The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) has announced a research fellowship with a focus on Africa though its new Global South Fellowship program.
This seeks to give early to mid-career researchers* from the Global South the benefit to develop their own WCRP related research activity, thereby boosting climate research activities in their own region.
WMO is one of the co-sponsors of WCRP, alongside UNESCO and the International Science Council. WCRP coordinates research around some of the most pressing scientific questions in relation to the compounded nature of the climate system. WCRP-supported research builds the climate science that underpins the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including national commitments under the Paris Agreement of 2015, and contributes to the knowledge that supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and multilateral environmental conventions.
Fellowship topics can address a wide range of scientific questions outlined in the WCRP Science and Implementation Plan as formulated through priorities of WCRP activities (Core Projects and Lighthouse Activities).
For this 2024 call, WCRP is soliciting research proposals from early to mid-career candidates from the African continent. Such proposals must be supported by a host institution guaranteeing that a successful candidate will undertake the fellowship project full-time during the agreed period of the fellowship at the institution.
Successful projects should address aspects of critical gaps in WCRP related African climate research, enhance climate action for and in Africa, help build a community of practice, and create the potential for leaving a strong legacy to build upon in the longer-term.
As an example, proposals could catalyze development of community of practice for the climate-policy interface. Another example would be thematic idea of climate literacy, or the non-congruence of climate information for policy makers and different stakeholders. Successful projects should propose research that has the clear potential to be transformative and a develop a foundation for African researchers to lead a WCRP (legacy) project. The proposal should include links to relevant WCRP core activities, where appropriate.
