Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) recently hosted its annual Agri-Food and Life Sciences’ Careers’ Fair in Belfast.
The event provided an opportunity for employers working within the farming, food processing, and life sciences’ sectors to interface with current QUB students.
However, a key topic of discussion on the day were QUB’s new veterinary bioscience and agricultural science degree courses, for which the first tranche of students are currently applying.
QUB student careers and work placement consultant, Grace Heatley, commented on the significance of this development:
“We are holding an event for careers’ teachers linked to the launch of the new courses later in May. This will be followed by student open days in June and December,” she said.
It is envisaged that the new degree in veterinary biosciences will offer an accelerated course completion opportunities for graduates wishing to enrol in schools of veterinary medicine around the UK.
On that basis, the completion of the new graduate course at QUB could bring a standard five-year course in veterinary medicine down to four years.
Meanwhile, Prof. Nigel Scollan, head of the QUB School of Biological Sciences, is hopeful of a strong student enrolment figure for the 2026/2027 academic year where the new courses are concerned.
He said: “Both meet a genuine need, and the feedback we have been getting up to now has been extremely positive.
“It is 20 years since the last new programmes were introduced into the School for Biological Sciences, and these are a direct result of discussions that have taken place involving representatives from QUB and stakeholders operating across the farming and food industry.
“It is the responsibility of a university to respond to need. Agricuture, food and veterinary are very big parts of our society.”
Prof. Scollan believes the need for people who are trained and skilled in very advanced education has never been more relevant.
“The new programmes will allow our students enter into new research, government and communication pathways for the future,” he added.
“There are many different career pathways now opening up for our student graduates into the future.
The professor also highlighted that the School for Biological Sciences hosts the Institute for Global Food Security.
“In turn, the institute spreads out to other schools within Queen’s Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences and beyond,”Prof. Scollan continued.
“The end result is the provision of education, underpinned by cutting-edge research.”
