| Education
Mature learners give
Harper Adams success
new spraying course the
thumbs up!
It has been announced today that all research
conducted by Harper Adams University is of
international quality and that more than 50 per cent is
either world leading or internationally excellent.
Moulton College has been training farmers and those who
work on the land since 1921.
e offer a wide range of full
and part time courses and
apprenticeships, as well as
short legislative courses
and have recently starting
offering the new award in
the “Safe use of
Pesticides” so that people
previously covered by Grandfather
Rights can demonstrate their
competence and meet the new
legislation which comes into force
on 26th November 2015.
W
“This has focused my attention
and given me a better insight
into the current procedures
and legisIation”
This means that everyone who
uses plant protection products
(PPPs) authorised for professional
use must have a recognised
certificate or competence. Please
note that after 26 November 2015,
it will be an offence for anyone to
purchase PPPs authorised for
professional use unless they have
ensured that the intended end
user has a certificate of
competence.
The first learners completed
their training and assessment in
November at Moulton College.
Melvyn Chapman attended this
course and commented:
“It was an excellent course –
well delivered. This has focused
my attention and given me a better
insight into the current procedures
and legisIation”.
If you’d like to know more about
any of our courses please do visit
our website to find out more. To
find out more about our range of
legislative short courses please
call us on 01604 673533.
12 | Farming Monthly | January 2015
he news comes as results
of the new system for
assessing the quality of
research in UK higher education
institutions have been released.
The Research Excellence
Framework (REF) has replaced
the Research Assessment
Exercise (RAE), and will be used
as a means to allocate around £2
billion per year of research
funding to UK universities, based
on the quality and volume of each
institution’s research.
Vice-Chancellor, Dr David
Llewellyn, said: “We are delighted
to have made such significant
progress in this major exercise to
assess the quality of UK university
research.
“Conducting research of direct
relevance to the agri-food sector,
whilst also addressing new
technological developments and
the challenge of global food
security, have been fundamental
elements of our strategy.
“We have clearly shown that
our research is of international
standing, with elements that are
world leading, and this will further
T
strengthen our research activities
in the years ahead. Our overall
rating also confirms our position
as the leading specialist higher
education institution for
agricultural research in England.”
Since 2008 when the RAE was
last conducted, Harper Adams
has significantly increased its
number of research active staff –
making nine professorial
appointments in areas such as
agricultural engineering,
entomology, soil science,
sustainable energy and plant
pathology.
Alongside the recruitment of a
further 21 research active
academic staff, this represents a
significant investment for the
institution, and has led to the
creation of three interdisciplinary
research centres in precision
farming, integrated pest
management and soil and water
management.
To support these increases, the
university’s infrastructure has also
seen investment – a figure that
totals more than £15m since 2008.
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk