Accolades for researchers in the Agri-TechE ecosystem

It has been a good week for researchers within our ecosystem, with both SRUC and University of Lincoln being awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize (16th November 2023). Additionally, five researchers have been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers™ 2023 list from Clarivate, placing them among world’s most influential scholars, based on citations.

Queen’s Anniversary Prize

The Queen’s Anniversary Prize is the highest National Honour in the UK for further and higher education. It recognises outstanding work that shows excellence, innovation and benefit to the wider world.

Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology (LIAT) at the University of Lincoln is a specialist research centre focussed on improving productivity, efficiency, and sustainability across the food chain “from farm to fork”. It hosts the UK’s first global centre of excellence in agri-robotics research, Lincoln Agri-Robotics.

Professor Simon Pearson, Founding Director of LIAT, said: “We are absolutely delighted that this work has been recognised in this prestigious National Honour.”

Along with the University of Cambridge and University of East Anglia, Lincoln is also a partner in the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training for Agri-food Robotics (AgriFoRwArdS) – a first-of-its-kind advanced training centre.

The work of SRUC’s Veterinary Services has also been recognised with a Queen’s Anniversary Prize. With around 7,300 farmers and livestock keeper members, SRUC Veterinary Services is the largest provider of livestock health schemes in the UK, transforming animal health and welfare and contributing hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy through improved productivity.

Professor Wayne Powell, Principal and Chief Executive of SRUC, said: “Being awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize is a huge honour for everyone at Scotland’s Rural College and reflects both the quality of our research and the commitment of our staff.”

Highly Cited Researchers 2023

The world’s most highly cited researchers on the 2023 list include:

Prof. Jonathan Jones, Group Leader at The Sainsbury Laboratory TSL – the group uses advanced breeding techniques to create resilient crop plants that are less dependent on plant protection chemicals – read an interview with Jonathan. TSL also hosted an event for Agri-TechE Week 2023.

Prof. Sophien Kamoun, Group leader at TSL – his team studies plant-pathogen coevolution and how it impacts mechanisms of virulence and immunity. Resurrect Bio, a spinout from Prof. Kamoun’s lab, was featured in the REAP 2023 Start-Up Showcase.

Prof Tracy Lawson, Director of Essex Plant Innovation Centre, University of Essex. Her research is aimed at improving plant productivity and primarily focused on stomatal physiology. EPIC hosted an event as part of Agri-TechE Week 2023

Prof. Tony Miller, Senior Scientist at the John Innes Centre, has an interest improving nutrient use efficiency and has spun out a company, PlentySense, to commercialise his novel nitrogen soil sensors. PlentySense was featured in the REAP 2023 Start-Up Showcase.

Prof. Giles Oldroyd, Director of the Crop Science Centre, Cambridge, is internationally recognised for his work on nitrogen fixation, which aims to replace inorganic chemistry with biological approaches.