Research opportunities and facilities available to MSc Sustainable Aquaculture and Fisheries students

Learn more about the research opportunities and facilities available to you

You will join a rich research community of academics, postdoctoral research fellows, PhD students and masters students working on various topics within the fields of aquaculture and fisheries, covering key species, environments and production systems.

This area is supported by research councils such as the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Innovate UKand European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. Other research projects are funded by commercial and industrial companies such as BioMar, Lallemand SAS, Leiber GmbH, Clasado Biosciences, Skretting, Alltech Coppensas well as leading research centres globally in Brazil, Chile, China and elsewhere.

We actively engage with hatcheries, aquaculture farms and various other organisations nationally and internationally to support and conduct research and development at fundamental and applied levels.

Take a look at some of our funded projects on fisheries and aquaculture within the Marine Conservation Research Group.

Research project

Our research project module provides you with a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in cutting edge research. You will have access to our state-of-the-art aquaria facilities and wet labs, providing research project opportunities working in vitroand in vivowith finfish, crustaceans and molluscs. In addition to our husbandry facilities, you will have access to our suite of analytical labs, including:

our Systems Biology Centre, which houses cutting edge proteomics facilities
our Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre (PEMC), providing access to both Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopes
nutrition laboratories
chemistry laboratories
histology laboratories
microbiology laboratories
and a range of other laboratories and services available within the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

A diverse range of project themes are available to suit your interests. These include nutrition, immunology, fundamental husbandry requirements, behaviour and welfare, microbiology, physiology, toxicology and environmental impacts of aquaculture activities.

You can undertake your project at Plymouth using our campus based facilities, or with partner organisations offering projects across the UK and beyond. In recent years student project options have included opportunities to work in Chile, Denmark, India, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway and Oman.

Research careers

Our students have progressed into careers within R&D departments of the aquaculture and aquafeed nutrition industry. Others have progressed into research activities within academia. On completion of this masters programme you can apply to study a suitable of doctoral programme at the University of Plymouth or elsewhere. PhD programmes presently undertaken include fish nutrition and feed technology, fish health and physiological biochemistry associated with aquaculture.

Have a look at some of the different career opportunities available to our graduates.

Research project

Research careers

Related research