This studentship is for a fixed period of 12 months and covers fees (Home/EU students only; international students will have partial cover of up to ?3,950 of their fees) and a tax-free stipend of ?12000 per year.

Automated Electronic Food Integrity Profiler System
Reference Number: Studentship/HolPGR13/14.1

Project Summary

The Department of Food and Tourism Management has an opening for an MSc studentship to progress e-food safety research into new electronic systems for the Agri-Food sector.

Project Aims and Objectives

To develop an automated electronic food safety profiling system to increase the integrity of global food security.

Project Background

In the UK Campylobacter is recognised as the most common cause of the food-borne illness and is responsible for causing more than 300,000 cases of food poisoning in England and Wales in 2008, with over 15,000 hospitalisation and almost 80 deaths (FSA, 2010). The primary source of Campylobacter infection has been indicated as poultry and it is estimated that almost two-thirds of raw chickens sold in the UK are contaminated with Campylobacter (FSA, 2010).

The ability to create information-sharing channels functioning in parallel with the flow of product are just some of the challenges facing organisations in the management of their supply chains and networks as opposed to simple internal house record management systems. Many organisations have mastered the management of their information on a local scale relating to their own in house processes. This challenge is further exasperated by the internationalisation of supply chains where organisations are shifting focus internationally in the development of a sustainable competitive advantage.

The primary purpose of the project is the development of an electronic smart profiler temperature mapping system to monitor food safety and integrity during transport. It will be built on the resource of actionable data ? obtained wirelessly from strategically placed sensors accompanying the product during transport. It will establish of a secure chain of custody across both national and international food supply chains.

Specific Requirements of the Project

Applicants should be educated to at least BEng/BTech or BSc (Hons) level with a 2:1 (upper second or equivalent) or better, ideally in Food Engineering or Biosystems Engineering. Appropriate knowledge of biosensor systems and microbiology is advantageous with strong a command of statistical software packages (e.g. matlab). Good communication skills (oral and written) in English are also required.

Supervisory Team

The successful candidate will be supervised in the Department of Food and Consumer Technology and co-supervised by staff in Smart Sensing Unit, University College Dublin, Ireland. You will work in a multi-disciplinary team comprising Food Microbiologist, Electric Engineering and Biosystems Engineering, and interact with other students and researchers from other departments.

How to Apply

Please quote the studentship reference number: ?Studentship/HolPGR13/14.1

Applications should be completed using the Postgraduate Research Degree Application Form?

?Return the completed application via the 'Apply' button below.

PLEASE NOTE that Section 9 of the application should be used to write a personal statement outlining your suitability for the study, what you hope to achieve from the MSc and your research experience to date.

For further information and informal discussions, please contact: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Dr. Daniel Anang (d.m.anang@mmu.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0) 161 247 6461) or Prof. Chris Smith (c.x.smith@mmu.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0) 161 247 2655).

Application Closing Date: Friday, 10 January 2014

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