The University of Reading will participate in the national Open Farm Sunday event for the first time this year. Join us at Sonning Farm to learn more about where your food comes from and how we help to look after the local environment.
Food
Pint of Science: Food and Health
What the Fork? A Story of Food and Health
Whether you’re hungry or not, these talks will definitely be food for thought. You’ll be given an insight into how food can affect your health, myths will be debunked, and you’ll discover that the phrase “You are what you eat” is more literal than you think…
Dr. Gunter Kuhnle will cover the difficulties of sifting myth from fact when it comes to food fads, and Dr Vimal Karani will take a look at diet, genes and obesity – and the importance of nutrigenetic studies and their role in personalised nutrition.
To see the full details of the event or to book tickets, click here.
Academia/Industry Careers Event
Academia/industry Careers event
6th September 2017
Programme includes:
- Research careers panel: find out what it’s really like from researchers in different roles in Industry, Academia and government research
- Alternative careers panel: what else is out there? Hear about science communications, policy, clinical trials management and more
- Becoming a group leader: what’s it like in different environments?
- Keynote from Simon Lovestone: hear about his career journey, and how best to work with people from every sphere to push dementia research forward
- Posters & Networking: Discover local research from academia and industry
Contact:
Francesca Nicholls
francesca.nicholls@psych.ox.ac.uk
Mark Dallas
M.Dallas@reading.ac.uk
Institute of Molecular Biology and Applied Biology Seminar
Dr Mark Bücking (Head of Department Environmental & Food Analysis) and Dr Matthias Kotthoff (Head of Laboratory Environmental & Food Analysis) from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Applied Biology (IME), Fraunhofer Research Organisation in Germany are presenting on the research activities of IME, and discuss the potential for collaborative opportunities.
Presentation by Fraunhofer Institute
On Wednesday the 5th of April two senior people from the Fraunhofer Research Organisation in Germany will visit us, more specifically from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Applied Biology (IME); Dr Mark Bücking (Head of Department Environmental & Food Analysis) and Dr Matthias Kotthoff (Head of Laboratory Environmental & Food Analysis).
They will give a presentation on the research activities of IME, and are really keen to engage in discussions on potential collaborative opportunities.
The presentation will start at 10:00 in Chemistry LTG (lecture theatre at ground floor) and the room is booked until 12:00, so if you would like to have discussions with them feel free to stay; if you could please let me know that would be great.
How Reading research helped the BBC uncover ‘The Secrets of Your Food’
By Stephanie Bull, food scientist, Chemistry Food & Pharmacy
Reading is known as one of the world’s leading centres for the study of food and health. We have outstanding facilities and expertise to study the whole food chain – from climate, weather, soil, farming, food processing, nutrition, to human health and cognition.
Michael Mosley at the University of Reading
So it’s no surprise that TV producers beat a regular path to our door when they want to see the latest scientific research. And none does so quite as innovatively and beautifully demonstrated as BBC Two’s latest science documentary, The Secrets of Your Food
The programme, which has its final episode this week (Friday 10 March) at 9pm on BBC Two, shows the effects food has on our taste buds, brains, and bodies. Alongside the widespread locations and elegant CGI are, of course, frequent shots of scientific demonstrations carried out at the University of Reading in the Department of Food and Nutritional Science, and in the Department of Chemistry.
In the first episode, We Are What We Eat, I helped presenter Michael Mosley to separate the various components of breast milk in our Food Pilot Plant; investigate how the proteins in egg unfold and denature at different temperatures to create the perfectly cooked egg; demonstrate the production of gas by yeast; and compare fats from different food.
Feeling blue? Berries may help boost mood
By Katie Barfoot – Nutritional Psychology Lab, University of Reading
We all know that fruit and veg is good for us. But some new research from the University of Reading has revealed there is more than meets the eye with the little blue super fruits we call blueberries.
These berries, which are full of a type of nutrient called flavonoids, were shown in two separate studies to improve the positive mood of children and young adults just two hours after consumption.
The two studies, which were conducted by the University’s School of Psychology and Clinical Language Science’s Nutritional Psychology Lab, were run in two populations – healthy young adults aged 18-21, and healthy schoolchildren aged 7-10.
After consumption of a flavonoid-rich blueberry drink, both groups rated their positive mood as being significantly higher than before the blueberry drink consumption.
What’s more, we know it was the flavonoids present in the blueberry drink that made the difference, because no such finding was observed in a group of study participants who consumed a placebo control drink, which was matched for sugars, vitamins and taste.
So how are these flavonoids working?
Edith Mary Gayton Memorial Lecture
Edith Mary Gayton Memorial Lecture: Food and farming: managing agricultural production systems in turbulent times
The annual Edith Mary Gayton Memorial Lecture will be held on Tuesday 21 February 2017. Edith Mary Gayton was an agricultural graduate of the University of Reading in the 1930s. Little is known of her later career and life but, in his will, her husband made a bequest to Reading in her memory stipulating that the funds should be used in the field of agriculture and management. The annual Memorial Lecture is one use of these funds.
Our lecture this year will be delivered by Judith Batchelar. Judith is the director of Sainsbury’s Brand for 13 years. Judith is responsible for all aspects of Sainsbury’s product offer, from Policy formation on aspects such as Animal Welfare, Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing, through to Product Technology, Product Development, Product Safety, and Packaging. Essentially, she drives the Quality and Innovation agendas whilst protecting and enhancing the reputation of Sainsbury’s Brand. She has worked in the food and drink industry for 35 years. Judith is a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), and fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufactures, and for the last 3 years has Co-Chaired the Government’s AgriFoodTech Council working on the implementation of the UK’s first AgriFood sector strategy.
The lecture will be held in the Madejski Lecture Theatre, Agriculture Building at the University of Reading. Refreshments will be available from 18:15 hrs and the lecture will commence at 19:00.