Three new fellowships for vets

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is establishing three new university veterinary fellowships in a bid to increase research expertise in vet schools, writes Julia Hinde.

According to MAFF, which is committing around Pounds 3.5 million to the fellowships over five years, vet schools appear not to have the necessary research experience in certain areas to compete with commercial laboratories when bidding for MAFF research projects.

"We find there is a lack of experience in universities in certain areas of research," a MAFF spokesman said. "The idea is to increase expertise in universities so people from there can bid for future projects. We want to encourage universities to build up a reservoir of experts."

The fellowships will address questions of protecting humans from animal diseases, such as E.coli and salmonella, which are transferred through the food chain.