Latest News
Read the latest and previous news items from SCRI.
- SCRI Director among top scientists advising Scottish Government
- Fruit, veg, art and design combine in new exhibition
- Secret sex life of aphids unlocked
- New raspberry breeding funding
- Scotland joins North Sea region coalition to boost berry industry
- Baked rhubarb could help fight cancer
- Funding to help train the crop scientists of the future
- SSCR 2010 winter meetings
- Cold snap breaks 50-year-old records
- SCRI welcomes UK move on food supply
- Crop Science and Research “Fundamental”
- SCRI Group Supports UK Plant Breeding
- Professor Gregory to chair the ACNFP
- No spray potato predicted
- Moredun to be affiliated to New Institute
- SCRI and Macaulay agree to form ‘super institute’
- Scottish scientists dig around for worms
- Potato Genome Sequence released by international group of scientists
- New milestone for knowledgescotland
- New role for Professor Peter Gregory
- Genome of Irish potato famine pathogen decoded
- Eucarpia comes to Dundee
- SCRI chief comments on UK food consultation
- Big Turnout for Potatoes in Practice
- Potato blight plight looks promising for food security
- SCRI helps M&S sustainability initiative
- PiP solutions to potato challenges
- Cereals in Practice 2009
- Andrew Wilson joins Governing Board of SCRI
- Fruitful future predicted for Scotland’s berry industry
- Book now for EUCARPIA
- SCRI to lead project to help Kenyan farmers
- “The climate is changing – so must we!”
- Water testing breakthrough for Scotland
- £3.5 million to tackle late blight
- SCRI scientists take uphill challenge
- SCRI scientists spread the word
- BioSS Head of Research elected RSE Fellow
- “You choose the news” Science and the media, finding the balance
- MEPs visit Scotland’s leading crop research institute
- Women in STEM event at SCRI
- Help at hand for fruit growers facing new EU pesticide regime
- Blondie wins prize for PhD student
- Art and science create ‘The Nature of Things’
- New £27 million bioenergy centre
- SCRI to host EUCARPIA meeting
- SSCR winter events
- SCRI bred potato wins award
- North lilies return to SCRI
- SCRI Farm Manager wins Director’s Award
- Swede little mystery
- MRS backs UK-China deal on sustainable farming
- SCRI scientists secure share of £15m
- New Programme 1 website
- Innovation Showcase Business Day
- SCRI PhD Opportunities
- Water Workshop at SCRI
- Conference presentations now available
- Potato industry honours Jim Godfrey, OBE
- SCRI Governor to Chair Potato Council
- Meet Glen Fyne - the new Scottish raspberry
- UN Year of the Potato conference
- SCRI Director warns of major changes in Scotland's food supply system
- SCRI scientist honoured
- New Chairman for SCRI Governing Board
- Polytunnel raspberries best for size and flavour
- Could tea combat diabetes?
- "Delivering More Effective Government" – SCRI statement
- Cross-Cutting Themes publications
- From Perthshire to Antarctica
- SCRI joins £1.7 million project to decode the genetic secrets of a potato killer
- Oats so good for you
- New discovery links potato scourge and malaria
- Is ‘Umami’ the secret of the perfect potato?
- Top SCRI scientist honoured by RSC
- Twelve hundred years of service!
- Former SCRI student wins PM’s prize in Australia
- SCRI Scientist Awarded Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship
- Keeping science in focus
- SCRI’s potato mountain wins silver
- China opens the door to Scottish seed potatoes
- China’s Minister Counsellor for Science visits SCRI at Invergowrie
- Rare sighting causes a flutter
- New SCRI website launched
- Scottish Crop Research Generates £160 Million a Year
- SCRI Scientists to Study Methods for GMO "Safety Assessment"
- Potato Mountain to Move to Edinburgh
- River City's Shellsuit Bob Down on the Farm!
- Dundee Bears Get Fruity
- Scots Scientists' Climate Change Challenge
- Scottish Raspberries a Big Hit in Spain
- SCRI Announces New Governors
- Scots Scientists in £2.5 Million Quest to Make Healthy Food Even Healthier
- SCRI's Director Reacts to IPCC Report
- Funding Boost for SCRI
SCRI's Director and Chief Executive, Professor Peter Gregory, is among 12 leading scientists who have been appointed to the specialist panel that advises the Scottish Government on science issues.
(Published: 10 Mar 2010)
An exhibition celebrating an unusual fusion of art and science goes on show at the University of Dundee this weekend.
(Published: 25 Feb 2010)
Scottish scientists are a key part of the team that is publishing the completed genome of the pea aphid...one of a family of small, plant-eating insects that do damage to food crops around the world estimated in billions of dollars worldwide.
(Published: 23 Feb 2010)
SCRI has warmly welcomed a major investment - almost £400,000 - in soft fruit research which has just been announced by the Scottish Government.
(Published: 19 Feb 2010)
Scottish scientists have joined a consortium including Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany with the goal of securing the long term future of the soft fruit industry.
(Published: 17 Feb 2010)
Eating rhubarb baked in a crumble is not only tasty it may also be the best way to take advantage of its health benefits, and could lead to the development of new cancer treatments.
(Published: 12 Feb 2010)
SCRI and the University of Dundee have been awarded almost £350,000 to train the next generation of crop breeders, who will help to address worldwide food shortages and deal with the impact of climate change.
(Published: 03 Feb 2010)
The winter meetings of the Scottish Society for Crop Research Potato and Soft Fruit Sub-committees will be held at SCRI in February.
(Published: 15 Jan 2010)
Weather statistics released by SCRI have underlined the severity of the cold snap currently affecting the UK.
(Published: 07 Jan 2010)
The UK government’s plans for a new agricultural strategy to meet future food demands and the challenges of climate change have been welcomed by the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Invergowrie.
(Published: 05 Jan 2010)
The crucial research contributing to our security of food supply has been highlighted at a conference in Edinburgh.
(Published: 16 Dec 2009)
The Managing Director of SCRI's commercial subsidiary Mylnefield Research Services (MRS Ltd) Dr Nigel Kerby, has underlined the group's commitment to training a new generation of plant breeders.
(Published: 01 Dec 2009)
SCRI Director and Chief Executive, Professor Peter Gregory, has been appointed Chair of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP).
(Published: 27 Nov 2009)
SCRI’s Director, Professor Peter Gregory, has predicted the development of a potato variety that would require little or no pesticide and herbicide spraying.
(Published: 17 Nov 2009)
The plan for SCRI and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute to form a new ‘super-institute’ has been further boosted by news that the Moredun Research Institute is likely to become an “affiliate” of the new organisation.
(Published: 09 Oct 2009)
SCRI and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute have agreed in principle to unite, strengthening Scotland's rural-environmental research capacity and further enhancing their international competitiveness.
(Published: 06 Oct 2009)
A project is about to get underway to count Scotland’s worms. The project may also help scientists understand how climate change is affecting our earthworm population. The unique study is being conducted on Scottish farms.
(Published: 25 Sep 2009)
The Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium (PGSC), an international team of scientists including researchers at SCRI and the University of Dundee has announced that it has released the first draft sequence of the potato genome.
(Published: 23 Sep 2009)
knowledgescotland reaches a new milestone next month when a two day conference will focus on key research areas.
(Published: 15 Sep 2009)
SCRI's Director and Chief Executive, Professor Peter Gregory, has been elected as President of the International Society of Root Research. The Society was founded in 1982.
(Published: 14 Sep 2009)
Scientists at SCRI have helped decode the genome of the notorious pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century and still costs the world £3 billion a year.
(Published: 10 Sep 2009)
Scientists from all over the world completed a successful conference in Dundee which focused on one of the key issues of our time - food security. They were all specialists in biometrics, the science of measuring and analysing biological data.
(Published: 28 Aug 2009)
The Westminster government has suggested a "radical rethink" is required of how the UK produces and consumes its food.
(Published: 10 Aug 2009)
Potatoes in Practice, the UK's largest field trial event for the potato sector, has made a successful transition to its new home at Balruddery Farm in Angus. Balruddery is to be at the heart of SCRI's research into sustainable farming methods.
(Published: 07 Aug 2009)
Over 160 years since potato blight wreaked havoc in Ireland and other northern European countries scientists at SCRI finally have the blight-causing pathogen in their sights and are working to accelerate breeding of more durable, disease resistant
(Published: 07 Aug 2009)
High Street store Marks & Spencer has launched a new industry initiative to help farmers become more environmentally sustainable with the help of experts at SCRI.
(Published: 03 Aug 2009)
Potatoes in Practice, Britain’s biggest field-based event for the potato industry in 2009, takes place at Balruddery Farm, Invergowrie, Dundee on Thursday 13 August.
(Published: 31 Jul 2009)
The consortium behind Cereals in Practice has hailed this year’s event a big success.
(Published: 10 Jul 2009)
The former economist and MSP Andrew Wilson has joined the Governing Board of SCRI, Scotland’s world-renowned crop research institute based at Invergowrie, Dundee.
(Published: 25 Jun 2009)
Key figures from Scotland’s burgeoning soft fruit industry will gather on Thursday (16 July) for SCRI’s Fruit for the Future, the annual showcase of what is new in the sector.
(Published: 24 Jun 2009)
Book online for the Biometrics in Plant Breeding Section conference in Dundee this September. Early bird offer extended to 14 July.
(Published: 26 May 2009)
SCRI is leading an international project to help potato farmers in Kenya.
(Published: 25 May 2009)
One of the world’s leading scientists has warned that the issues of food security and climate change must be much more closely linked.
(Published: 21 May 2009)
New help is at hand for those working to promote the sustainability and quality of Scotland’s natural environment.
(Published: 19 May 2009)
Researchers from SCRI will join forces with colleagues at the universities of Dundee and Warwick in a multi-million pound project to investigate late blight – responsible for the Irish potato famine and still wreaking havoc around the world.
(Published: 20 Apr 2009)
Not many scientific experiments require twelve hundred tonnes of soil and rubble. But that is exactly what is being used by scientists at SCRI in Dundee as they try to tackle the life-threatening dangers posed by landslips; using plants.
(Published: 08 Apr 2009)
SCRI’s scientists are making the results of their research available to an even wider audience…particularly those charged with drawing up public policy.
(Published: 18 Mar 2009)
Professor Christopher Glasbey, Head of Research at Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), part of the SCRI Group, has been elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).
(Published: 10 Mar 2009)
Science and scientific advances are everywhere in the media. But how easy is it to report on controversial subjects, such as scientific advances, in a balanced way? Do personal opinions influence the final report?
(Published: 09 Mar 2009)
A group of MEPs and senior EU officials discovered more about the importance of SCRI research to European agriculture on a visit to Invergowrie, Dundee.
(Published: 26 Feb 2009)
The universities of Dundee, Abertay and St Andrews, together with SCRI and Sensation, have organised a programme of events showcasing and celebrating Women’s Achievements in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).
(Published: 20 Feb 2009)
The implications of the major changes on pesticides regulations planned by the EU will be spotlighted at a meeting involving growers and producers next week.
(Published: 18 Feb 2009)
An essay inspired by a Blondie record has won a top prize for a PhD student at SCRI, Scotland’s leading crop research institute.
(Published: 12 Feb 2009)
Scots artist Ronnie Forbes will unveil his latest body of work, ‘De Rerum Natura: The Nature of Things’, later this month following a two-year residency at SCRI, Scotland’s leading crop research centre.
(Published: 09 Feb 2009)
SCRI and the University of Dundee will play a key role in a new £27 million Sustainable Bioenergy Centre announced by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
(Published: 27 Jan 2009)
SCRI is delighted to announce that EUCARPIA, the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding, will bring the fourteenth meeting of its Biometrics in Plant Breeding Section conference to Dundee this year.
(Published: 16 Jan 2009)
The Scottish Society for Crop Research will host three sub-committee events this winter focusing on soft fruit, cereals and potatoes.
(Published: 15 Jan 2009)
The Vales Sovereign potato bred at SCRI in collaboration with Greenvale AP has won Tesco’s 'Variety of the Year' in the Fresh Produce Category Awards 2008.
(Published: 08 Jan 2009)
A group of Scottish Ladies once thought lost forever are set to return to Dundee, where they started life some 40 years ago.
(Published: 29 Dec 2008)
SCRI Director and Chief Executive, Professor Peter Gregory, has named Farm Manager Euan Caldwell as the winner of the 2008 Director’s Award for an outstanding contribution to the life and reputation of the institute.
(Published: 16 Dec 2008)
The soft fruit and potato varieties bred at SCRI are widely known to farmers and consumers alike but SCRI boasts another highly successful breeding programme that is not so well-known – brassicas.
(Published: 02 Dec 2008)
The Managing Director of Mylnefield Research Services (MRS), Dr Nigel Kerby, met the Chinese Minister of Agriculture, Mr Sun Zhengcai, at the official launch conference of the UK China Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (SAIN).
(Published: 19 Nov 2008)
Scientists at SCRI, Scotland’s leading crop research institute at Invergowrie, Dundee, are set to share in over £15 million of new research funding after securing roles in four new major research projects.
(Published: 02 Oct 2008)
A new website outlining the research conducted for RERAD Programme 1: Developing Strategies for Profitable, Sustainable Agricultural Frameworks and Food Security has been launched.
(Published: 25 Sep 2008)
SCRI will take part in a free Innovation Showcase Business Day in November, which provides a unique opportunity for businesses to discover the academic expertise available at the University of Dundee, University of Abertay Dundee and SCRI.
(Published: 23 Sep 2008)
Recent graduates are being invited to find out more about SCRI's PhD opportunities at forthcoming careers fairs in Dundee and St Andrews.
(Published: 23 Sep 2008)
With recent record rainfall in many areas you could be forgiven for thinking we know all there is to know about water. But SCRI has been hosting a workshop that concentrated on nothing but water!
(Published: 08 Sep 2008)
Speaker presentations from the recent Improving International Potato Production conference are now available. The conference is Scotland's main event during the 2008 UN Year of the Potato.
(Published: 20 Aug 2008)
The Potato Council has honoured Jim Godfrey with a special award in recognition of his outstanding service to the British potato industry.
(Published: 11 Aug 2008)
A member of the SCRI Governing Board, Allan Stevenson, has been appointed Chairman of the Potato Council and a main Board Director of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
(Published: 21 Jul 2008)
SCRI has launched the latest Scottish raspberry which is likely to start appearing in supermarkets and shops around the UK during the next twelve months.
(Published: 25 Jun 2008)
For two days in August Scotland will become the focus of a global business worth at least £3 billion - the rapidly expanding potato industry.
(Published: 24 Jun 2008)
Scotland’s demands for food are becoming increasingly complex…and contradictory.
(Published: 28 May 2008)
A 35-year-old scientist at SCRI, Scotland’s leading centre for crop research and plant breeding, has been awarded the Peter Massalski Prize for meritorious research.
(Published: 27 May 2008)
SCRI is to have a new Chairman. Peter Berry, a former Chief Executive of the Crown Agents, is to head the Governing Board.
(Published: 18 Apr 2008)
Scientists at SCRI say there’s mounting evidence that raspberries grown in polytunnels are bigger and taste better than those grown out-of-doors and unprotected from the elements.
(Published: 19 Mar 2008)
Drinking black tea could help prevent diabetes, according to new findings by scientists at SCRI working with a team at Dundee University.
(Published: 03 Mar 2008)
The Scottish Government has proposed a new, single institute to bring together environmental and rural research.
(Published: 30 Jan 2008)
New publications outlining SCRI's research on the Cross-Cutting Themes of biodiversity, climate change and sustainability have been issued.
(Published: 29 Jan 2008)
Two top plant and environmental scientists from Scotland are swapping the fields and polytunnels of Perthshire for the cold deserts of Antarctica.
(Published: 04 Jan 2008)
SCRI – Scotland's world-renowned centre for crop research – is joining a consortium of world-leading scientists – including those who helped decode the entire human genome.
(Published: 28 Nov 2007)
Oats can help reduce cholesterol, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and have an impact on blood pressure when eaten as part of a low fat diet.
(Published: 07 Nov 2007)
A discovery made by scientists at SCRI could lead to more effective ways of combating the fungus that caused the Irish Potato Famine.
(Published: 05 Nov 2007)
A uniquely Japanese concept of flavour may hold the key to breeding the perfect potato.
(Published: 28 Oct 2007)
The Dundee born scientist who heads the key Quality Health and Nutrition programme at SCRI has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
(Published: 26 Oct 2007)
Forty scientists and support staff at SCRI are being honoured with long service awards.
(Published: 22 Oct 2007)
A former SCRI PhD student, Dr Peter Waterhouse, has been awarded the prestigious 2007 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in Australia.
(Published: 26 Sep 2007)
A top scientist at SCRI has been awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship to pursue his work on the resilience of Scottish agriculture in the face of global environmental change.
(Published: 19 Sep 2007)
Imagine a leaf the size of Scotland or bacteria the size of a car and you will get some idea of what it is like to see things two millions times their usual size.
(Published: 04 Sep 2007)
SCRI’s unique potato display – an eight feet (2.4 metre) polystyrene model of an Andean mountain – has won silver at the Dundee Flower and Food Festival.
(Published: 31 Aug 2007)
The Chinese government has given permission for the importation of Scottish seed potato mini tubers. It’s being hailed as a major breakthrough in a potentially huge market.
(Published: 29 Aug 2007)
The Chinese Government’s Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology has paid a visit to SCRI, Scotland’s leading centre for crop research on the outskirts of Dundee.
(Published: 29 Aug 2007)
The sighting near Dundee of a butterfly more usually spotted south of the border could be a sign that climate change is bringing new species to Scotland’s gardens.
(Published: 16 Aug 2007)
SCRI – Scotland’s leading crop research institute – is aiming to share its world renowned research with more people than ever with a new more accessible and user-friendly website.
(Published: 13 Aug 2007)
Scotland’s leading centre for research on crops has emerged as a strong, new contributor to the Scottish economy.
(Published: 05 Jul 2007)
Scientists at Scotland’s leading crop research centre, SCRI at Invergowrie, have won a share of a £400,000 project to research techniques relevant for the safety assessment of GMOs.
(Published: 02 Jul 2007)
Scotland’s mountains are renowned across the world but this has to be the first time that a potato mountain has appeared in Edinburgh!
(Published: 13 Jun 2007)
“Shellsuit Bob Adams“ from BBC Scotland’s highly successful River City soap is to try his hand at life on the farm during the LEAF Open Farm Sunday event at Invergowrie’s SC
(Published: 04 Jun 2007)
If you go down to the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise as you might just find the bears enjoying fresh Scottish raspberries instead of the usual teddy bears’ picnic.
(Published: 31 May 2007)
Scotland’s farmers are facing greater uncertainty over their profit margins and will also have to battle previously unknown pests and plant diseases as a result of climate change.
(Published: 05 Apr 2007)
A Scottish variety of raspberry, which didn’t much like the climate at home, has become a major success in the sunny weather of Spain.
(Published: 12 Mar 2007)
SCRI, Scotland’s leading centre for research on plants, has announced three, new members of its governing body. All three are outstanding specialists in their areas of interest.
(Published: 05 Mar 2007)
Some of Scotland’s top scientists are to lead a European project to discover how to make healthy food even better for us.
(Published: 08 Feb 2007)
Scotland can expect global warming to impact on biodiversity and human activities in areas such as the Cairngorms…and there may be more severe storms in the West of the country and flooding
(Published: 02 Feb 2007)
Scientists at the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Invergowrie have won funding to help beat a potato disease that costs farmers around the world a staggering £3 billion a year.
(Published: 08 Jan 2007)
