Outreach

We want people to understand why food safety and quality are important, and what the key scientific concepts behind that safety are. When people have this knowledge, we can explain the importance of our work and the work of our graduates to provide a sustainable food supply around the world.

We teach this knowledge in a number of formats: career seminars, agricultural shows, industry groups and visits to schools. In each case, we are careful to ensure that the content is tailored to the audience for maximum engagement.

We run subject taster days for current year 11 and 12 students designed specifically for those with an interest in pursuing Food Science or Nutrition.

These sessions offer a unique opportunity to gain firsthand experience of our courses through engaging practical activities and informative talks that complement your ongoing studies. To stay informed about our upcoming taster sessions, we encourage you to register your interest here. 

We believe it is important to teach school pupils about food sciences so that they have enough knowledge of the subject to consider it as a career option and take relevant sixth form courses.

When visiting the University, pupils will go on a tour of the facility, have an introductory talk about our courses and a practical demonstration. For sixth form students, we work with the Department of Chemistry to offer technical workshops which address important aspects of the A level syllabus.

Are you interested in organising a visit to our Department? Just email us at food@reading.ac.uk to let us know how many students you'd like to bring and when you'd like to visit.

The national Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme (UAS) allows our BSc students to work on their final-year project in a school. This provides our students with valuable experience of engaging school pupils in their subject, as well as allowing us to build excellent links with schools and teachers. We have successfully partnered with several local schools including Abbey Junior School, Leighton Park School and Whiteknights Primary School.

We take as many opportunities as we can to bring food and nutritional sciences to the public. The Department runs Open Days which include tours and lectures. We have also helped run the University's stand at the Berkshire County Show, offering exhibits about our work in functional food, the science of bread making and more.

For more information on our outreach programmes and events within the community, please get in touch with us.