Projects starting in autumn 2025
We’re looking forward to welcoming our 2025 cohort of researchers who will be working on 22 projects that span the food system from farm to fork. Find out more about the projects in the table below.
Project descriptions
| Research area | Project title | Lead Supervisor | Co-Supervisor / University | Doctoral Researcher |
| Aberystwyth University | ||||
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Awakening the dormant soil microbiome | Arwyn Edwards | Rachel Wheatley, Queen’s University Belfast | Michelle Munguia Figueroa |
| Farmed animal health and welfare | Unravelling Bovine Tuberculosis: Novel Biomarker Discovery and Host-Pathogen Interaction Insights through Transcriptomic Analysis | Amanda Gibson | Suzie Hingley-Wilson, University of Surrey | Madison Wade |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Decoding Heat Tolerance At Flowering: Using Multi-omics Approaches to Unlock Crop Resilience | Andrew Lloyd | Fady Mohareb, Cranfield University | Frederick Ward |
| Crop health | Genome editing enhanced myxobacterial predators for biological control of diverse crop pathogens | David Whitworth | Zoltan Kevei, Cranfield University | Amy Deane |
| Brunel University | ||||
| Reducing waste | Engineering Bacteria for Enhanced Degradation of Food-Associated Plastic Waste | Ronan McCarthy | Francis Hassard, Cranfield University | Magdalena Howe |
| Cranfield University | ||||
| Food safety (other) | From hive to home: A holistic approach to honey authentication | Maria Anastasiadi | Katrina Campbell, Queen’s University Belfast | Tatiana Stead |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Genomic selection to accelerate raspberry breeding | Zoltan Kevei | Gancho Slavov, Aberystwyth University | Johanna Würtz |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Greenhouse gas removal using plants and soil: enhanced rock weathering on land | Guy Kirk | John Hammond, University of Reading | Jake Crooks |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Evaluating suitability of graphitic carbon from methane cracking to improve soil nutrient retention for crop uptake | Ruben Sakrabani | Paul Williams, Queen’s University Belfast | Zoe Partington |
| Queen’s University Belfast | ||||
| Farmed animal health and welfare | VIROWORM: Characterising the Interplay between Parasitic Nematodes, Viruses and their Hosts | Connor Bamford | Martha Betson, University of Surrey | Katie Murphy |
| One health | Validating circulating biomarkers for liver fluke diagnostics | Paul McVeigh | Russ Morphew, Aberystwyth University | Saoirse Ellis |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Climate-Friendly Beef: Long-Term Assessment of Methane Inhibitors | Katerina Theodoridou | Sokratis Stergiadis, University of Reading | Kesaitse Moleele |
| Combatting antimicrobial resistance | Mapping the farmscape of antibiotic resistance: metagenomes, antibiotic resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements | Rachel Wheatley | Arwyn Edwards, Aberystwyth University | Oliver Lorenz |
| University of Reading | ||||
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Optimising above and belowground ecosystem services for sustainable crop production | Michael Garratt | Alice Johnston, Cranfield University | Theodore Heaton-Davies |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Application of an optimality-based crop model to predict future cereal yields | Sandy Harrison | Paul Burgess, Cranfield University | Charlie Goulbourne |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Novel pathways to transition complex supply chains to regenerative agriculture | Martin Lukac | Stelvia Matos, University of Surrey | Wiktoria Szkolnicka |
| Nutrition | Exploring the sensory and appetite-regulating potential of edible insects in adults with obesity | Ezgi Ozen | Ralph Manders, University of Surrey | Dolapo Olawoyin |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | Beyond nitrogen and the nodule: How rhizobial trait diversity enhances crops, soil and environmental health | Liz Shaw | Mark Pawlett, Cranfield University | Steven Orito |
| Sustainable agricultural systems | AI-based discovery of methane mitigation additives for ruminants | Sokratis Stergiadis | Katerina Theodoridou, Queen’s University Belfast | Anna Levison |
| University of Surrey | ||||
| Nutrition | Beyond bone health: How does vitamin D protect our DNA? | Ruan Elliott | Marcus Tindall, University of Reading | Rabail Syed |
| One health | Developing Phage Therapy to Combat Drug-Resistant Poultry Pathogens | Jai Mehat | Linda Oyama, Queen’s University Belfast | Kieran Cooney-Nutley |
| Farmed animal health and welfare | Future-proofing livestock health by quantifying the burden of disease and benefits of sustainable interventions | Joaquin Prada | Eric Morgan, Queen’s University Belfast | Emma Carter |