The University of Nottingham traces its beginnings to a civic college opened in Nottingham, England, in 1881, and received its Royal Charter in 1948. Professor Jane Norman became its 8th President and Vice-Chancellor on 1 January 2025.
Agriculture is taught and researched in the School of Biosciences at the Sutton Bonington Campus in Leicestershire. The university says its School of Agriculture was formed when the Midland College of Agriculture at Sutton Bonington merged with the university. The school’s research covers microbial, plant, animal, food and environmental sciences, and its stated aims include food security, improved nutrition and sustainable production. Its facilities include controlled environment rooms, glasshouses and field trial sites, the Centre for Dairy Science Innovation on the University of Nottingham Farm, the Hounsfield Facility for 3D imaging of soil and roots, a Food Processing Facility and the International Centre for Brewing Science. The school says most of its facilities are available to external researchers and industry.