Closing Date: 06 April 2025

The Agriculture and Animal Science group (AAS) and the Centre for Rural Economy (CRE) in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences are delighted to invite applications for three endowment-funded fellowship opportunities, two in AAS (Robert Little Fellow) and one for CRE (Percy Fellow). The fellowships offer a unique opportunity for successful applicants to be provided with the academic support and start-up costs to pursue a personal research agenda that will link to both the specific discipline area and the School’s wider portfolio of interests. The School’s ethos is to create an open, inclusive and collaborative learning and research environment, with scholarship that will have a positive impact on society as a whole. We also pride ourselves on our interdisciplinarity and you will be invited to work with colleagues from a variety of disciplines across both the natural and social sciences. The three fellowships all sit within Agriculture, Food Systems and Rural Development, one of the four Areas of Expertise that constitute our School. 

 

The Agriculture and Animal Science (AAS) group adopts a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to address the complex challenges of sustainable food production while safeguarding the environment. By uniting expertise in crop and livestock systems, the group is dedicated to developing innovative solutions that enhance resource efficiency, promote ecosystem health, and benefit society at large. Our work bridges crop science, focusing on digital farming, innovative cropping systems, soil health, resource-use efficiency, and land use strategies, with animal science, emphasising animal behaviour, health and welfare, reproduction, nutrition, and regenerative livestock systems. This integration enables us to design and implement holistic strategies that prioritise the well-being of animals, the productivity of farming systems, and the long-term sustainability of agricultural landscapes.

 

We are particularly committed to advancing research on emerging technologies and their application in  cropping,  livestock and mixed farming systems, exploring the implications of land-use changes on carbon emissions, and fostering farmer engagement with agri-environment policy and practice. By combining expertise across disciplines, we aim to innovate at the intersection of plant and animal sciences, contributing to resilient, regenerative food systems that address global challenges and support thriving environments and communities.

 

To further enhance our capabilities, the AAS group is seeking two Research Fellows to join our dynamic team, We envisage these to be one focusing primarily on Agriculture and the other on Animal Science, however, we would particularly encourage candidates with an interst in research on mixed farming systems (ie integrating livestock and arable/horticulture). We are looking for individuals passionate about driving innovation in cropping systems, land-use changes, or advancing regenerative livestock systems that prioritise animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Some examples include the integration of precision agriculture, climate-smart farming practices, alternative proteins, agroecological approaches such as silvopasture, and sustainable bioeconomy innovations. These roles offer a unique opportunity to collaborate on transformative research and drive meaningful impact in agriculture and animal science.

A third Research Fellow, The Percy Fellow, will be appointed to join our award-winning  Centre for Rural Economy (CRE). The CRE is an University research centre, internationally recognised, specialising in multidisciplinary applied social science and policy research working towards the achievement of sustainable development in rural areas, including farming. Our research spans topics such as changing land use, food waste, agricultural and rural policy, migrant workers and gender equality. We work closely with stakeholder groups and government (please note our website is currently being updated). We co-host the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) and are committed to engage with and disseminate the findings of our research to a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers and practitioners. The successful candidate can focus on any relevant topics on the social science of the rural economy, communities, food, and land use.

 

Across our school, research on food and farming is underpinned by the 800ha mixed arable and grazing NUFarms. The NUFarms constitute a combined commerical enterprise and academic resource, hosting 14 research platforms and facilities/equipment for specialied research, including our Hydrologically Isolated Plots, Agroforestry Plots, Palace Leas Hay Meadow, Porcine and Poultry Research Units and a digital livestock building with a (18m long) gait lab. Core themes of NUFarms are regenerative and resilient farming and digital and molecular smart monitoring.

 

This is a fixed term post for the duration of 4 years.

 

For any informal enquiries please contact Dr Rachel Sparks rachel.sparks@newcastle.ac.uk or Professor Andy Benniston andrew.benniston@newcastle.ac.uk