All IFSTAL’s collaborating institutions are internationally recognised leaders in different aspects of the food security agenda.
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography & the Environment, University of Oxford
ECI has an internationally-recognised track record in food systems research, with special emphasis on the interactions with environmental change. Key strengths include using a food systems lens to research food security issues, and developing research partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders including business, policy, development agencies, NGOs and academia at large. It also has expertise in managing consortia, in levering additional funding after start-up investment; and innovation in engagement (e.g. UKCIP ). The group run an MSc elective module on food systems for the School of Geography and the Environment.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is renowned for its research, postgraduate studies and continuing education in public and global health.
The School has an international presence and collaborative ethos, and is uniquely placed to help shape health policy and translate research findings into tangible impact. There are 3,000 staff conducting research in over 100 countries, and more than 4,000 students — all working with a collective purpose to improve health worldwide.
Royal Veterinary College (RVC)
The Royal Veterinary College is the UK’s largest and longest-established independent vet school and is a Member Institution of the University of London. The College offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing, and biological sciences, and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing.
RVC produces world-class research and provides support for the veterinary profession through its referral hospitals, including the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, Europe’s largest small animal hospital. As one of the world’s leading specialist veterinary and biological science research institutions, the RVC brings together talented individuals; all of whom share a passion for human and animal health and welfare.
SOAS University of London
SOAS University of London is the leading higher education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.
It is uniquely placed to inform and shape current thinking about the economic, political, cultural, security and religious challenges of our world. SOAS’s programmes are taught by respected academics engaged in fieldwork and research which influences government policy and the lives of individuals across the globe. SOAS scholars grapple with the pressing issues confronting two-thirds of humankind today: democracy, development, economy, finance, public and corporate policy, human rights, migration, identity, legal systems, poverty, religion, and social change.
University of Reading
The University of Reading has been at the forefront of UK higher education for nearly a century.
Reading’s Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences is a global player in food and health research. It has the largest range of dedicated food laboratories in a UK university and extensive links with industry, and expert academics who work on cutting-edge research. The University of Reading is in the top 10 universities for food science in the UK (7th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2024).
University of Warwick
In its Global Research Priorities (GRP) programme, the University of Warwick has identified a number of grand challenges which confront our global society; ‘food’ is one of these challenges
Current research themes around food include: food policy and insecurity at the household level; the potential for decision-based modelling to provide a basis for graphical modelling of the complex inter-relationships involved in food security; diet and health; the influence of Brazil in remaking the international politics of food and energy security and using participatory theatre and arts events to offer innovative ways for generating new understanding of global food systems. With regards to food production, the School of Life Sciences has considerable expertise in plant and crop science and in the epidemiology of diseases of livestock.