Agricultural Science and Technology

Programme Overview Lincoln's MSc by Research in Agricultural Science and Technology offers prospective students advanced research opportunities in multidisciplinary research combining agriculture and technology. The programme brings together scientific and technological innovations to address global agricultural challenges.

The programme provides a comprehensive mixture of both theory and skill development in several research areas including, but not limited to, crop phenotyping, precision agriculture, agri-robotics, regenerative agriculture, weed science, soil and water, natural resource management and sustainable agroforestry systems.

Graduates of this programme are well placed to embark on diverse career paths in either academia, research organisations, agri-food industry, technology providers and start-ups, non-governmental organisations in land use and conservation, such as national, wildlife ad woodland trusts,, government departments, and the private sector in plant breeding and food production industries, to name a few.

How You Study Over the course of your study, you will be expected to complete a project that makes a substantial contribution to the existing scholarship on, and knowledge of, the subject under scrutiny. You will be guided throughout this process by a team of well-published supervisors, from whom you will receive feedback and advice. Your project might cross disciplinary boundaries and focus on multiple subject areas. In such cases, we will support you by allocating supervisors in relevant fields.

Students are required to produce appropriate written work which will be submitted to their supervisors for feedback and to agree on the next stage of work. Due to the nature of postgraduate research programmes, a significant amount of time will be spent on independent study and research. Students will meet regularly with their academic supervisor(s), but the regularity of these meetings will vary depending on individual requirements, subject area, and the stage of the programme.

Why Lincoln? The Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology (LIAT) is a leading UK research organisation recognised for its world-leading multi-disciplinary research and collaboration with key academic and industrial partners in the agricultural sector – the largest industry in Lincolnshire.

The rapid growth of the institute benefits from strategic UK government funding granted to establish Lincoln as the national centre for excellence in agri-food technology. This includes significant grants from Research England to fund the Lincoln Agri-robotics Centre and from EPSRC for the Centre of Doctoral Training in Agri-food Robotics. LIAT has a growing reputation in crop and soil science research with access to an excellent 400 ha research farm at the Riseholme campus constituting arable, livestock, woodland and watercourses.

The team is actively working towards net-zero agriculture, and reducing chemical inputs in farming through precision agriculture and non-chemical weed control. Crop phenotyping, soil and irrigation management, and selective harvesting of strawberries are just some of the examples demonstrating the LIAT’s offering of practical sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions for improving farming practices.