Joint Postgraduate School:
Food Transitions 2050
The Joint Postgraduate School Food Transitions 2050 is a strategic three-way partnership between Lincoln University, the University of Canterbury and the Bioeconomy Science Institute.
Originally set up between five research organisations located in the Canterbury region: AgResearch, Lincoln University, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Plant & Food Research and the University of Canterbury, our research aims to support the transition of our regional, national and international food systems to a future, more sustainable, state.
Our Partners:
NEWS
Graduation Celebrations
April and May see the latest graduands gain their doctorates from their respective universities. Congratulations to
🎓 Caitlin Hyde
🎓 Hamish Trlin
🎓 Le WANG
🎓 Mark MacDougall
🎓 Michelle Barry
We would also like to acknowledge and thank their supervisory teams and families for their support and guidance throughout this momentous achievement.
For more photos of our Graduation Celebration, and to see what each student was studying, see 2026 Graduation
We’re proud to celebrate three FT2050 students who have already published their research in February. An incredible achievement and a great way to begin the year.
Congratulations to:
👏 Hamish Trlin
👏 Le Wang
Their newly published papers explore topics ranging from cultivated meat allergens, to machine learning and land-use decisions in New Zealand, to the degradation characteristics of biowastes in Canterbury.
2026 Publications
Transferable skills are “skills which almost everyone needs to do almost any job. They are the skills that make specific knowledge and technical skills fully productive”.
(UKCES, 2009. The Employability Challenge: Full Report, UKCES)
The Hays 2025 Skills report identified the top three skills needed going forward to be:
- adaptability and flexibility
- critical thinking and problem solving
- communication, teamwork and collaboration
The challenge at our recent FT2050 workshop was to think beyond our immediate academic research, acknowledge those transferable skills we are already strong in, and remember to work on others that we could improve.
- listening
- speaking
- problem solving
- staying positive
- aiming high
- leadership
- teamwork
Whats your strength? Area to improve?
Transferable Skills - have you thought about yours?
Overview
Food Transitions 2050 is a postgraduate school focusing on food sustainability. The result of a multilateral partnership, the initiative is dedicated to supporting the transition of our regional, national and international food systems – the first for postgraduate research in Aotearoa New Zealand. The school’s core purpose is to support the transition to more future-focused, sustainable food systems and preparation by the year 2050.
At the heart of the initiative is a virtual community of practice of PhD students and their supervisory teams conducting research in a set of PhD projects linked by the overarching theme of Food Transitions 2050.
How it works
PhD students in the initiative are enrolled at one of the two university partners, and students and their supervisory teams operate under the requirements for PhD research enrolment at their home university. The intention is that the PhD student experience is as consistent as possible across the School.
“The school’s core purpose is to support the transition to more future-focused, sustainable food systems and preparation.”
Applications for projects are currently closed.
Applications for projects by supervisory teams open in September each year. Prospective candidates will be able to apply for PhD positions within these projects from early December.