Core modules
Soil, Sustainability and the Environment
In this module you will focus on understanding the importance of soil in supporting ecosystem services, ways in which soils are managed in agricultural systems and the wider environmental consequences, and threats to soil security. Key topics are soil biology, biogeochemical cycling, nutrient use and management, soils and environmental pollution, soil degradation, soils and climate change and compost/waste application to land.
Read more about the Soli, Sustainability and the Environment moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Advances in Crop Protection
This module aims to teach students the importance and impact of plant pests, diseases and weeds on food production and provide them with a thorough understanding of their biology and ecology.
Read more about the Advances in Crop Protection moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Project/Work Placement/Dissertation
The project is a stand-alone component of the MSc allowing you to experience, first hand, research skills, hypothesis development, hypothesis testing, data collection, data handling, data evaluation and result presentation.
Read more about the Project/Work Placement/Dissertation moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Environmental Accounting
The module examines existing methods of environmental accounting, for example, life cycle assessment, ecological footprinting and carbon footprinting and demonstrates how they can be used to quantify, differentiate and interpret the environmental impacts of agricultural and other land based systems.
Read more about the Environmental Accounting moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Climate Change
Climate change is widely agreed to be the most important environmental driver of economic and societal change for the 21st century. In this module you will consider the science of climate change: origins and evidence, predictions and consequences, mitigation and adaptation.
Read more about the Climate Change moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Organic and Low Input Systems
Crop production within low input systems provides a ‘challenge’ to farmers and crop scientists alike in determining how to use their knowledge of the interactions between the soil and plants, and plant pests and pathogens, to grow crops with sufficient yield and quality. In this module you will develop an understanding of the production techniques employed within such systems. The module will focus on arable and horticultural crops but consideration will be given to livestock production within the context of a mixed farming system.
Read more about the Organic and Low Input Systems moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Challenges of Global Food Security
Global food security, providing access for the world’s population to affordable, safe and nutritious food, is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. This module will provide you with an understanding of the elements that contribute to the food security agenda. An essential element of the module will be a critical review of current physical, political and biotic drivers. We will explore the strategies being deployed that influence food security including projected population changes, climate change, ecosystem servicers and resilience, disease and fossil fuel dependence. The module will present a global perspective.
Read more about the Challenges of Global Food Security moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Biosciences, Politics and Social Acceptability
We now live in a world in which we face a set of complex, interlocking crises concerning the climate, human health, biodiversity, food and water, all of which have their roots in unsustainable human activity and exploitation of natural resources, and made possible by a combination of science, technology, and commerce. At the same time, we are seeing new advances in science and technology on a scale that would be unimaginable to previous generations - and which offer new opportunities to make life better, but at the same time offer new threats. Added to this, there are deep questions about how science is done and the trustworthiness of some of its findings. In this module, you discuss these issues and possible ways forward, and how we can use science for the common good in a globalised world.
Read more about the Biosciences, Politics and Social Acceptability moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
- Biodiversity, Conservation and Ecosystem Services
- Biological Invasions in Changing Environments
- Microbiomics and Metagenomics
- Marketing Management
- Business Strategy
- Climate Change and Development (Law)
- Thinking Water (IATL)
- Habitability in the Universe (IATL)
- Public Engagement (IATL)
Our optional module lists are subject to change each year to keep the student learning experience current and up-to-date.
