Sustainable Crop Production: Agronomy for the 21st Century (MSc)

Course overview

Crop agriculture provides mankinds increasing population with foods, fibres and fuel and this course provides you with knowledge and practical skills in crop management and crop improvement.

In this master's course you will gain a combination of practical expertise and academic understanding to develop key skills. You will learn the principles of crop production, including the latest advances in plant pathology, integrated pest management and soil health.

Skills from this degree

You will gain:

• An understanding of how crops are grown and the factors affecting crop production
• The knowledge to identify and understand the causes of crop disorders and make decisions on appropriate management/control measures
• The skills to critically evaluate how constraints on crop production can change due to biotic and societal pressures
• Transferable skills including team working, communicating with peers and sector specialists, organising, planning and oral presentation
• Research skills including scientific report writing, conducting surveys, problem solving, data analysis and project work

Teaching

You'll be taught by expert scientists who undertake research in solving major global challenges in areas such as food security, disease control, bioenergy, systems biology, neurobiology and climate change. Also, external professional experts teach on selected modules giving a vital extra dimension to your teaching experience.

Teaching is typically via facilitated session, including interactive lectures, short question and answer sessions, field trips and interactive workshops/tutorials. Individual and team learning will be used for case study analysis.

Class sizes

Class sizes for this course vary between 5 to 90 students.

Typical contact hours

Depending on the module contact hours vary between 15-25 per week.

Assessment

Assessment is continuous and varies between modules. It typically includes essays, seminar presentations, practical reports, oral evaluation and assessed group work. You will undertake an individual project during the third term and there is an option for you to undertake a work-based placement as part of your project. Your project will be assessed by a seminar presentation and a 15,000 word thesis or 6,000 word journal article.

Reading lists

Most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library. If you would like to view reading lists for the current cohort of students you can visit our Warwick Library web pageLink opens in a new window.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

Undergraduate: Warwick IFP required. Alternatively IB, A-Levels, APs/SAT IIs will be considered.

First Class:84% (GPA of 3.65/4.0)
2.1: 73% (GPA 3.0 out of 4.0)
2.2: 62%(GPA of 2.5/4.0)

Your career

Graduates from the School of Life Sciences taught Masters courses have gone on to work for employers including:

• Pfizer
• Severn Trent Water
• Eurofins Agroscience Services
• Novartis
• Philips Healthcare
• Rothamstead Research
• NGO Client Earth
• Public Health England

They have pursued roles such as: research associate, science editor, regulatory affairs officer, marketing manager, business and financial project management professionals, environmental health professionals, agronomist, and climate change consultant.

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

• Careers in Life Sciences Networking Event
• Careers in Science
• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
• Mock Interviews for Life Sciences students
• Interested in Careers in Scientific Publishing