Supervisors

Lead Supervisor – Dr. Miriam Schreiber, James Hutton Institute

Additional Supervisors – Dr. Ruth Hamilton, James Hutton Institute; Dr. Sebastian Raubach, James Hutton Institute & Prof. Davide Bulgarelli, University of Dundee

Industrial Supervisor – Ian Archer, James Hutton Scientific Services

Location

This project will be based at the James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie and the appointed student will register at the University of Dundee as the Degree Awarding Institution.

The project

Barley is an important crop underpinning the brewing and distilling industries as well as providing feed for livestock. Decades of breeding effort have produced high-yielding, high-quality elite varieties, and extensive field trials conducted at the James Hutton Institute have generated rich datasets spanning yield, yield components such as thousand grain weight, flowering time, and detailed genotypic data derived from 50k SNP-chip and exome capture studies. This project will harness those accumulated field trial, genotypic, and environmental datasets to develop a climate-smart barley breeding system suited to northern latitudes.

The project will pursue two complementary aims:

1. Conduct a scoping study, in close collaboration with industry partner James Hutton Scientific Services, to identify the requirements for a practical barley breeding application -- examining what such a tool would need to deliver and how it could be implemented in a real breeding context.

2. Apply advanced genetic and bioinformatic tools to build a predictive model of how environmental conditions, in the context of climate change, affect yield and yield components including flowering time and using this to identify genotypes best suited to future conditions and to inform the design of field and polytunnel validation trials.

The project offers a blend of bioinformatic and analytical experience alongside opportunities for field work, and can develop in directions that reflect the interests and strengths of the student. The successful candidate will be embedded in a wider CIC-START training programme with strong academic and industry engagement. Projects and training are co-created with industry to stay focused on real-world needs and include an industrial placement.

Supervisors

Lead Supervisor – Dr. Miriam Schreiber, James Hutton Institute

Additional Supervisors – Dr. Ruth Hamilton, James Hutton Institute; Dr. Sebastian Raubach, James Hutton Institute & Prof. Davide Bulgarelli, University of Dundee

Industrial Supervisor – Ian Archer, James Hutton Scientific Services

Location

This project will be based at the James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie and the appointed student will register at the University of Dundee as the Degree Awarding Institution.

The project

Barley is an important crop underpinning the brewing and distilling industries as well as providing feed for livestock. Decades of breeding effort have produced high-yielding, high-quality elite varieties, and extensive field trials conducted at the James Hutton Institute have generated rich datasets spanning yield, yield components such as thousand grain weight, flowering time, and detailed genotypic data derived from 50k SNP-chip and exome capture studies. This project will harness those accumulated field trial, genotypic, and environmental datasets to develop a climate-smart barley breeding system suited to northern latitudes.

The project will pursue two complementary aims:

1. Conduct a scoping study, in close collaboration with industry partner James Hutton Scientific Services, to identify the requirements for a practical barley breeding application -- examining what such a tool would need to deliver and how it could be implemented in a real breeding context.

2. Apply advanced genetic and bioinformatic tools to build a predictive model of how environmental conditions, in the context of climate change, affect yield and yield components including flowering time and using this to identify genotypes best suited to future conditions and to inform the design of field and polytunnel validation trials.

The project offers a blend of bioinformatic and analytical experience alongside opportunities for field work, and can develop in directions that reflect the interests and strengths of the student. The successful candidate will be embedded in a wider CIC-START training programme with strong academic and industry engagement. Projects and training are co-created with industry to stay focused on real-world needs and include an industrial placement.