RAU 175th Anniversary Celebration

2020 is a landmark year for the RAU, as it turns 175.

We will be marking this milestone throughout the year as part of our usual University calendar, but we will also be taking the opportunity to celebrate with some special one-off events.

We hope that all our alumni, friends and supporters will have a chance to join us in these festivities, whether by attending one of the events, or joining in, wherever you are, with our global day of celebration on 15 September to say “Happy Birthday RAU”.

https://www.rau.ac.uk/about/news-and-events/news/rau-175th-anniversary-celebration

 

University of the Year nomination for RAU

nomination image

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has been nominated for University of the Year, in a prestigious set of awards based on reviews from students themselves.

The RAU has made the shortlist of 10 universities competing for the top title in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2019. It has also been nominated in the Job Prospects category for the second year running.

The news comes in the same week the RAU was made a Centre of Excellence by the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs – only the sixth university to gain this accreditation.

Whatuni collected over 41,000 student reviews from 160 universities and colleges, traveling more than 43,000 miles across the UK in six months.

Students answered questions on topics such as how well their university helped them find employment and what they liked most and least about the way their course is taught.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 25 April at The Brewery in London, hosted by comedian Omid Djalili.

Katie Duncan, Head of Communications, at IDP Connect which produces the awards said: “In a challenging climate for Higher Education institutions, there is nothing more rewarding than being recognized by their  students for delivering such positive experiences. The reviews by current students that make up these nominations are invaluable for prospective students who use them to make decisions about their future.”

Julie Walkling, Director for Students at the RAU said: “Students are the focus of everything we do. These nominations recognize the transformative, inclusive experience being created here at ’OurRAU’, where students’ opinions matter and staff strive to improve teaching, facilities and the sense of community.”

The RAU offers a range of courses in agriculture, animal science, business, environment, equine science, farm management, food, real estate and rural land management.

This year it launched two new postgraduate degrees designed to help students becomes leaders in UK food and agriculture, post-Brexit; an MBA in Innovation in Sustainable Food and Agriculture and an MSc in Sustainable Food and Agriculture Policy.

Agritech and the Future of British Farming

The RAU and Farm491 are organising a two day Agritech event which will feature a commercial tech showcase, industry debates, exciting on-farm demonstrations and much more.

Ticket prices: £6 RAU students and staff: Free
For more information and to book tickets please go to: agritechandthefuture.eventbrite.co.uk

Preventing Cycle Theft

In Gloucestershire bicycles are one of the most targeted items by thieves.

Don’t give a thief a free ride …. Register your bike.

There are a number of free on line registration services that are quick and easy to use. If your bike is stolen and found by the police then a quick check will confirm you as the owner.

 

https://www.bikeregister.com/

https://www.immobilise.com/

 

 

 

RAU graduate wins Farmers Weekly Agricultural Student of the Year

Alex Dunn winning Farmers Weekly award 2018

Alex Dunn awarded ‘Agricultural Student of the Year’ at the 2018 Farmers Weekly Awards.

The judges cited Alex’s “entrepreneurial flair, her drive to gain experience and dedication to improving agriculture’s safety record” as reasons why she beat competition from other leading universities in the land-based sectory.

Alex’s nomination was partly due to her creation of an innovative farm safety app, which won the RAU’s own Grand Idea competition for young entrepreneurs where judges included Levi Roots from Reggae Reggae Sauce and Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton.

Alex graduated this summer with a first-class degree in Agriculture. She is currently in New Zealand working with a family of dairy farmers after winning the Richard Wigram Scholarship which invites students to visit the country to learn and share best practice.

She told the Farmers Weekly: “This is an industry that is exciting and open to those not from farming backgrounds. I like the quick response to actions in dairy and I’m good at reading people, so my short-term goal is to become a dairy farm manager. I would also love to get into milking goats because this is a growing market in the UK.

“Poor health and safety in agriculture is a deep-rooted problem that needs a solution. This app would help to protect staff and visitors by changing attitudes towards health and safety and promoting best practice.”

She said of her time at the RAU, in Cirencester: “The University’s Enterprise Society really helped me to develop my ideas, as well as a proof of concept and a business plan that was really scalable.

“What excites me most about the business is to be able to make a difference in the industry. It’s not only agriculture here – there are people studying business and equine and you can learn so much – food production, for example, is going to be so important in the future. The University helps you develop any business idea you’ve got, whether it’s related to the agricultural industry or not.”

Professor Joanna Price, Vice-Chancellor of the Royal Agricultural University said: “Helping out on a local mixed livestock smallholding in Reading as a teenager fostered Alex’s love of the industry. She is a great role model for those who are not from a traditional farming background who may want to study a land-based subject.”

Independent judge Ian Pigott, farmer and Farmers Weekly Columnist said: “It is clear that Alex is not only extremely bright, but also intuitively perceptive of farming issues well beyond her years. But it is the overwhelmingly high regard with which she is viewed by her peers and lecture staff, recognising her skills as a leader, a team player and an asset for British farming, which stood Alex out.”