Plant Biotechnology and Enterprise at Durham University

One of the principal challenges that our society faces is the need for increased agricultural productivity via improved crop protection and plant biotechnology. The number of novel crop protection and biotech products registered in the EU has been decreasing over the last 10 years. This is, in part, due to a sector covered by a reduced number of companies, a difficult legislative environment, and the lack of profesionals with skills and specific knowledge. Given the quality of the UK Plant-science research and education system, the socio-economical context and the increase in global warming-associated natural catastrophes, there has never been a more important time to train new scientists in plant biotechnology, to underpin economic growth.

Most of the Biosciences graduates finish their degree with limited practical and experimental skills, and the practical knowledge required for translating their ideas into commercial products. Furthermore, due to the rapidly evolving nature of the biosciences field, employers seek graduates with transferable skills beyond those established in their first degree. In order to fulfill the curriculum gap and to improve the employability and business development know-how of home and overseas bioscientists, academics at the DU Bioscience department have designed a postgraduate taught course in Plant Biotechnology & Enterprise.

The programme consists of five compulsory taught modules (80 credits) and a research project (100 credits). Four of the five taught modules have been explicitly designed for this program and aim to provide exceptional theoretical subject-specific content and transferable knowledge and skills. The “Bioinformatics and Data science” module, shared with the PGT in Data Science, will provide fundamental knowledge and skills in for the computational and statistical analysis of big-data. The research project builds on material covered in the taught modules and will provide the practical and experimental knowledge and skills.