Minister Mary Coughlan TD today launched a new initiative in postgraduate education in the agri-food sector. The Food Graduate Development Programme, (www.foodpostgrad.ie) has received funding to the tune of €1.1million for a five-year period by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM).

Speaking at the launch Minister Mary Coughlan referred to the competitive challenges facing the food sector and the need to have a skilled workforce in place to drive the industry forward. “The aim of my Department, in funding the Programme, is to address the needs of the food industry by ensuring that postgraduate students and research staff engaged in food research projects gain an understanding of industry expectations and skills required for duties requiring rapid decisions on problem solving in an industrial environment. This will complement the research skills acquired in the course of their research projects,” said Minister Coughlan.

Professor of Food and Health at UCD, Mike Gibney explained that the overall objective of the Programme is to improve skills training through the creation of a modularised series of graduate training programmes. Programme modules will have a strong emphasis on the skills required of leaders in the agri-food sector, food industry and other research institutions nationally and internationally.

Dean of Graduate Studies at UCC and Director of Training of the Programme, Dr Alan Kelly, highlighted the changing national context of postgraduate education and continuing professional development, where inter-institutional collaboration delivering high-level transferable skills allowing graduates to make the maximum impact in their careers in the knowledge economy. Dr Kelly described the new Food programme as a pioneering model for how such programmes may develop in the future.

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