2013 Press Releases
Horticulture students win Belling Scholarships
Two students from UCC’s MSc in Organic Horticulture were presented with Belling Scholarships at a recent event held in Skibbereen, West Cork.
Jane Heffernan and Ian Graham were presented with the annual award by Sean O’Driscoll, CEO and Chairman of Glen Dimplex and member of the Irish government’s Global Irish Economic Forum.
The Belling Scholarship is designed to support the student during their studies and help in the research and development of these novel business ideas.
Jane and Ian were chosen having submitted business ideas to a judging panel, chaired by Rose O’Riordan and John Field. Jane is interested in the role that organic hop production can play in the micro-brewing and agri-tourism sector, while Ian was interested in producing organic strawberry plants for Irish growers.
Speaking at the awards event held at Liss Ard Estate, home to UCC’s Centre for Organic Horticulture Research (COHR), Sean O’Driscoll said he was impressed by the innovative nature of the winning projects and encouraged by the successful completion by the first cohort of students of the MSc in Organic Horticulture.
Professor Peter Jones, Director of UCC’s COHR and Head of Plant Science in the School of BEES added, “With the successful completion of the first year of the MSc programme, we have now built up a body of organic research based on student projects. Shortly, we’ll make that research available to everyone via the internet. We are committed to an open-access policy for any research that is done within the centre”.
The MSc in Organic Horticulture was established in 2012 and remains the only course of its kind in Europe. A second cohort of students has recently begun studying on the programme.