anyone with the funding, ambition and enthusiasm required to meet the challenges of postgraduate research and who will make a significant contribution to its research environment. Funded opportunities are advertised from time to time on the jobs section of the College website. If, however, you can fund yourself and are interested in joining our research teams, please send a CV, a 700 word research proposal and evidence of funding for consideration by the Chairman of the Research Committee, Dr John Conway: e-mail john.conway@rac.ac.uk.

Research Degree Costs

For MPhil and PhD studies registered at the RAC

Tuition Fees 2011/2012

• Full-time study for UK/EU applicants -£3,732 pa
• Full-time study for students from outside the EU - £8,100 pa

Other Research Costs

A 'bench fee' (where applicable) may be charged, depending on the requirements of the project £1,000pa in addition to all costs related to the project.

Supervisor travel costs will be charged, where applicable, for research in Europe £600pa or £1,500pa elsewhere.

Periods of Registration