Professional Doctorate in Agriculture and Food

New University training scheme to sustain the future of food quality

The first cohort of participants for new postgraduate food programmes at the School of Chemical Engineering joined Birmingham in November this year.

The University of Birmingham is laying the foundations for brand new food programmes as part of the Food Advanced Training Partnership (Food ATP), a major scheme to ensure the agri-food industry has the key skills needed to meet the challenges posed by national and global food security. The partnership joins leading UK institutions in food and agricultural research with the food industry.

Birmingham’s Food team in the School of Chemical Engineering is developing the Food ATP programmes in conjunction with the University of Reading, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), to develop highly skilled food industry leaders of tomorrow.

The University and its partners have developed formal postgraduate qualifications, and offer continuing professional development through taught modules, tailored programmes and active research. The Food ATP academic qualifications will be jointly awarded by the Universities of Birmingham and Reading.

The Food ATP will allow industry professionals to integrate learning from across the food chain from primary production to consumers, through bringing together expertise in a unique training partnership. More than 20 foremost industry partners from across the food industry including Kraft Foods, Waitrose, British Sugar and Sainsbury’s , are steering and shaping the training to ensure industry’s needs are met.

Course fact file

Type of Course: Doctoral research, continuing professional development

Study Options: Part time

Contact

Contact information for general enquiries regarding the Food ATP programmes and modules can be found on the Food ATP website.

School of Chemical Engineering

Course details

Details

Professional Doctorate (DAgriFood)

The Professional Doctorate in Agriculture and Food offers agricultural and food industry employed professionals the opportunity to develop their professional roles and to implement an independent programme of research within the workplace. The programme provides an award at doctorate level that is distinct from a traditional PhD award and is directly relevant to the needs of the individual’s professional work setting.

The programme is structured to deliver advanced research skills and taught knowledge of the theme Food Quality and Health. The taught programme provides a depth of knowledge across a broad base of issues relevant to four overlapping themes:

Nutrition, Health & Consumers
Food Quality
Food Manufacture
Sustainable Food Production

To link the taught and research elements of the programme, participants will produce a reflective portfolio of professional practice to demonstrate the relevance of learning and skills development to their own professional context.

Graduates of the programme will acquire cognitive, practical, professional and transferable skills to enable them to assume leadership roles within the industry.

The total study requirement for a Professional Doctorate consists of 12 one-weekmodules with directed study before and after each week (120 credits over 12 x 10 credit modules) combined with an extended research project, based in the employing company, equivalent to approximately 3 years of research (360 credits). The taught and research components are complemented by the portfolio of professional practice (60 credits).

The research project and portfolio of professional practice are intended to fit within the participant’s existing workload with additional study as required to prepare the final thesis and portfolio document for assessment. The typical study period is 5 years, up to a maximum of 7 years. The taught modules may be taken in any order agreed with the Programme Director and represent approximately 5 hours of study hours per week over the typical 5 year duration.

Fees and funding

All programmes are classified under the fee band of self-financing and will not be charged through Banner. The fees for the programmes are as follows:

Professional Doctorate in Agriculture and Food Home/EU £38,000
MRes in Agricultural and Food Industry Research Home/EU £22,000
MSc Food Quality and Health Home/EU £22,000
PGDip Food Quality and Health Home/EU £18,000
PGCert Food Quality and Health Home/EU £9,000

Entry requirements

Candidates will require an undergraduate degree in a relevant field, typically Science or Engineering. This should be a 2nd class honours degree [2 (i)] as a minimum although relevant experience and recent study may be taken into account for candidates without that minimum. In the case of the MSc, such candidates would typically be offered places on the PG Cert or PG Dip in the first instance with progression onto the MSc dependent on achieving the required standard. Candidates on the MRes may transfer to the Professional Doctorate with approval from the relevant Examination Board.

Additional information:

Candidates will require an undergraduate degree in a relevant field, typically Science or Engineering. This should be a 2nd class honours degree [2 (i)] as a minimum although relevant experience and recent study may be taken into account for candidates without that minimum. In the case of the MSc, such candidates would typically be offered places on the PG Cert or PG Dip in the first instance with progression onto the MSc dependent on achieving the required standard. Candidates on the MRes may transfer to the Professional Doctorate with approval from the relevant Examination Board.