Working with industry
During the past five years, we have worked with most recognisable names in the food industry sector. Each year the Department generates around £1.5 million of industrially funded research – all of which is independent and therefore published. We have a wide range of industrially-funded research projects and contracts under our Food Chain and Health Scheme, including one-to-one funding from multi -national companies through to small and medium enterprises (SME’s).
We are very successful with overseas industrial links, particularly in Europe. Several LINK schemes, BBSRC Case studentships and EU projects are also co-operative with industrial partners and consortia. We have also run a number of successful Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) with SMEs and larger companies.
The University of Reading strongly encourages individual consultancies and the department also has links to various ‘outreach facilities.’ The Processing Research Centre (PRC) generates over £100,000 each year from companies using our staff expertise to help with food grade pilot plant processing for example.
We also have two Advisory Boards for research and teaching where industry is well represented. Strong links exist with the Food Technology Transfer Centre which has over 200 industrial members. Our Food Industry Training Reading programme has gained much recognition for the extremely well attended training it offers. Case studentships are seen as very important to the department’s success and give students a positive blend of academic and industrial training. Over 10 Case studentships have been completed in the last five years in the food area.
Many staff in the department act as consultants to the food and pharmaceutical industries, providing both independent scientific advice and expertise. The valuable experience gained by our graduates in their placement year means that very many of them go on to successful careers in the food industry.
We have three successful centres which have been established to provided easy access for businesses wishing to have our help. See: