Food Shines is offering six paid consultancy placements with BAFR advisory board member organisations – each of which has identified a food system challenge for the successful candidate to tackle.

These placements, open to UK-based doctoral students of any discipline, will involve desk-based/field research and the delivery of a 10-15 page report addressing the assigned challenge. Placement hosts include the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the Met Office, WWF, WRAP, Better Food Traders and Sustain.

UK-based doctoral students of any discipline are invited to join us to explore current wide-ranging food system challenges at ARU's Cambridge campus on Thursday 19 February 2026. The conference offers career- and research-boosting presentations, networking opportunities, and chances to help solve multidisciplinary food system challenges.

This conference is free to attend. Food and refreshments will be provided, and travel expenses for UK students will be covered by arrangement. Please email bafr@aru.ac.uk to discuss travel expenses in advance.

You can find out more about the conference below or on the conference Eventbrite page, where you can also register for the conference if you're not planning to apply for a placement (all placement applicants will receive a conference place by default).