FURTHER PARTICULARS OF STUDENTSHIP

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1 Scotland s Rural College PhD Studentship - Investigating behavioural and neural/cellular consequences of tooth resection in commercial piglets: implications for welfare SRUC, Scotland s Rural College, delivers comprehensive skills, education and business support for Scotland s land-based industry founded on world class, sector leading research, education and consultancy. SRUC s joint submission with the University of Edinburgh to the Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science subpanel of the Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) ranks top in the UK on research power. Resection of needle teeth is practiced routinely worldwide in piglets shortly after birth in many farms in order to limit the lesions these intact teeth might cause to other piglets and the sows teats. Tooth resection, along with other mutilations may represent a major health and welfare concern. Objective evaluation of pain induced by tooth resection is lacking, especially on a long term basis. Only a behavioural approach coupled to a neurophysiological approach will allow such evaluation. Specific behavioural tests designed to detect pain will be developed. We will examine the relationship between tooth resection and pain behaviours over time, and relate these responses to changes in the peripheral, spinal and central neurons associated with pain transduction, transmission and assimilation, and neural pathways associated with anxiety-related behaviour and stress responses (HPA axis). Both techniques of tooth resection (grinding and clipping) that are commonly applied in commercial farms will be compared. Pig behavioural studies will be undertaken at INRA Saint-Gilles, Rennes where post-mortem tissue samples will be collected. Immunochemical and molecular measures on neural tissues will be performed at SRUC and the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh. Behavioural and physiological consequences of tooth resection with both methods will be interpreted in terms of health and welfare in order to give practical advice to farmers. The successful student will receive training in specific skills (behavioural and neurophysiological techniques and statistical analyses). The specific objectives of the project are: Determine whether tooth resection: (i) influences the display of specific oral/tooth pain behaviour in pigs; (ii) alters the expression of neural indicators of pain and/or nociceptive processing; (iii) increases the central expression of stress/anxiety-related genes; (iv) via clipping or grinding is better tolerated by the animal. Applicants should have a minimum of an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Animal Science or related Biological/Veterinary/Biomedical Science. Excellent numeracy and communication skills are required as well as an interest animal health & welfare, behaviour, stress and pain neurobiology. The student will initially be based at INRA Saint-Gilles, France for months with the remainder of the studentship being based at the Roslin Institute Building, near Edinburgh. The PhD studentship will be supervised jointly by Dr. Armelle Prunier and Dr. Céline Tallet (INRA), Dr. Dale Sandercock (SRUC), Dr. Paula Brunton (Roslin Institute) and will be registered through the University of Edinburgh. This 3.5 year PhD offers a stipend of 14,057 per annum and is funded to pay the University of Edinburgh tuition fees for UK/EU students only. The expected start date is October Online applications for this post can be submitted via our website Alternatively application packs can be requested from audrey.johnstone@sruc.ac.uk Tel quoting reference SRUC/ /Sandercock. CV s will not be accepted without a completed application form. To have an informal discussion about this studentship, contact Dr. Dale Sandercock (UK), dale.sandercock@sruc.ac.uk, phone or Dr. Armelle Prunier (France) Armelle.prunier@rennes.inra.fr The closing date for the return of applications is 5 pm on 14 th August 2015

2 FURTHER PARTICULARS OF STUDENTSHIP Investigating behavioural and neural/cellular consequences of tooth resection in commercial piglets: implications for welfare ABOUT SRUC SRUC/ /Sandercock SRUC A Higher Education Institute for the Rural Sector SRUC (Scotland s Rural College) is a widely respected higher education institute dedicated to producing specialist research, delivering high quality education and providing comprehensive consultancy services in the rural sector within the UK and beyond. An organisation unique in Scotland and one of the largest organisations of its kind in Europe; we aim to lead the way in innovation and sustainable development in the agriculture and rural sectors at local, national and international levels. A cornerstone of SRUC is our internationally respected research, which seeks to address the major challenges of growing global demand for food, climate change and dwindling natural resources. Drawing on this foundation of cutting edge research, much of SRUC s emphasis is on knowledge transfer and exchange. A large part of the business is devoted to the education of over 8000 students, and by combining high quality relevant courses and excellence in teaching and support we are able to offer our students the opportunity to progress in their studies from access level right up to PhD. Working closely with both education and research SRUC Consulting is a division of SRUC which delivers leading edge advice and consultancy to over 12,000 clients in Scotland and the North of England. Our consultancy services for farm and rural business include diversification, crops, livestock, business management, food and drink and veterinary services. We have approximately 1500 members of staff working in over 50 locations across Scotland, and the organisation s annual turnover is around 78m. Our Ambitions Develop within SRUC academic resources which have national impact and global influence. Become a global leader in land-based research and consultancy services. Operate as a sustainable, well-resourced organisation with exemplary environmental credentials and real ownership amongst students, staff and stakeholders. Build on our assets and reputation.

3 SRUC Research SRUC receives Grant-in-Aid from the Scottish Government. For research, this is about 8m per annum. Total research income, including Grant-in-Aid and funds won competitively from other sources, is around 19m per annum. In SRUC Research there are about 260 staff, of which around 100 are Project Scientists. The vision for SRUC Research is to be a lead institution, nationally and internationally, conducting applied research to enhance the rural economy and environment. SRUC is distinct from many other organisations in the close integration of its three functions. Consultancy services and knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) underpinned by rigorous R & D is at the centre of our business In addition to normal expectations of research quality, we expect our research to be relevant to a problem area where there is a real stakeholder need. The programme is tailored to emphasise, as the dominant theme, end-user pull whilst maintaining a strong spirit of innovation. The programme of SRUC Research is established through discussion and interaction with end-users and stakeholders and the route to application is planned on a reasonable timescale. We expect our researchers, in their interactions with stakeholders, not only to be responsive to current stakeholder interests but also to have the imagination and capability to be proactive in identifying opportunities and potential longer-term benefits for end-users and stakeholders. This includes recognising and helping to deliver into practice the potential of new technological developments. We put a strong emphasis on economics and socio-economics work as a core area of research in its own right but also as a contextual driver for the whole of the research programme. The evolution of national, EU and World trade policies and their impacts on agriculture, the land-based sector and the development of rural policy is a strong driving force for the kinds of research endeavour in which we are involved. It is becoming increasingly important that we are capable of addressing issues, through research, that arise out of policies at these various levels, but also that we play a significant part in considering potential future scenarios that are likely to impinge on future developments of policy. There is therefore a growing emphasis on horizon scanning as part of the process through which SRUC develops its activities to be consistent, not only with current needs, but also to help anticipate future ones. Our research is organised in 4 research areas: o o o o Land Economy, Environment and Society Crop and Soil Systems Animal and Veterinary Science Future Farming Systems We collaborate widely with other research institutes and research groups, nationally and internationally, to add depth and breadth to our research activities. Of particular importance here are the other Main Research Providers that, like SRUC, are funded by Scottish Government to do research. We have close collaborations with the James Hutton Institute (Aberdeen and Dundee) in environmental, plant and crop research, the Moredun Research Institute (Edinburgh) in animal health research and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland. The Scottish Government s new research strategy is forging yet stronger links between SRUC s research and that in the MRPs. This provides exciting opportunities for further research developments. SRUC is also a partner in the Easter Bush Research Consortium (see - one of the largest groups focussed on the biology of 2 Advert Further Particulars

4 companion and production animals in the world. Most SRUC animal and veterinary science researchers recently transferred to a new purpose-built building together with research staff from the Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Many applied problems facing end-users are multi-dimensional. Research to find solutions to such issues needs to take multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches. The SRUC Research programme is being developed progressively to build multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches to research as the core of the programme, strengthening systems research and modelling, with the Land Economy research area informing research prioritisation through its analysis of policy and context. The conceptual structure of our research programme and the way it links to knowledge transfer services can be pictured as follows: The real measure of success in our research programme is not simply knowledge generation and publication in learned journals, although that is as important to us as to any other modern research institution. Rather we plan to see the outcomes of our research developed with and transferred to end-users and beneficiaries as effectively as possible, combining the strengths of our researchers, teachers and trainers and consultants to do this. GROUP Animal & Veterinary Sciences The vision for SRUC's Animal & Veterinary Sciences Research Group (AVS) is to be internationally recognised for the excellence and impact of our research and learning in animal and veterinary science. In AVS we have strengths in a number of science areas particularly genetics, animal behaviour, nutrition and epidemiology. In addition we have skills in quantitative biology, genetic evaluations, analysis of behaviour and specific lab-based approaches. This mixture of skills allows us to research within discipline areas, for example using behavioural analysis to understand and resolve animal welfare issues, but also to integrate approaches in 'systems' research for example in understanding host-pathogen interactions in diseases such as TB. We work on fundamental research questions (such as those funded by the BBSRC) to more applied work funded by industry. Our animal breeding and poultry research are especially well linked to industry and both routinely translate research into relevant outputs such as national breeding or feed evaluations. Our research is carried out on both our own SRUC farms (managed by the Future Farming Systems Group), on commercial units and in the case of our genetics research we often use large national data sets. In addition to research we are active in teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and in consultancy in the UK and internationally. There is increasing concern about our ability to feed the growing human population particularly as resources will become scarcer in the future. Concerns are especially focused on the farming of animals given the potential impact this can have on the environment, the risks associated with farm animal disease both in economic terms and for human health, and the implications of modern animal production methods for animal welfare. We believe that to address these challenges we need a mixture of high quality but relevant science, exploitation of new technologies and effective translation of our science through collaborative research, teaching and engagement with industry. 3 Advert Further Particulars

5 STUDENTSHIP STUDENTSHIP DESCRIPTION The 3.5 year studentship is funded by the SRUC Research Excellence Grant Scheme and is offered as a collaboration between SRUC, INRA and the Roslin Institute in the University of Edinburgh. The post will be initially be based at INRA Saint-Gilles, Rennes, France for the first months with the remainder of the PhD being based in the UK at the Roslin Institute Building undertaking laboratory analyses on post-mortem tissue samples collected at the INRA research farm at Saint-Gilles. Resection of needle teeth is practiced routinely worldwide in piglets shortly after birth in many farms in order to limit the lesions these intact teeth might cause to other piglets and the sows teats. Tooth resection, along with other mutilations may represent a major health and welfare concern. However, objective evaluation of pain induced by tooth resection is lacking, especially on a long term basis. Only a behavioural approach coupled to a neurophysiological approach will allow such evaluation. Specific behavioural tests designed to detect pain will be developed. Thereafter, we will examine the relationship between tooth resection and pain behaviours over time, and relate these responses to changes in the peripheral, spinal and central neurons associated with pain transduction, transmission and assimilation, and neural pathways associated with anxiety-related behaviour and stress responses (HPA axis). Both techniques of tooth resection (grinding and clipping) that are commonly applied in commercial farms will be compared. Pig behavioural studies will be undertaken at INRA Saint-Gilles, Rennes and post-mortem tissue samples will be collected there. Immunochemical and molecular measures on neural tissues will be performed at Scotland s Rural College (SRUC) and the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh. Behavioural and physiological consequences of tooth resection with both methods will be interpreted in terms of health and welfare in order to give practical advices to farmers. In addition to receiving training in specific skills (behavioural and neurophysiological techniques, statistical analyses), the student will also participate in a program of generic skills training at both sites over the course of the PhD offered by SRUC ( the University of Edinburgh s Institute of Academic Development (IAD) ( INRA and Université de Rennes École Doctoral Vie Agro Santé (VAS) ( The specific objectives of the studentship are: Determine whether tooth resection: (i) influences the display of specific oral/tooth pain behaviour in pigs; (ii) alters the expression of neural indicators of pain and/or nociceptive processing; (iii) increases the central expression of stress/anxiety-related genes; (iv) via clipping or grinding is better tolerated by the animal. QUALIFICATIONS Applicants should have a minimum of an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Animal Science or related Biological/Veterinary/Biomedical Science. PERSON SPECIFICATION Competencies Essential Desirable Education / Qualifications Skills / Abilities A minimum of an upper second class UK degree, or equivalent in Animal Science or related Biological/Veterinary or Biomedical Science. Strong organisational capacity High observational capability A Masters degree in Animal Science or related Biological/Veterinary or Biomedical Science. Evidence of basic statistical skills Proficiency in standard molecular 4 Advert Further Particulars

6 Excellent numeracy and communication skills biology techniques Experience Knowledge Other Requirements Capacity to analyse and synthesize data Practical laboratory skills Accuracy and rigor Ability to work independently and as part of a team Self-motivated Good written and spoken English and some basic French The applicant must be willing to spend years in France collecting data and samples and at least years in the UK performing laboratory analyses of samples. The post is likely to require some out-ofhours working. Research training on animals Behavioural observations Cell biology laboratory experience Histology Knowledge of the key concepts of animal welfare in relation to stress and pain physiology and behaviour and how they apply to livestock. BRIEF STATEMENT OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE STUDENTSHIP LEAD SUPERVISOR (UK) Dr. Dale Sandercock Senior Research Scientist SRUC Roslin Institute Building Easter Bush, Roslin Edinburgh EH25 9RG dale.sandercock@sruc.ac.uk LEAD SUPERVISOR (FRANCE) Dr. Armelle Prunier Senior Research Scientist INRA Domaine de la Prise F Saint-Gilles France Armelle.prunier@rennes.inra.fr STIPEND The stipend for the studentship is 14, 057 per annum 5 Advert Further Particulars

7 LOCATION Behavioural studies will be conducted in the research unit of INRA at Saint-Gilles. Animals will be raised in the experimental unit of Saint-Gilles. Most of the material, that is necessary, as well as of the methods, that will be used, are already available. However some development will be necessary for a pressure test and for image by image analysis of video records. Samples for biological studies will be collected from pigs raised at Saint-Gilles in the experimental slaughterhouse of INRA-Saint-Gilles. Histological and neurobiological studies will be carried out in the SRUC Biomarkers laboratory at Easter Bush (UK). Expression of genes and proteins in pig brains associated with an anxiety-prone/stress hyper-reactive phenotype will be performed in the Neurobiology Division laboratories at the Roslin Institute (UK). All the necessary methods that will be used are already established in these labs. However some development in the methods will be necessary for identifying new biomarkers. DURATION OF STUDENTSHIP 3.5 years ANY ADDITIONAL STIPEND: None STUDENTSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Postgraduate Student development is of major importance to SRUC and accordingly, we try to provide every opportunity for appropriate training. In addition all of our research students are eligible to attend training courses and workshops organised by the University of Edinburgh s Institute of Academic Development (IAD). In France, the student will also have training opportunities at INRA Saint-Gilles and the Université de Rennes. ADDITIONAL DRIVING LICENCE A current full UK/European driving licence is desirable. NO SMOKING POLICY SRUC operates a No Smoking policy.. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY STATEMENT It is the policy of SRUC to provide equality of opportunity for all applicants for postgraduate studentships. This policy of equal opportunity will apply regardless of a person s gender, age, marital status, parental status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, HIV status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender reassignment, transexualism or physical or mental disability, or any other inappropriate distinction. SRUC is committed to the development and use of procedures and practices, which do not discriminate and which will provide genuine equality of opportunity for all students. DISABILITY POLICY STATEMENT SRUC is committed to a positive and pro-active approach to people who have a disability. SRUC would seek to enable students with any such disability to pursue their work in equality 6 Advert Further Particulars

8 with all other employees, through recognition of the additional support they may need to achieve this. Please inform the Main Supervisor if any adjustments or support are required for interview, or whether any adjustments or adaptations may help you overcome operational difficulties presented by the studentship. When recruiting new students we are required to ensure that the character and background of applicants are thoroughly assessed. to maintain and implement an effective risk assessment and recruitment policy. We therefore ask that references from your application form are taken up as part of the selection process. We also ask applicants to fill in the following: 1. SELF DISCLOSURE (CHARACTER ENQUIRY) All applicants are required to complete the Self Disclosure (Character Enquiry) Form. The purpose of the Self Disclosure (Character Enquiry) Form is to allow applicants to disclose their convictions in full to ensure that SRUC can assess the disclosed information fairly and to make informed decisions as to whether or not the convictions are relevant to the studentship applied for. Only offences that are deemed to be relevant to the studentship applied for will result in applications not been taken forward for interview. APPLICATIONS Online applications can be submitted via our website Applicants who are unable to access the online application process can request an application pack by contacting Tel quoting reference SRUC/ /Sandercock The closing date for applications is 5pm on 14 th August 2015 Reference SRUC/ /Sandercock should be quoted in all communications. We would recommend that electronic applications are sent 24 hours in advance of the deadline, to allow for any technical difficulties. Please note that applications received after the closing date will not normally be accepted. DISCLAIMER These particulars are issued by the Contracts Office, SRUC, Edinburgh. They are intended to represent an accurate description of the studentship at the time of writing, although this accuracy cannot be guaranteed. SRUC reserves the right to vary these particulars or make no studentship appointment at all. Neither in part nor in whole do these particulars form any contract between SRUC and any individual. 7 Advert Further Particulars