The Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT) based at the University’s Riseholme Campus is home to a working farm with specialist research facilities. LIAT’s multi-disciplinary team brings together sector-leading expertise in a diverse range of areas such as; artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering, crop science, environmental sustainability, food manufacturing, product development and supply chains. Our goals include supporting and enhancing the future of food and agriculture productivity, efficiency, and sustainability through research, education, and technology.

Central to the university’s innovation offer in LIAT is a unique nexus of advanced engineering, digital technologies and agrifood expertise. This enables new technologies such as AI, Big Data analytics, robotics, automation and the Internet of Things to be applied to agrifood sector challenges.

From its base on the refurbished Riseholme Campus, LIAT is home to the world’s 1st Centre Doctoral Training in AgriRobotics, with 50PhDs. LIAT runs Lincoln Agri-Robotics, the world’s first Agricultural Robotics Global Centre of Excellence bringing together robots & robotic manipulators, food production & manufacturing applications. LIAT also hosts Saga Robotics (originally Norwegian), which now employs 35 staff and with a €9.5m Series A funding round in 2020.

LIAT has also worked on projects including Tesco's ‘dark store’ refrigeration research, the world’s first robotic fruit farm (opened 2020), the UK’s first 5G testbed for agriculture in 2021 and the 2021 Trusted Bytes project to spearhead post Brexit data exchange to enable food trade.

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