The Centre for Rural Economy is a research centre at Newcastle University. It specialises in interdisciplinary social science and applied policy research. We work towards the achievement of sustainable development in rural areas.

Vast array of expertise

We boast one of the most significant groupings of rural social scientists in Europe. We draw knowledge from a team of more than 50 varied specialists, including:

• economists
• geographers
• sociologists
• food marketers
• political scientists
• psychologists

For more information about the research topics covered see the Centre for Rural Economy tab in the Expertise Groups box below.

The Institute for Agri-Food Research and Innovation (IAFRI) is a joint venture between Newcastle University and Fera Science Ltd (Fera).  IAFRI represents a new model for how universities can work with research organisations. It operates under a private-public ownership to deliver both innovation and wealth creation in strategically important industrial sectors in the UK.  It does this while operating for the benefit of society

Innovative agricultural solutions

Our facilities provide an open innovation platform enabling researchers to work with farmers, industry, and environmental and government stakeholders. Together, they develop innovative solutions for balancing sustainable global food production with a thriving rural economy and protection of the wider environment.

Our research helps us to understand:

• the development and functioning of plant and animal hosts, pathogens and their interactions
• the complex biogeochemical functions of the soil
• crop and livestock health, welfare and productivity
• environmental impact
• interactions between the managed farm environment and the land-air-water interface.

We use this fundamental knowledge to:

• integrate genomics, physiology and agronomy in molecular breeding approaches
• develop and optimise farming systems

We collect real data from a network of on-farm crop, soil, livestock and environmental sensors. We use this data to calibrate and validate the digital technologies and models that help us in our research and developments.

Unrivalled expertise in animal science

Our novel, integrative approaches to animal science draw on fundamental research. We advance the health, welfare and production of livestock in an environmentally-sustainable manner. Our approaches meet the requirements of society, industry and policy.

The platform draws on expertise from across the University, including:

• in-field diagnostics, sensors and pathology
• molecular and whole-organism mechanisms of resistance
• phenomics, remote sensing and crop and soil sensing
• precision agriculture
• big data analytics, artificial intelligence and mathematical modelling
• engineering, machine learning and computer vision
• soil health and nutrient dynamics
• sustainable farming systems
• animal behaviour and welfare
• monitoring of nutrient use and mitigating wastage from animals
• ecological network analysis
• applied social and economic sciences
• policy and rural economic development
• nutritional quality of food and the impact of production systems

One of the two Government Agritech Innovation Centres that we are involved in, CIEL is a consortium of 11 world-class research institutes developing new industry-needed solutions.

Our role in The Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) is to lead the Centre for Digital Innovation Applied to Livestock (C-DIAL).

Based at the University’s Cockle Park Farm C-DIAL is a purpose-built facility bringing the latest sensor-based and automated technologies to precision livestock farming, and equipment for the continuous monitoring of the performance, health and welfare of livestock.  Secure storage and processing of the large body of data generated can be carried out at the Centre and there are also conference and demonstration facilities on site.

C-DIAL is a cross-faculty initiative between veterinarians, animal and computer scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

Find out more by emailing NU-Farms, visiting the CIEL website, or downloading our C-DIAL_Leaflet.

We draw on fundamental research and apply it to areas of societal, industrial and policy importance.

Our ethos is to utilise high quality animal science to address challenges facing society, and our research involves a wide range of species including livestock, laboratory and companion animal species.

Our research extends from the molecular to the whole animal.

The main areas of research are:

• assessing welfare and improving the wellbeing of animals
• developing more sustainable livestock systems
• investigating basic mechanisms underpinning animal function

 Our teaching underpins degree programmes in:

• Animal Science
• Biology
• Zoology
• Agriculture

In order to address societal, industrial and policy questions, we have developed a number of successful partnerships to widen our research capacity and better realise the research impact. 

This has included collaborations in:

• business management
• food chain and consumer studies
• food science
• environmental science
• engineering
• computing

In 2013, we won the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. It recognises the excellence of our research and teaching.

During the past 25 years, we have worked on many national and international projects. They cover a wide range of topics, including:

• rural employment
• rural policy
• farmer and consumer behaviour
• rural tourism
• environmental management
• rural communities and organisations

Our mission is to make rural lives better through research and sharing of knowledge. In pursuit of this aim, we:

• practise excellent social science
• work with partners across academic disciplines and beyond academia
• teach and inspire a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers

Food Quality and Health Sciences research is focused on understanding how food and food constituents (particularly vitamins, nutrients and phytochemicals, as well as medicinal plants) affect human health and well-being, relating to healthy ageing, food security, sensory quality, international nutrition and personalized nutrition. FQH staff work in Newcastle and Singapore.

Much of the research is multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary, via links across disciplines within the School, and across the University through the Human Nutrition Research Centre. Each theme contains both publicly and commercially funded activities.