Agriculture, Ecology and Environment

Study at the UK’s leading university for environmental and ethical performance (the University of Reading is ranked 1st in the People and Planet University League, 2023/24).

You’ll gain a multi-disciplinary appreciation of the underlying environmental, social and economic issues surrounding contemporary agricultural systems, and receive rigorous training in research methods and statistical analyses.

You will then build upon this knowledge by designing your own extended research project and have the opportunity to address the research questions that you are passionate about, with close support from researchers in Departments of Sustainable Land Management, Crop Science or Animal Sciences.

Choose MSc by Research in Agriculture, Ecology and Environment at the University of Reading. You will:

• join the highest ranking UK university, and one of the top 20 universities in the world, for Agriculture and Forestry (QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2023). We are the only UK university ranked in the top 50.
• gain the skills to plan, manage and conduct an in-depth field and/or lab-based research project.
• develop your critical appraisal skills of research literature at the interface between agriculture, ecology and environmental science.

Joining this programme means you’ll also be joining the Graduate Institute of International Development, Agriculture and Economics based in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, where we are committed to empowering change through our teaching and research. Our academics tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues across their respective fields of expertise, and our mission is to make a difference in the context of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Facilities

As a MSc by Research in Agriculture, Ecology and Environment student, you will have access to the:

• Crops Research Unit at Sonning Farm, which has facilities to support field plot experiments on all temperate arable and forage crops within a dedicated 12 ha, irrigable field site, and supporting laboratory and teaching facilities.
• Crop and Environmental Laboratory, with 2,500 m2 of heated glasshouses, climate controlled and factorial houses, controlled environment growth cabinets, and a protected field plot experimental area.