The Scottish universities

Abstract

SynopsisOnly two Scottish universities are directly involved in education in the food area. At Strathclyde students can read for a BSc with honours in Food Science, and for an MSc in Food Science and Microbiology. At Heriot-Watt students can read for a BSc in Brewing, a BSc with honours in Brewing and Microbiology or Biochemistry, and for an MSc in Brewing. Food education in the universities is almost entirely dependent on UGC funding, and sponsorship is rare except for students from overseas. The food industry in Britain has a poor record for supporting university education. In recent years the centralisation of the activities of large manufacturing companies in the South has reduced career prospects for graduates in Scotland. Although few in number, the staff at Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt have earned a high reputation for their research, ranging from basic to applied studies. A significant proportion of doctoral students are from overseas countries, as are most MSc students. Funding for research has always been difficult, except for support from the brewing and distilling industries. However, moves to reorganise and rationalise publicly funded support for R & D in the food and drinks industry are beginning to have an effect, and in some respects the prospects for university food research have never been brighter. There are, however, several unsatisfactory aspects in this situation. Current government policy is to cut-back university funding to the detriment, inter alia, of staffing for food science, thereby restricting the number of research supervisors in a declared area of national priority! This is also harmful in that staff can no longer handle small enquiries and problems from industry, so impairing relations which are already tenuous. Finally, inability to recruit replacement and new staff is preventing the universities from leading the way into new applications of molecular biology and biotechnology in foodstuffs.