Environmental Science & Research

Two scholarships

Two scholarships are being offered by ESR (Environmental Science & Research) for a MSc in statistics and a PhD in management science/statistics/economics. The deadline to apply is 29 August 2008.

Please contact Dr Beverley Horn at ESR with any questions, Beverley.Horn@esr.cri.nz. Applications should be sent to Dr Horn.

Contact details are:
Dr Beverley Horn
ESR
P O Box 29-181
Fendalton
Christchurch 8540
New Zealand
Tel: +64 3 351-6019

MSc Project

Modelling uncertainty in quantitative risk assessments for food safety.

The Food Safety Group at ESR (located next to Canterbury University) assesses and models the risk to New Zealanders from pathogens that can infect people through food. Some of our models use simulations to describe how the numbers of bacteria or viruses in food change from production on the farm, through industrial processing to consumer preparation and consumption. This project will investigate different ways to quantifying the uncertainty around some of the parameters in such a farm-to-fork model.

The modelling will mainly be done in R. A background in microbiology is not required, but a willingness to apply your mathematics/statistics skills to this area is. Supervision will involve staff from ESR and Mathematics and Statistics Departments of the University of Canterbury. Some time will be spent working with the ESR co-supervisor during the project.

The scholarship is for one year to cover the research component of a MSc and is $17,000 in total (scholarship plus contribution to course expenses).

PhD Project

Cost-benefit studies related to foodborne disease in New Zealand

The Food Safety Group at ESR performs scientific research underpinning risk management for foodborne disease in New Zealand. This project will gather source data, develop estimates for costs and benefits of risk management options, and ranking criteria. A key part of the analysis will be the use of quantitative risk models of the food chain to assess effects on public health and estimate costs, with associated analysis of uncertainty and variability. This project will involve research in modelling, economics, management science, and public health metrics. Communication with sectors of the food industry will be an important part of the project.

The modelling will be done in R and @RISK. Supervision will involve staff from ESR and the University of Canterbury.

The scholarship will be for three years at $27,000 per annum.

ESR is a Crown Research Institute specialising in science solutions in the fields of food safety, water quality, health and forensics. www.esr.cri.nz