Pretoria – A new scholarship and alumni programme – CLAPafrica (Climate research Alumni and Postdocs) – has been created for postdocs in the field of climate change and alumni of German funding initiatives.
The overall aim of the programme is to strengthen technical expertise and the know-how in the field of climate change and climate research in one of the most climate-affected regions in Africa and to foster the collaboration between scientists and practitioners.
The programme functions as successor of the two BMBF-funded networks of climate research centres in western and southern Africa: WASCAL (West Africa Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) and SASSCAL (Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management).
The programme as successor of both centers is also funded by the BMBF with a total of approximately 4,5 million Euro and is implemented scientifically and operationally by the DAAD together with project partner DLR.
CLAPafrica has two tracks:
- On the one hand, it will support postdocs researching in the field of climate change and climate protection with financial support. For one thing, they will get a scholarship rate and a research allowance. For the other, they will get tools for knowledge exchange and acquisition in form of thematic workshops, the support of mentors and meetings with alumni. Moreover, they have the possibility to realise a short research stay in Germany and to participate in worldwide conferences in the field of climate change. In total, CLAPafrica is offering four calls to realise their research projects. The first application period for the first call has already finished. It could reach 62 applicants and will choose 20 postdocs for the first cohort which will start in February 2020. The selection will be realized in December 2019 with a selection committee. The next calls will start in July 2020, January 2021 and July 2021.
- On the other hand, CLAPafrica wants to foster the scientific knowledge exchange between the postdocs and alumni of German funding initiatives. Alumni have the possibility to join to the thematic research fields of the postdocs through workshops and they will also be supported through professional training in science management and policy advising. Moreover, CLAPafrica will plan certain annual events where they can also participate and exchange their knowledge with other alumni and postdocs. They could join via a lime survey and for this first call, it could achieve more than 250 alumni who would like to join.
For more information, visit the website.