The Duke of Cambridge is to become a full-time student studying agricultural management for 10 weeks, Kensington Palace has said.
William will learn about the issues facing the UK's rural communities and the farming industry during the course, based at Cambridge University, which begins next week.
The Duke's studies will give him a good grounding for his future role running the Duchy of Cornwall, a portfolio of land, property and investments he will inherit from his father the Prince of Wales when Charles becomes king.
Speaking about the course, a Kensington Palace spokesman said the Duke was "very much looking forward to it". William's studies are a bespoke course run by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL), an institution within Cambridge University's School of Technology, which has the Prince of Wales as its patron.
The Kensington Palace spokesman said: "The executive education programme of seminars, lectures and meetings will draw on the strengths of academics across the university. It will start in early January and run until mid-March.
"The course has been designed to help provide the Duke with an understanding of contemporary issues affecting agricultural business and rural communities in the United Kingdom."
The Duke will have 18 to 20 hours of lectures, seminars and meetings a week and is likely to have essays to complete and field trips to take.
He is expected to live in Cambridge part of the time during his studies.
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