Basic Function:

Teagasc is seeking to recruit a Research Officer to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team within the Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Programme with responsibility for developing and implementing a translational research based programme aimed at optimising sheep health and welfare. The candidate will be expected to identify researchable knowledge constraints to improving sheep health and welfare on commercial sheep farms, define best practice responses, develop implementation packages and monitor results. This programme will build on strong collaborative links with Animal Health Ireland (AHI), University College Dublin, Sheep Ireland, Bord Bia, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other relevant institutions both nationally and internationally.

Background:

The Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre in Teagasc, located at Mellows Campus, Athenry, Co. Galway has extensive facilities for field and animal research. Additionally, there is strong alignment between the Animal and Bioscience Department, Livestock Systems Department and the Grassland Department across Moorepark, Grange and Athenry research centres.  Over 150 scientific and technical professionals, supported by an administrative and operative staff, conduct the research programme. Additionally, there are approximately 100 Walsh Scholars completing mainly PhD degree programmes. The sheep industry is of vital national importance to Ireland and Teagasc plays a key role in developing competitive, profitable and sustainable systems of sheep production. Teagasc are seeking to appoint a highly qualified, enthusiastic and dynamic researcher to develop and lead a research programme in sheep health and welfare. This position will be a key appointment for Teagasc with national significance in developing scientifically based approaches to support enhanced sheep health and welfare to improve the profitability and sustainability of the Irish sheep sector and the wider agri-food industry. The principal of ‘prevention is better than cure’ promotes animal health as a driver of optimised production, improved margins and the production of high quality food. Furthermore, healthy animals result in a reduced requirement for antibiotics which is a major strategy in reducing the development of antimicrobial resistance. The highly interdisciplinary Teagasc animal health research programme focuses on the underlying biological mechanisms of disease and parasitism development and resistance, enhanced biosecurity and management strategies, parasite drug resistance, improved diagnostics and therapeutics, and vaccination and identification of and selection for disease resistant animals.