Barley scientists of the future get £9m boost The programme will fund a cohort of 30 postgraduate researchers to the tune of £9m in value. The four-year studentships will be delivered between 2022 and2028 with £3M of funding from BBSRC, £600K in cash from industry and more than £5M in-kind co-investment from academic and commercial partners across the barley value chain. “The barley supply chain has come together in partnership under the International Barley Hub umbrella to achieve government and industry targets for net-zero carbon emissions and to underpin the future climate resilience of barley as a major global crop. The BARIToNE CTP will create a new generation of scientifically diverse barley experts to become sustainability leaders in industry and academia over the coming decades,” according to Professor James Brosnan, BARIToNE leader and chair of the International Barley Hub. “Under the CTP scheme they will have the opportunity to develop high-level technical and translational skills and forge strong professional networks as the foundation for their future careers. The 18 industry partners in BARIToNE all believe that this CTP will be a major lever for delivering barley sustainability through training talented people.” International Barley Hub Director Professor Robbie Waugh adds that “a sustainable barley supply supports both UK agriculture and the significant economic benefit that arises when it is processed into whisky, beer and food. “Investing in barley science by bringing new researchers together within the BARIToNE CTP will not only yield a positive impact on the UK barley supply but as barley is also a major global crop and source of translational science to other crop species, the PhD projects are likely to have a far wider impact.” Dr Julian South, Executive Director of the Maltsters Association of Great Britain, commented: “The BARIToNE programme will greatly enhance the opportunities for the future generation of scientists and engineers to join the malting industry. The coordinated programme of research is a real boost for the UK drinks sector and its supply chain.” The BARIToNE studentships are part of a contingent of 225 studentships, in partnership with academia and industry, spanning 29 businesses and 12 academic research organisations. The CTP scheme run by BBSRC will address skills gaps in UK bioscience industry through doctoral training led by businesses. The collaborative partnerships will work across the council’s strategic priority areas such as Net Zero+, Tackling Infections, Transformative Technologies and more. BBSRC executive chair, Professor Melanie Welham, said: “These awards underline BBSRC’s commitment to working with industry to support the next generation of bioscience researchers. Projects will span areas vital to our strategic priorities, such as meeting our net-zero goals.” The next generation of barley researchers have received a multi-million investment through the Barley Industrial Training Network (BARIToNE) programme, a Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP) led by the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, the International Barley Hub at the James Hutton Institute and the University of Dundee, and supported by BBSRC and industry partners. 14 Hutton Highlights Agri scientists of the future to be supported by £3.6m training partnership February 2022 15 Comments? An industry-wide consortium, led by producer organisation G’s Growers and supported by the James Hutton Institute, the University of Dundee and James Hutton Limited, has won aUKRI-BBSRC collaborative training partnership award (CTP) to provide a £3.6 million postgraduate training programme in sustainable agricultural innovation. The programme has been co-developed by the Institute as part of its collaboration with the University of Cambridge, the Crop Science Centre, NIAB and leading UK universities. The CTP programme for Sustainable Agricultural Innovation (CTP-SAI) will ensure young scientists are ‘business aware’, opening up opportunities for careers across industry. Running from 2022 to 2028, the CTP-SAI will create a pre-competitive network in which businesses can explore and co-design research and innovation programmes and will train 30 PhD students. Ensuring the programme is inclusive and recruits a diverse range of candidates into agriculture is a priority. The CTPSAI aims to lead the sector by example, training the next generation of new thinkers, ready to act in the public and private sector to effect positive global change in the food and farming system. The programme is supported by leading UK and international agri-food businesses, research organisations and charitable organisations representing the collective needs of farmers and practitioners. “This BBSRC funded CTP embraces the challenges associated with developing more sustainable agriculture and brings together global industrial partners with UK research institutes and universities to train the next generation of research scientists. Responding to the needs of industry, research and innovation will be at the heart of 30 PhD student projects that will develop system approaches towards more resilient crop production” explains Dr Ingo Hein, a senior research scientist at the Institute, the University of Dundee and Hutton coordinator of the CTP. “Our CTP stretches across the food and farming crop supply chain, bringing together partners to address the joint challenges of reducing emissions, developing resilient farming systems and reversing biodiversity decline. Our vision is to train new thinkers for new times, providing outstanding training to address the challenges of creating and delivering sustainable agricultural systems” said Dr Richard Harrison, NIAB’s Director of Cambridge Crop Research and NIAB coordinator of the CTP. The CTP programme places science-led innovation at its heart to ensure field-based agriculture is equipped with tools to enable resilient, sustainable and economic crop production whilst meeting consumer demands. The programme will address both short-term bioscience research challenges to facilitate the delivery of solutions within the next decade as well as thinking longer-term about the wider systems changes that will be underpinned by the research that this cohort of students will undertake. “Businesses need access to postgraduates with skills in research and innovation in order to adapt to the enormous challenges that climate change, land use change and biodiversity loss pose. We also need to ensure that the supply chain products and processes pass the test of responsible, sustainable innovation that is core to each businesses value set and corporate social responsibilities” added Emma Garfield, Head of Research Agronomy at G’s Growers Ltd. For more information, visit the CTP-SAI website and follow CTP-SAI on Twitter. The 2021 ISRR Dundee Root Medal Lecture and Workshop on “Below Ground Interaction between Plants” took place in November 2021. The annual event is for scientists interested in root research and the plant/soil interface. Hosted by the James Hutton Institute, the meeting was virtual, and this format allowed it to be opened up to a large, international, audience of over 300 interested registrants. The Dundee Medal is presented annually to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution in the field of root research. The 7th recipient of the Dundee Medal for Root Research was Professor Jianbo Shen of the China Agri-cultural University in Beijing, China. Over the last 30 years, Prof Shen has worked on understanding the role of root-soil interactions and other nature-based solutions in solving the problems of inefficiencies in fertiliser use. You can watch the Lecture in its entirety below. ISRR Medal Lecture on Root Research shines light into the dark world of roots and soil
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