The Innovation for Agriculture Horizon 2020 MRes Scholarship on the Impact of Agricultural Waste Amendments on Soil Functions

Harper Adams University is the UK’s leading agri-food university, with a very active research programme addressing themes such as the sustainability of agricultural production systems and improving utilisation of agricultural waste streams. Harper Adams University is a leading partner in the Horizon 2020 Circular Economy project, AgroCycle, addressing the use of waste streams within the agri-food industry as valuable feed materials for other downstream process including use as soil amendments. This project aims to investigate the impacts of soil amendment with different waste streams, including digestates and pyrolysis end products. The project will look at the wider picture, aiming to provide farmers with guidance regarding the costs, benefits and trade-offs of different waste management strategies. It will potentially detail the consequences for crop yields, ecosystem functions and environmental impacts that are central to the sustainability of the Circular Economy.

Supported by Innovation for Agriculture within the framework of the pan-EU (and China) H2020 AgroCycle project, the university wishes to recruit an MRes student to address the subject matter outlined above. The candidate should have an excellent academic record with a primary degree in agriculture, soils, microbiology or biological sciences; knowledge or an interest in improving waste utilisation within agricultural systems would be an advantage. The project will be run and supervised by collaboration between Innovation for Agriculture, Harper Adams University, and other academic partners within the AgroCycle project. The student will be primarily located at Harper Adams University with regular visits to Innovation for Agriculture and other field sites.