MSc Integrated Pest Management  MSc Integrated Pest Management Imperial College London ../webroot/files/Institutions/cover_photo/1534085924Imperial-College-London.jpg

Are you interested in crop protection, plant pathology, entomology or an environmentally friendly approach to pest control? If so, this is the course for you. The course is intended for graduates with the equivalent of at least a second-class Honours BSc degree in a biological or related science subject. Mature students with other qualifications and relevant experience are considered on their individual merit. The course is based at Silwood Park. It is taught by staff from two Departments within the Faculty of Natural Sciences and has significant inputs from research organisations and from industry. The course focuses on the fungal, insect and mite pests of agricultural, greenhouse, horticultural, forest and tree crops. The MSc in Integrated Pest Management will give you the opportunity to describe and understand: ? Major insect pest problems in tropical and temperate regions, their recognition and underlying ecological and economic causes ? Insect control methods, their application and their effective integration ? Ecological and management principles of damage control: damage and control functions, resistance and other adaptations ? Economic and environmental costs of control measures and their evaluation: cost benefit analysis, environmental impact assessment, legal and public policy measures ? Research techniques: information retrieval, experimental design, sampling methods, statistical analysis, modelling, culturing insects, taxonomic keys and specimen preparationpreservation, molecular biology and genetic engineering, bioassays, pesticide application, laboratory and field safety ? Management and communication skills: problem definition, project design and evaluation, decision processes, objective criteria, risk management, extension need, team project coordination, written research reports, oral presentations of recommendations, scientific publications, computer processing and presentation. There is no other Masters level course on offer in UK universities that focuses on the application of integrated pest management as a local, national and international issue. The course will particularly appeal to students who wish to become involved in integrated crop management, pest management, general crop protection or who wish to go on to postgraduate research. Graduates taking the Integrated Pest Management MSc can be expected to find employment in agricultural advisory services, agricultural, horticultural and forestry research institutions, universities, commercial organisations within the agrochemical sector, the pesticide industry, overseas aid programmes, international NGOs, environmental groups, local authorities and pest control consultants in the private sector. A sizeable proportion of graduates will go on to do postgraduate research. Sponsorship can be sought from larger Local Authorities, multinationals like Shell and BP and companies with strong positioning in agriculture, forestry and horticulture such as Syngenta. Departmental bursaries are available - these are awarded competitively on the basis of interviews, references and degree results. Accommodation is on campus and costs around ?68 per week including heating and electricity. The course comprises two taught terms, October-December, January-April, followed by a 19-week independent project on any integrated pest management related subject, based at Imperial College, at a research institutecompany in the UK or overseas. When outside Imperial College, students are assigned a College supervisor in addition to their external supervisor. The MSc project is submitted as a dissertation (ca 20k words) at the beginning of September. Some recent examples are: ? The biological control of Acyrthosiphon pisum using Adalia bipunctata and Chrysoperla carnea: the importance of intraguild predation and cannibalism on Vicia faba yield and aphid control ? Mating interactions between two Bemisia tabaci biotypes and their implications for pest and resistance management ? Th