University of Sydney Handbooks - 2020 Archive

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Food and Agribusiness

Unit outlines will be available though Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
 

FOOD AND AGRIBUSINESS

Advanced coursework and projects will be available in 2021 for students who complete this stream.

Food and Agribusiness stream

The Food and Agribusiness stream is 156 credit points, consisting of:
(i) 6 credit points of 1000-level stream core units
(ii) 6 credit points of 2000-level stream core units
(iii) A 96 credit point program in Food and Agribusiness
(iv) A major from Table S in one of the following: Economics, Economic Policy, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Financial Economics, Econometrics, Accounting, Banking, Business Analytics, Business Information Systems, Business Law, Finance, Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management, International Business, Management or Marketing

Food and Agribusiness program

This program is only available to students enrolled in Food and Agribusiness stream.
The program in Food and Agribusiness requires 96 credit points from this table including:
(i) 6 credit points of 1000-level program core units
(ii) 6 credit points of 2000-level program core units
(iii) 24 credit points of 4000-level core units
(iv) 6 credit points of 4000-level internship units
(v) 6 credit points of 4000-level advanced coursework units
(vi) A 48 credit point major in Food Science

Units of study

The units of study are listed below.

1000-level units of study

Stream core
ENVX1002 Introduction to Statistical Methods

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Thomas Bishop Session: Semester 1 Classes: 3 hours per week of lectures; 2 hours per week of computer tutorials Prohibitions: ENVX1001 or MATH1005 or MATH1905 or MATH1015 or MATH1115 or DATA1001 or DATA1901 or BUSS1020 or STAT1021 or ECMT1010 Assessment: Assignments, quizzes, presentation, exam Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Available as a degree core unit only in the Agriculture, Animal and Veterinary Bioscience, and Food and Agribusiness, and Taronga Wildlife Conservation streams
This is an introductory data science unit for students in the agricultural, life and environmental sciences. It provides the foundation for statistics and data science skills that are needed for a career in science and for further study in applied statistics and data science. The unit focuses on developing critical and statistical thinking skills for all students. It has 4 modules; exploring data, modelling data, sampling data and making decisions with data. Students will use problems and data from the physical, health, life and social sciences to develop adaptive problem solving skills in a team setting. Taught interactively with embedded technology, ENVX1002 develops critical thinking and skills to problem-solve with data.
Textbooks
Statistics, Fourth Edition, Freedman Pisani Purves
Program core
ENVI1003 Global Challenges: Food, Water, Climate

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Stephen Cattle Session: Semester 2 Classes: Two lectures per week, 2-hour computer lab per week, two-day weekend field trip Prohibitions: AGEN1002 Assessment: 2-hour exam (45%), field trip report (20%), group work presentation (25%), GIS reports (10%) Practical field work: Computer practicals and two-day field trip Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In the 21st century the population of the world will increase both in size and its expectation in terms of food, energy and consumer demands. Against this demand we have a planet in crisis where natural resources are degraded, biodiversity is diminishing and planetary cycles related to climate are reaching points of irreversible change. Management of our precious natural resources is a balancing act between production and conservation as always, but now we have to do this against a background of potential large scale changes in climate. In this unit students will gain an understanding of the key environmental challenges of the 21st century; namely food security, climate change, water security, biodiversity protection, ecosystems services and soil security. In the second half, using Australian case studies, we will explore how we manage different agro-ecosystems within their physical constraints around water, climate and soil, while considering linkages with the global environmental challenges. Management now, in the past and the future will be considered, with an emphasis on food production. This unit is recommended unit for students interested in gaining a broad overview of the environmental challenges of the 21st century, both globally and within Australia.

2000-level units of study

Stream core
ENVX2001 Applied Statistical Methods

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Floris Van Ogtrop Session: Semester 1 Classes: Two 1-hour lectures per week, one 3-hour computer practical per week Prerequisites: [6cp from (ENVX1001 or ENVX1002 or BIOM1003 or MATH1011 or MATH1015 or DATA1001 or DATA1901)] OR [3cp from (MATH1XX1 or MATH1906 or MATH1XX3 or MATH1907) and an additional 3cp from (MATH1XX5)] Assessment: final exam (55%), reports (2 x 10%), ten online quizzes (5% total), group work presentation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Available as a degree core unit only in the Agriculture, Animal and Veterinary Bioscience, Food and Agribusiness and Taronga Wildlife Conservation streams
This unit builds on introductory 1st year statistics units and is targeted towards students in the agricultural, life and environmental sciences. It consists of two parts and presents, in an applied manner, the statistical methods that students need to know for further study and their future careers. In the first part the focus is on designed studies including both surveys and formal experimental designs. Students will learn how to analyse and interpret datasets collected from designs from more than 2 treatment levels, multiple factors and different blocking designs. In the second part the focus is on finding patterns in data. In this part the students will learn to model relationships between response and predictor variables using regression, and find patterns in datasets with many variables using principal components analysis and clustering. This part provides the foundation for the analysis of big data. In the practicals the emphasis is on applying theory to analysing real datasets using the statistical software package R. A key feature of the unit is using R to develop coding skills that are become essential in science for processing and analysing datasets of ever increasing size.
Textbooks
No textbooks are recommended but useful reference books are: Mead R, Curnow RN, Hasted AM (2002) 'Statistical methods in agriculture and experimental biology.' (Chapman and Hall: Boca Raton). Quinn GP, Keough MJ (2002) 'Experimental design and data analysis for biologists.' (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK).
Program core
ITLS2000 Managing Food and Beverage Supply Chains

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 3 hr seminar/tutorial per week Prohibitions: AGEN2003 or AGEN1005 Assessment: tutorial quiz (10%), individual assignment (35%), group project report (15%), group project presentation (10%), final 2hr exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The food and beverage sector is one of the key economic activities in virtually all countries in the world today. When it comes to logistics and supply chain management within this sector, there is a level of complexity, not frequently found in other industries. This includes the need to consider products bulkiness, perishability and seasonality, coupled with potential additional infrastructure requirements in respect of temperature-controlled storage and transport. As a consequence, there is a higher imperative to have a well-designed end-to-end supply chain. Equally, it is important to understand issues from the perspectives of the various actors in food and beverage supply chains including farms, processing units, wholesalers / distributors, and retailers. Overarching the structuring of any food and beverage supply chain will be consideration of issues such as perishability, quality and risk. Further, for a supply chain to be effective and efficient consideration also needs to be given to the support functions of information management, use of technology, and financial reporting. In today's world, companies compete on supply chains. Those who have the ability to establish a distinctive supply chain and create it as a strategic asset will, therefore, emerge as industry leaders.

4000-level units of study

Core
AFNR4101 Research Project A

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Budiman Minasny Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: No formal classes, approximately 18 hours per week Prerequisites: 144 credit points of level 1000-3000 units of study Assessment: Research proposal presentation, critical literature review and written proposal. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit aims to develop a student's ability to undertake a major research project in an area of specialization. The unit builds on theoretical and applied knowledge gained across most of the units of study undertaken throughout their degree program. This unit is a corequisite with AFNR4102 and each student will work with an academic supervisor in an area of specialization and develop a well-defined research project to be executed. The research project is undertaken to advance the students ability to build well-developed research skills, a strong analytical capacity, and the ability to provide high quality research results demonstrating a sound grasp of the research question. Working with an academic supervisor, students will develop their ability to define a research project including the producing of testable hypotheses, identifying existing knowledge from reviewing the literature, and the design and execution of a research strategy towards solving the research question. Students will build on their previous research and inquiry skills through sourcing a wide range of knowledge to solve the research problem. They will enhance their intellectual and personal autonomy by means of the development of experimental programs. Students will experience presenting a project proposal. They will improve their written and planning skills by composing a research project proposal and the writing of a critical literature review.
AFNR4102 Research Project B

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Budiman Minasny Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: No formal classes, approximately 18 hours per week Prerequisites: AFNR4101 Assessment: Poster, oral presentation and research paper. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is a continuation of the major research project initiated in AFNR4101 and continues to build on theoretical and applied knowledge gained across most of the units of study undertaken throughout their degree program. Working with their academic supervisor in the area of specialization the student will continue to pursue the defined research project towards presenting final results and conclusions. The research results will be communicated as a poster, an oral presentation, and a research paper. The research paper is to be formatted as an article of a scientific journal. Students will continue to build their research skills, develop strong analytical capacity, demonstrate a sound grasp of the topic, and an ability to interpret results in a broad framework. Working with an academic supervisor, students will develop their ability to produce results of high quality, draw reliable conclusions, and identify future areas of research. Students will build on their previous research and inquiry skills through sourcing a wide range of knowledge to solve the research problem.The project will enhance their intellectual and personal autonomy by means of the managing the research program. Students will improve their communication skills through oral presentation of their research findings, the production of a poster detailing their research findings and the writing of a research paper.
Internship units
FOOD4001 Industry Internship

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Malcom Possell Session: Intensive July Classes: 1x 2 hr information sessions for 2 weeks, 1x 2 hr training tutorials for 2 weeks, 1x 2 hr seminar for 1 week, 1x 2 day pre-placement workshop. One six week industry placement. Prerequisites: 12cp from (FOOD3000 or FOOD3001 or FOOD3002 or FOOD3888) Assessment: professional competency (50%), internship research/analytical report (2500 words) (40%), seminar presentation (10%) Practical field work: 6 weeks for internship placement Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: This is a compulsory unit for all students undertaking the Food and Agribusiness stream and is for those students only. Students must enrol in the unit prior to Semester 1 to undertake an internship in the subsequent Intensive July session.
The Food and Agribusiness sector is an important part of the Australian economy and makes a significant contribution to employment, business and service opportunities. This unit of study offers you work-integrated learning in this sector through an industry placement. Here, you will consolidate and contextualise the knowledge and skills in applied science and business that you have gained in the food and agribusiness stream in an authentic practical setting. Businesses and organisations that have agreed to host you include small-medium enterprises (SMEs), large national and multinational companies, and government and non-government organisations with roles in the production, processing, distribution, marketing, research and development, policy-making or regulation of agri-food products. Your student learning outcomes will be achieved in several ways. First, pre-placement training on 'soft skills' including inter-personal, communication and self-management skills will improve your work-readiness and build your confidence. Throughout the industry placement, you will be offered mentoring by an assigned academic mentor in addition to your workplace supervisor. Finally, the assessment tasks have been designed to ensure that the internship is accompanied by continued development of your research skills, reflective practice, critical thinking, analytical perspectives, and reporting skills.
Advanced coursework
FOOD4XX2 to be developed for offering in 2021.