The Scottish Government Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD) funds strategic research in environmental, agricultural and biological science. These programmes of research form a significant part of the UK science base in this area.
The research is conducted primarily through RERAD's Main Research Providers (MRP) which are the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, the Moredun Research Institute, the Rowett Research Institute, the Scottish Crop Research Institute, the Scottish Agricultural College and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The MRPs are supported by specialist support and research on mathematics and statistics from Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland.