Postgraduate research opportunities

Our impact-focused research aims to address the major challenges of growing global demand for food and nutrition security, climate change and dwindling natural resources. This covers a wide range of scientific disciplines, along with economics, business and resource management.

Postgraduate research (PGR) students make a valuable contribution to SRUC’s research programmes. Thanks to close ties with industry, our students benefit from building important networks and enjoy many varied employment opportunities after completing their studies with us. Discover more about our research outputs by visiting our research hub, SRUC’s Pure Portal.

MScR opportunities

PhD opportunities

This PhD project is fully funded for 4 years. It is a Walsh Scholarship opportunity funded by Teagasc and is open to students worldwide. Funding is €25,000 per annum plus tuition fees of up to a maximum of €6,000 per annum. Applicants from outside the UK/Ireland should be aware that the tuition fees will exceed the €6000 per annum covered by the funding, and will be expected to demonstrate their abilities to cover the difference in fees. Please see here for information on SRUC fees.

Start date: Summer 2024

Duration: 4 YEARS

Location: Athenry Ireland and SRUC Kirkton, Crianlarich, Scotland

Closing date for applications: 5 April 2024

Description: This project aims to investigate the effect on animal performance, grazing behaviour and hill ecological status of the timing of putting ewes and lambs onto hill grazing areas throughout the year. The hill sheep sector plays an integral role in the economic health of rural economies and the maintenance of the natural landscape in many of Europe’s most scenic areas. While the lamb output from hill farms is comparatively low, the environmental services it provides is a particularly important output of hill farms (O’Brien et al., 2016). Most hills are open areas that require hefted flocks and as such require long term planning for grazing management (Thompson, 2009). In recent years there has been a reluctance by farmers to let ewes and lambs out to the hill in favour of trying to maximize performance on the lowland areas leading to a decline in the numbers grazing hills (Campion, 2022). While most are agreed that there is a necessity for hill sheep to be maintained on hill areas there are significant knowledge gaps in relation to how timing of grazing and grazing behaviour effect animal performance and the ecological status of hills. This project aims to address some of these issues by assessing the effect of timing of grazing on the hill on animal performance, grazing behaviour and ecological status of the hills grazed using data from both Ireland and Scotland.

The PhD is a joint research project between Teagasc, Athenry and SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College). The student will be based in Teagasc Athenry (Ireland) under the supervision of Dr. Frank Campion and Dr. Claire Morgan-Davies, who is based at SRUC Scotland. The prospective student will be registered at SRUC and will be expected to spend at least 6 months in Scotland including visits to SRUC to fulfil the requirements of the PhD programme.

Eligibility:

For entry to PhD study, applicants are expected to have at least one of the following:

an undergraduate degree, usually with first or upper second (2:1) class honours or equivalent in a relevant subject (animal/agricultural science, ecology etc.), or
a relevant master’s qualification or equivalent evidence of prior professional practice.

The successful candidate should be highly self-motivated and be prepared for field work and working on commercial farms across the country. A full EU driving license is essential.

International applicants and candidates from non-English speaking countries will need to meet the minimum language requirements for admission onto the programme of study. These can be found in the Entry Requirements section of the PhD in Agriculture, Rural and Environmental Studies webpage

Application Process:

To apply for this scholarship please submit a Curriculum Vitae and a letter of interest to both supervisors, Dr Frank Campion (francis.campion@teagasc.ie) and Dr Claire Morgan-Davies (claire.morgan-davies@sruc.ac.uk). Please also address informal enquiries about the project or your application should also be addressed to the project supervisors.

This PhD project is fully funded for 3 years through a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project (Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health) . It is based at SRUC, Edinburgh, UK and is open to students worldwide. Funding will cover all tuition fees, plus a stipend to support living costs.

Start date: October 2024

Duration: 3 YEARS

Stipend: UKRI stipend levels (£18,622 in 2023/24)

Location: Edinburgh

Closing date for applications: 7 April 2024

Description: Capitalising on the digital transformation capacity of farming and agricultural practices around the world presents both an opportunity for combating the impacts of climate change and a necessity for a sustainable path for global food production. Smallholder livestock producers in low to middle income countries (LMIC) are the primary suppliers of essential animal-source food in the developing world. Such systems are frequently inefficient with high environmental impact per unit of product. It is known that genetic improvement, when coupled with appropriate feed and management, provides an important route to improved performance. However, the digital transformation of the phenotyping systems in LMIC has demonstrated unique challenges in the path of social and policy uptake of such programmes. Managing information in large systems is often achieved via a technique called digital twinning.

A digital twin is a digital replica of a real-world entity or process which can be captured using a real-time stream of data processed centrally. Digital twinning of livestock assets (specially cattle) enriched with animal derived data points can deliver an efficiency boost for small to medium size farms by enabling improved decision making at different levels. Predictive analytics that could identify disease or sub-optimal physiological performance in cattle prior to deterioration of animal’s health and its consequential impact on the farm, is of great operational value to the farmer, while also informing policy decisions and disease surveillance at a broader level.

African and Asian Dairy Genetic Gains (AADGG) is a large-scale program that is attempting to drive genetic improvement by collecting performance and phenomic data alongside animal genotypes. Over the year, AADGG has collected over half a million animal records to be curated and utilized in combination with SNP genotype arrays. This project aims to investigate the development of a functional and system level digital twin of the AADGG databases compatible with current governance and data architecture in place as part of the data operations of Centre for Tropical Livestock, Genetics and Health (CTLGH phase2 2022-2027).

Eligibility:

For entry to PhD study, applicants are expected to have at least one of the following:

an undergraduate degree, usually with first or upper second (2:1) class honours or equivalent in a relevant subject, or
a relevant master’s qualification or equivalent evidence of prior professional practice.

Applicants from low and middle income countries with backgrounds in data science, machine learning and research software development are specially sought after.

Application Process:

To apply for an SRUC PhD studentship, please follow the guidance below or on the SRUC Postgraduate Research Opportunities webpage. The SRUC Doctoral College can provide you with support for your application.

Informal enquiries about the project and your application should be addressed to the project supervisor, Dr Mazdak Salavati - Mazdak.Salavati@sruc.ac.uk

After you have approached the project supervisor and discussed your application with them, you should:

1) Complete the online SRUC Equality, Diversity and Inclusion survey; the survey will automatically generate a completion receipt number that you should copy and paste on the relevant section of your SRUC Application Form.

2) Download and fill in the SRUC Application Form.

3) Download and send the Academic Reference Form to your two academic/professional referees, and ask them to submit the references directly to Doctoral.College@sruc.ac.uk by 7 April 2024

4) Submit your complete application, along with academic transcripts and certificates to Doctoral.College@sruc.ac.uk by 7 April 2024

If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don't hesitate to contact us at Doctoral.College@sruc.ac.uk

How it works

We offer excellent opportunities for research leading to a higher degree, usually Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at SRUC. Completing a research degree programme successfully requires scientific and technical knowledge, project planning, time and resource management. You will also need good communication skills, critical thinking and analysis. We work with you to create a plan, based on a detailed analysis of training needs, that is updated regularly throughout the programme of study. Research students are encouraged to participate fully in the academic life at SRUC Studying will forge connections and experiences that will be of benefit whether you continue to work in an academic or industrial research environment or elsewhere.

You can find more information on SRUC’s PhD in Agriculture, Rural and Environmental Studies within our course catalogue or learn more by contacting the Doctoral College using the link below.

The Doctoral College

The Doctoral College is responsible for the administration, development and support of our postgraduate research programme. It provides guidance for PGR students on all aspects of the research journey, from application to completion.

As well as being the first point of contact for PGR students, The Doctoral College helps our postgraduate research community forge connections with networks of peers, academics and professional services. We strongly believe in promoting inter-disciplinary and entrepreneurial thinking, and this reflects the collaborative ethos across SRUC and our partners.

In more practical terms, the Doctoral College can fund support for research student skills development through the Small Grant Competition. Students can apply for funds to support research-relevant activities or to buy small items of equipment.

The Doctoral College also organises the annual Postgraduate Research Conference. This provides an opportunity for research postgraduates to present various stages of their work publicly and to engage with those from other centres who may be carrying out a project in a similar, or a more diverse, subject area.

Contact the Doctoral College

SRUC launches new PhD programme

In a significant step towards shaping the future of agriculture, rural and environmental studies, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) has launched a new PhD programme.

Climate change research wins PhD student prize

A postgraduate student at Scotland’s Rural College has won a prize for her research looking at the effects of climate change on European grassland yields.