Bruce graduated in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, then studied for a PhD on wheat diseases at Rothamsted Research, with some funding from the Perry Foundation. He has studied diseases of arable crops, especially wheat, barley and oilseed rape, with a focus on integrated disease management through forecasting severity of epidemics, understanding plant resistance to pathogens, estimating yield losses and predicting effects of climate change. He has been a member of HGCA committees and has strong links with oilseed rape scientists in China.