Graham Anderson, UK R&D Team Leader, gives us his reasons why BEKO has benefitted from working with AgriFoRwArdS, and the partner Universities:
- Opportunity to explore cutting edge tech areas.
- Chance to interact with top academics.
- Direct projects on research areas relevant to future product areas.
- Working with AgriFoRwArdS gives BEKO a broad range of research areas with a central goal which gives a great overview of the state of the art.
- Embrace the agility that is afforded by the academic environment in terms of project direction.
Why do CEFAS engage with research?
Cefas is a UK government science agency providing evidence and advice on the management of aquatic environments. Research is central to what we do and our long-standing partnerships with universities allow us to together tackle environmental problems in an efficient and productive manner. This is illustrated by our work on food security, where we couple our expertise in fisheries and aquaculture science with the technical knowledge in artificial intelligence of our CDT partners to explore exciting prospects for improving processes and data generation for seafood resources. The collaborations are particularly successful when they allow us to tap into expertise we do not have in-house.
Helen Ferrier, Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Advisor at NFU, explains why the NFU collaborates with us:
“It enables us to share our practical and political knowledge and experiences with those in the academic sector, so that their research can have a grounding in real world challenges and working towards genuine solutions. It gives us a wider perspective on the issues we are dealing with day to day, giving us the opportunity to think and discuss more deeply with a broad network of experts from a range of disciplines. It helps us understand a fuller range of possibilities that could be open to our business and sector, and to help identify those with most potential for positive and genuine impact.”
Hear from NIAB, regarding why they engage with Universities:
- PhD students working with us at our sites ensures that researchers engaged with the students are working at the cutting edge of science. It keeps us relevant and on our toes
- Ties to the University provide links to a vast resource of expertise, which leads to new ideas, new collaborations, and opportunities to look outside our traditional research disciplines.
- Working with a University affords occasional opportunity for people in our business to offer guest lectures at undergraduate and graduate levels. Direct engagement with students gives them ideas for future career paths, and through this kind of exposure it can lead to fruitful recruitment for us.
And why do NIAB specifically engage with AgriFoRwArdS?
“Agri-robotics provide potential solutions for some key business needs, and allow us to help develop innovations in robotics for our partners and customers. These are things we would not be able to accomplish on our own without the collaborations and expertise in the AgriFoRwArdS programme.
Initiate conversations with the experts in the AgriFoRwArdS programme and describe your business pinch points. If there is someone else with more relevant expertise, connections can be made. It is also surprising the number of scientists who are eager to step out of their usual areas of work to consider new problems and accept new challenges.”