Aberystwyth University is offering a set of new Master’s level degrees that will prepare students for careers taking on some of the most crucial global problems.
All three MSc degrees, offered through the University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Studies (IBERS), offer direct career opportunities in fields linked to the environment and food and water security.
The new degrees have been designed to develop experts who will be able to devise innovative strategies and novel solutions to deal with a range of new challenges facing agriculture and food and water supply across the world.
The graduating students will also have new skills and expertise to transfer knowledge and adapt the latest research to the needs of industry, government and communities worldwide
“These degrees are taking advantage of the world-class research and expertise within IBERS and some of our partner institutes and departments within the University,” says IBERS Director, Professor Wayne Powell.
“They continue with IBERS’ tradition of adapting, using scientific research to find practical solutions to major problems, and will prepare students who can serve Wales, their communities and human kind.”
The three degrees
The new MSc in Food and Water Security is the only course of its kind in the UK – aimed at tackling one of the most pressing international issues Master’s graduates in Food and Water Security are likely to be in high demand as governments search for ways of ensuring adequate supplies of affordable and nutritious food and safe water in a changing environment. The course will take a comprehensive approach to the subject, involving politics, biological strategies and environmental policy. Two other internationally renowned centres at Aberystwyth University – the Department of International Politics and the Institute of Geography and Earth Science contribute equally with IBERS to the teaching of this new postgraduate degree.
Two other new Masters degrees in IBERS – MSc in Animal Science and the MSc in Livestock Science, are aimed directly at the food and agriculture sectors and will run in parallel with the already very well established Master’s degree in Equine Science Animal Science balances the challenge of animal welfare with the demands of production, dealing with breeding and management and focusing on the development of innovative policies across a wide range of domesticated animal species.
Livestock Science faces up to the challenge of food security – finding ways of securing quantity and quality of food at an affordable price. The course will develop well qualified postgraduates that can work on innovative concepts and ideas in farm livestock.
All three courses are one year in length and involve two semesters of taught modules with the third semester involving a project within one of the research groups in IBERS or within partner Universities worldwide. There is also an opportunity to complete the degrees on a part-time basis (one day per week in the University) over two years.
“These courses build on the strengths of IBERS and the other departments at Aberystwyth University,” says Professor Wayne Powell. “They draw on the latest scientific research and the teaching expertise that has made them respected across the world.”
