The Partnership for Sustainable Food Future Centre for Doctoral Training (PSFF-CDT)

The UKRI is funding a new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) called the Partnership for Sustainable Food Future, which will train postgraduate researchers to tackle challenges in the food system. This matters because the global food system faces mounting pressures—climate change, population growth, and environmental degradation—that demand a new generation of experts who can work across disciplines. Currently, there is a gap between academic research and the practical, systemic changes needed to make food production and supply chains more sustainable. The CDT aims to fill that gap by training PhD students who can bridge science, policy, and industry. If successful, this programme could reshape how the UK develops talent for the food sector. It may lead to more resilient supply chains, reduced food waste, lower carbon emissions from agriculture, and better integration of sustainable practices into everyday food production. The impact would be felt quietly but pervasively—in how food is grown, processed, transported, and consumed. This is primarily a training and skills initiative, not a fundamental science project. Its direct output is a cohort of skilled researchers, not a specific technology or discovery. However, by equipping these researchers with interdisciplinary expertise, the CDT could accelerate future breakthroughs in sustainable food systems that would otherwise take decades to emerge.