news / 5th
July 2011
PhD Studentship
at University of Reading:
Inclusion of Jersey
milk in supply for commercial cheese making
Funded by: Dartington Cattle Breeding Trust, Pocock
Memorial Trust, UK Jerseys and University of Reading,
in association with two major manufacturers of Cheddar
cheese.
Applications are invited from graduates or final year
students who have a First or Upper Second Class Honours
degree in Food Science, animal science or an appropriate
science subject. The chosen candidate will have good
communication skills as they will be required to interact
with dairy farmers and industrial personnel.
Inclusion of a proportion of Jersey milk into a “black
and white” milk supply for Cheddar cheese making
has potential benefits including improving yield and
quality of cheese, reducing feed requirement, saving
water and reducing carbon footprint. This could, in
turn, result in financial gains to both dairy farmers
and milk processors.
Proportions of Jersey milk could be achieved either
by blending at the point of manufacture or by including
Jersey (or Jersey cross) cows in the herds. However,
it is not known what level of inclusion would yield
the most practical benefit.
There is a clear need to understand how physico-chemical
properties of milk blends determine the coagulum formation
and hence the yield and quality of cheese. Such properties
include protein concentration and composition, fat
composition, properties of casein micelles and fat
globules, mineral composition and distribution.
The 3 year PhD programme based at University of Reading
aims to address these issues in association with milk
producers and commercial cheese makers in the SW of
England.
Supervisor: Dr Alistair Grandison (a.s.grandison@reading.ac.uk) to
whom informal enquiries can be made.
Funding Details: The studentship will pay the
Research Council minimum tax-free stipend (£13,590
for 2010/11) for 3 years.
Start date: October 2011
How to apply: Eligible candidates should complete
a University of Reading postgraduate application form
available from http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/apply/pg-applicationform.aspx.
This should be submitted with supporting documents
either to scipg@rdg.ac.uk or
to:
Postgraduate Office
Joint Faculty Office for Science and Life Sciences
Geography Building
University of Reading
PO Box 227
Reading, RG6 6AB
Closing date for applications: 31 August 2011
The studentship is restricted to UK/EU applicants
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