The Scottish Food Security Alliance (SFSA), a collaboration between Dundee and Aberdeen universities and the James Hutton Institute, has been awarded two million euros.
The funds have been allocated to research the global links between food security and changes in land use.
The group will look at tackling one of the world’s biggest challenges feeding a global population of 10 billion people by 2050.
Delivering Food Security on Limited Land fought off competition from other proposals from around the world to be selected for funding.
Aberdeen University professor Pete Smith will coordinate the project, while researchers from Dundee’s Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience, under Professor John Rowan, will play a central role in the project by building on models looking at climate change, land management and food production.
Professor Rowan said: “This is an incredible opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s foremost authorities on global food supply, distribution and consumption.
“The project is the first major outcome of the SFSA-C and goes to the heart of the University of Dundee’s transformation agenda, which is about using excellent science to make a difference to people’s lives in terms of fairness and sustainability.”