Animal health and agriculture

Our scientists and vets are leading research to improve the health and welfare of livestock, pets and wild animals.

Animal scientists are interested in how animals’ bodies' work, their welfare and their behaviour. Animal science also explores connections between humans, animals and our shared environments.

What we do

Studying the relationships between animal health, human health and the environment is called ‘One Health’ and it is an approach that guides much of our research.

Our work is focused on three main themes:

learning more about animal genetics and how this affects their health
finding ways to detect and prevent infectious diseases, particularly those that can pass between animals and humans
researching ways to improve animal production and welfare, and how to make farming practices more sustainable.

Where we do it

Agricultural and veterinary research at the University of Edinburgh is carried out at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies campus at Easter Bush, which has the highest concentration of animal scientists in Europe and is home to the world-leading Roslin Institute.

Our researchers collaborate with many other research centres across the University, including through the cross-disciplinary Global Academy for Agriculture and Food Security.

We also collaborate locally with the Moredun Research Institute and agriculture experts at Scotland’s Rural College, and have partnerships with leading institutions across the world including the International Livestock Research Institute based in Kenya and Ethiopia.