The KTP brings together the scientific expertise of HAU, one of the UK’s leading specialist agricultural and environmental universities, with RES’s long-established reputation and influence in the field of entomology. As the KTP Associate, you will be based at RES headquarters in London while receiving academic supervision and access to specialist expertise from HAU.

About the Role

You will take the lead in designing, testing and launching a commercially viable consultancy service that translates research driven entomological and environmental knowledge into practical, market ready solutions for sectors such as agriculture, conservation, ecological assessment and land management. This will involve shaping the consultancy from concept through to implementation exploring commercial opportunities, modelling service propositions, building internal capability and ensuring that all new deliverables are robust, credible and sustainable.

Your work will involve combining strategic insight with hands on delivery. You will work closely with RES leaders, engage with stakeholders across industry, NGOs and academia, and act as the bridge between scientific expertise and the practical needs of clients and partners. This is a role for someone who enjoys responsibility, embraces innovation and can confidently communicate across diverse professional settings.

Skills and Experience

A degree in business, environmental management, agricultural business or entomology is required together with strong analytical abilities, commercial awareness and the confidence to lead initiatives. Experience in consultancy, environmental or agricultural sectors, or in developing new services or business models, is advantageous but not essential. Most importantly, we are looking for a motivated self-starter who brings initiative, resilience and the ability to build constructive relationships across multiple organisations.

A major benefit of the KTP model is professional development. You will spend 10% of your time on your own training, supported by a £2,000 annual budget. You will also have access to national KTP training, leadership and innovation development opportunities, as well as industry mentoring.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a tangible contribution to the future of a national organisation and to influence how insect science informs environmental and agricultural practice. 

If you require adjustments to complete your application, please email vacancies@harper-adams.ac.uk

Closing Date: 27 Apr 2026

Department: Support Staff

Salary: Salary up to £45,700 (dependent upon qualifications and experience)

Precision livestock farming is transforming how animal health and welfare are monitored on farms. However, many current monitoring systems rely primarily on visual or activity-based sensors, meaning important behavioural and physiological signals may be missed. Sound within livestock environments contains a wealth of information about animal behaviour, health and emotional state, yet it remains relatively under-utilised in commercial dairy systems.

This PhD will investigate how bioacoustics and artificial intelligence can be combined to develop automated, non-invasive approaches for assessing dairy cattle welfare. The project will explore how acoustic information generated by cattle and their surrounding environment can be analysed to identify patterns associated with behaviour, health status and welfare.

The research will involve collecting and analysing sound data from dairy housing environments, linking acoustic patterns to behavioural and health indicators, and developing computational models capable of detecting meaningful welfare-related signals. The project will also explore how acoustic information may be integrated with other forms of farm data to improve the reliability of automated welfare assessment.

The successful candidate will undertake a structured training programme at the start of the PhD to develop skills in areas such as programming, data analysis, machine learning and signal processing. This will provide the technical foundation required to work with large acoustic datasets and develop analytical approaches relevant to livestock systems.

In addition to technical training, the student will gain experience in animal behaviour and welfare research, precision livestock technologies, and interdisciplinary collaboration between animal science and data science.

The PhD will be based at Harper Adams University and co-supervised with Nottingham Trent University.

Applicants must hold, or expect to hold, a Master’s degree (MSc) in a relevant discipline such as:

• Animal Sciences

• Veterinary Medicine

• Veterinary Sciences

• Animal Behaviour and Welfare

Strong quantitative skills are desirable. Prior experience in one or more of the following would be advantageous:

• Behavioural observation and welfare assessment

• Dairy cattle management

• Bioacoustics or signal analysis

• Programming in Python or R

• Statistical modelling

Applicants without prior AI experience are encouraged to apply, as structured AI/ML training will be provided.

Dairy Cattle Welfare | Bioacoustics | Precision Livestock Farming | Artificial Intelligence | Machine Learning | Deep Learning | Animal Behaviour | Acoustic Biomarkers | Sustainable Agriculture | Digital Farming

Closing Date: 30 Jun 2026

Department: Self-Funded Research Degrees

Providing an excellent experience for both staff and students the role holder will work closely with the Service Desk and other specific IT service areas in a 3rd line support capacity.  The role holder will also contribute to the design, implementation and ongoing maintenance and monitoring of the University IT infrastructure both on premise and in the cloud. This is a senior role within the Infrastructure Team and carries line management responsibilities to an Infrastructure Engineer (Networks).

The team is responsible for the smooth running of all IT Infrastructure and contribute to ongoing continual service improvements.

Experience/Qualification required  

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
• Specific experience working in a large and diverse environment, deploying and supporting IT networking infrastructure
• Specific skills & knowledge of Windows Active Directory\Entra ID infrastructure, Radius and private\public certificate services.
• Specific skills & knowledge of robust network architecture, Cloud Networking (Azure), WAN, Routers, Firewall, Application Firewall systems, VPN, and IDS.
• Specific skills & knowledge of core, datacenter, distribution and edge switching. Physical connectivity, fibre, structure cabling, VLANs, BGP and OSPF
• Specific skills & knowledge of telephony and modern enterprise-voice/SIP systems. SBC’s, MS Teams, direct routing and call management systems.
• Specific skills & knowledge of virtualization with Microsoft On-premise and Azure
• Specific skills & knowledge of WiFi design and management including captive portals, surveying and continuous assessment.

If you have any queries or questions or for an informal discussion, please contact Nathaniel Brassington via email nbrassington@harper-adams.ac.uk.  

Should you require any adjustments to complete your application for this role then please contact vacancies@harper-adams.ac.uk      

If you do not yet have the right to work in the UK and/or are seeking sponsorship for a Skilled Worker visa in the UK, please follow this link https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration which contains further information about obtaining the right to work in the UK and details about eligibility for sponsorship for a Skilled Worker Visa.

Closing Date: 19 Apr 2026

Department: Support Staff

Salary: £39,906 to £44,746 per annum
The point of entry will be dependent upon relevant qualifications and experience

This is a high-impact, technically ambitious role at the interface of research and product development. The role will require significant autonomy and responsibility, and the postholder will be expected to operate with a high degree of technical independence while being supported through structured training and governance. 

Key Responsibilities

The KTP Associate will work closely with farmers, insurers, and rural stakeholders to ensure the platform is grounded in real world needs and delivers meaningful value. By incorporating behavioural and criminological insights and leading participatory design activities, they will help shape a system that is practical, trusted, and easy to use. They will also maintain high quality documentation, contribute to academic and technical outputs, and support commercialisation and deployment activities as the platform moves from research into field testing and real-world application.

Technical Skills, Qualifications & Attributes 

Candidates should hold a postgraduate degree in a quantitative or computational field and have strong Python skills. Experience with AI or NLP methods, including LLMs cloud platforms, containerisation, APIs, relational databases and data pipelines is essential. Skills in geospatial analysis, GIS tools, frontend development or data visualisation are advantageous, as is familiarity with user centred or behavioural research. The role requires analytical strength, clear communication across disciplines, and the ability to tackle open ended technical challenges with independence and creativity.

Pre-employment screening: Due to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) requirements, we can only consider applicants who hold existing Right to Work status in the UK. Proof of RTW will be required prior to any offer being confirmed.

If you would like an informal conversation about this role, you can contact Dr Joseph Mhango on jmhango@harper-adams.ac.uk.  

Should you require any adjustments to complete your application for this role then please contact vacancies@harper-adams.ac.uk 

Closing Date: 19 Apr 2026

Department: Support Staff

Salary: £39,000 to £43,300
The point of entry will be dependent upon relevant qualifications and experience

A key part of the dairy team, the Dairy Technical Science Officer focus on the care of the farm’s 300 Holstiens which are milked through a 40-point GEA internal rotary in accordance with best principles of milk and dairy hygiene. We are looking for motivated team members, with a willingness to develop new skills.

 Some of the benefits of the role include: 

• 45 hour working week 
• 10 days on and 4 days off continuous rota
• Shared accommodation (if required) with other farm staff in a modern 4 bedrooms house, 
• (6-minute walk / 2-minute drive from the farm)
• 22 days annual leave plus bank holidays and closure days, excellent pension scheme, sick pay and Employee Assistance Programme 

Duties to include:

• Milking on two shifts per day
• Pressure washing 
• Keeping the parlour clean and maintained to a high standard.  

Previous experience of milking and working with livestock is a requirement for the role, though additional training and ongoing support will be provided.  

Should you require any assistance completing your application, please contact vacancies@harper-adams.ac.uk 

Please apply online  submitting your CV and a personal statement outlining your suitability for the role. Your personal statement should clearly demonstrate how your skills, experience, and achievements meet the requirements outlined in the person specification. Applications without a personal statement may not be considered.  

Closing Date for applications is midnight on 11 May 2026

Please note that we are currently only accepting applications from candidates who are eligible to work within the UK.  Therefore unfortunately, we are unable to consider overseas applications which require sponsorship at this time.

Closing Date: 11 May 2026

Department: Support Staff

Salary: £35,000 to £37,990 per annum
The point of entry will be dependent upon relevant qualifications and experience

Applicants must have their own, their employer's or their Government's funding. A letter of "Confirmation of funding" must be attached/uploaded during the application process.

Candidates should supply a brief research proposal of 2-4 pages.  This should include a brief literature review to the research question including identification of the knowledge gaps, clearly identify the aims of the research and briefly detail the methodology and resources required. 

If candidates do not have a specific research proposal prepared, then they should write two or three sentences on an academic area of interest in which they wish to study for a PhD.

If a more detailed proposal is required for an external funding body, then candidates should discuss this with potential supervisors before they write the proposal.

Please state on your application if you are applying for a MPhil or PhD.

Where you are required to upload a document that is not appropriate, please upload a word document stating "Not Applicable".

Please note that due to the time required to conduct the recruitment process, a minimum time to be able to provide an offer letter is typically two weeks.

For international students (non UK/EU), the closing date for applications for a October 2024 start is 31 May 2024.  

For UK/EU students, the closing date for applications for a October 2024 start is 31 August 2024.   

If you have not received contact within 4 weeks of submission please assume we have been unable to support your application at this stage.

Closing Date: 04 Nov 2025

Department: Self-Funded Research Degrees

This form is only to be used by those self-funded applicants seeking a place on a research degree programme at Harper Adams University (MPhil or PhD). Please see other listings for funded opportunities that may be available.

Applicants must have their own, their employer's or their Government's funding. A letter of "Confirmation of funding" must be attached/uploaded during the application process.

Candidates should supply a brief research proposal of 2-4 pages.  This should include a brief literature review to the research question including identification of the knowledge gaps, clearly identify the aims of the research and briefly detail the methodology and resources required. 

If candidates do not have a specific research proposal prepared, then they should write two or three sentences on an academic area of interest in which they wish to study for a PhD.

If a more detailed proposal is required for an external funding body, then candidates should discuss this with potential supervisors before they write the proposal.

Please state on your application if you are applying for a MPhil or PhD.

Where you are required to upload a document that is not appropriate, please upload a word document stating "Not Applicable".

Please note that due to the time required to conduct the recruitment process, a minimum time to be able to provide an offer letter following successful interview is typically two weeks.

The closing date for applications for an October 2026 start is Sunday 19th July 2026.  

If you have not received contact form the PGR Office within 4 weeks of submission please assume we have been unable to support your application at this stage.

Closing Date: 19 Jul 2026

Department: Self-Funded Research Degrees

HAU Staff Part-Time PhD 

If a member of staff would like to carry out a part-time (PT) PhD at HAU the following conditions apply.

• PT PhDs would run for 6 years.
• The proposed research project must align with the university’s research strategy and areas of research activity. 
• In an academic year only 1 member of staff per department/facility can start a PT PhD.
• Fees will be waivered against the continual professional development fund.
• Supervisors can apply for up to £10k from QR for project costs over the 6 years of the PhD.
• Half a day a week will be given for the PhD time under the work load model.
• If a member of staff leaves the employment of HAU within 2 years of completing their PhD they will be responsible for reimbursing the fees in line with HR policy.

Staff wishing to carry out a PT PhD at HAU should follow the following procedure.

Academic staff

• Staff to discuss their interest in carrying out a PT PhD with their PDR reviewer. If the PDR reviewer is not the applicant’s HoD the reviewer may also need to discuss this with the HoD. 
• By 31^stOctober – staff submit a PhD application through Stonefish. The application needs to include;
  • PhD proposal including identified supervisors and indicative project costs.
  • A letter explaining why they wish to carry out a PT PhD while employed by HAU.
  • A letter of support from their HoD which confirms that the time allocation of half a day a week has been agreed under the WL plan and this resource can be covered within the department. 
• November – all applications will be assessed with respect to the university’s standard PhD entry requirements and applicants will be informed about interviews as soon as is reasonably practical. Applications will be assessed by Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) (ARVCR) and Director of Postgraduate Research (DoPGR).
• December/January – applicants will be interviewed by the APVCR, DoPGR, proposed DoS and a research active colleague with subject expertise. If successful the workload allocation will be made for the next academic year.
• Applicants will attend the PGR student induction and start their PhD end September/early October.

Professional Services and Technical staff follow the above procedure with sign off from their line manager and Head of Department. They can submit their application at any time and if successful they will be able to start their PhD on the next appropriate PhD start date (e.g. September/October, April) as agreed with their line manager and the PGR Office.

Closing Date: 25 Jun 2024

Department: Self-Funded Research Degrees