Deadline: 10-Sep-23
Applications are invited from research scientists working in agriculture, forestry or fisheries and who would like to conduct research projects abroad, in another member country of the Co-operative Research Programme.
The aim of the Research Fellowships is to strengthen the international exchange of ideas and increase international mobility and co-operation among scientists working in these areas.
Applications relevant to the work of the OECD Committee for Agriculture and other bodies are particularly welcome:
- Sustainable and resilient productivity growth and food security and nutrition;
- Climate change mitigation, reducing emissions from agriculture and food systems, carbon sequestration in agriculture, forestry and land use;
- Halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation;
- Reducing the negative environmental impacts of livestock production and practices harmful to animal health and welfare, investigating the positive contribution livestock can make to soil quality and management, biodiversity and livelihoods;
- Biodiversity, enhancing ecosystem services;
- Improving soil health and water and air quality, including through agro-ecological and other innovative, context specific approaches.
- Innovations in the transfer and development of agricultural knowledge, including Indigenous and traditional knowledge;
- Fisheries and aquaculture productivity, sustainability and resilience.
Objectives
- The Co-operative Research Programme’s (“CRP”) main aim is to strengthen scientific knowledge and provide relevant scientific information and advice that will inform future policy decisions related to the sustainable use of natural resources, in the areas of food, agriculture, forests and fisheries.
- The objective and work of the CRP are anchored in both a policy and scientific environment in the fields of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, which, more than ever, are developed in a multidisciplinary environment. This happens so as to respond to the varied demands from a range of stakeholder groups with interests in these fields, and to take into account that the world is globalised and food production systems are interlinked.
CRP Research Themes
- The overarching challenges facing agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry research are food security and nutrition – the world will need to balance food production and food demand for a population of at least nine billion in 2050 – and sustainability – of the world’s natural capital as well as its food production systems. These become the key outcomes for the CRP investments.
- In order to deliver on these overarching challenges, the CRP has identified three pillars, or themes, set in the context of globalisation and climate change:
- Managing Natural Capital
- Strengthening Resilience in The Face of Multiple Risks in A Connected World
- Transformational Technologies and Innovation
- Global issues, such as food security and climate change and the growing connectedness of economies through trade and travel, need to be addressed by developed countries participating in the CRP and by developing countries alike. Consequently, many of the issues dealt with through CRP activities can have much wider relevance and impact than just the CRP membership
What does the Fellowship Award comprise?
- The Fellowship award consists of 3 components which collectively are called the travel lump sum allowance. The total travel lump sum allowance awarded will depend upon distance from the Fellow’s laboratory to the host institution and the number of weeks of the fellowship.
- Travel costs (calculated based on a return economy class air ticket. Note that the travel allowance is calculated to cover a one return trip to and from the host laboratory and the place of domicile.
- Weekly Subsistence Allowance: currently 600 EUR or 650 EUR per week (depending on the cost of living of the host country). This subsistence allowance is to cover all normal living expenses (accommodation, food, etc.) and incidentals (daily travel to and from work etc.)
- Terminal charges: A lump sum allowance of 165 EUR is paid to cover transportation costs incurred in the taking and leaving of duties at the host laboratory.
Eligible Countries
- Countries participating in the CRP: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be working in an institution located in a country that currently participates in the OECD Co-operative Research Programme (CRP), and the collaborating host institution must be located in another participating country.
- Scientists already holding a position in a foreign laboratory are not eligible to apply to remain in that laboratory. The CRP’s preference is to support new collaborations, not ongoing ones.
- Applicants should have 4 years of postdoctoral training. The programme is not targeted at PhD students. In exceptional circumstances, consideration will be given to applicants who, although not having a PhD, have the equivalent expertise and have been extensively published. For all applications, priority is given to the overall scientific quality of each application considering its relevance to the Programme’s Research Themes and the Programme’s multi-disciplinary focus.
- Applicants should have a contract with their present employer that ensures their continued employment after completion of the fellowship. If the contract is less than 3 years, applicants are requested to ask their institution to certify that there will be a continued on-going scientific affiliation with the host laboratory once the fellowship ends, as this ensures that the relationships established during the fellowship are put to beneficial use.
- Before submitting an application, candidates should have their employers’ agreement to the application and to the take up of the fellowship should they be successful.
- A candidate who has already been the recipient of a CRP fellowship may apply for a second award, but only 5 years after the year of their first fellowship.
For more information, visit OECD.