AIMS NEI Fellowship Program for Women in Climate Change Science

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Next Einstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI) is pleased to invite interested female scientists to apply for the third round of the AIMS-NEI Fellowships for Women in Climate Change Science (WiCCS). Climate change – including global warming – poses significant threats to humanity. Documented impacts of global warming include an increased frequency and severity of heatwaves across the globe and frequent droughts, both of which exacerbate food insecurity and health problems in many parts of the world, particularly in Africa.

Climate change represents one of humanity’s greatest challenges of the 21st century. The continued ascent of our species depends to a significant extent on our ability to limit further
catastrophic changes to the climate and to adapt to both past and future changes. In many parts of the world, changes in climatic variables – including incessant increases in temperature and declines in precipitation – are already having detrimental impacts on food security, human health, energy, biodiversity, etc. Some of these impacts further alter the climate – e.g. plant biodiversity loss reduces CO2 sequestration and contributes to rising temperatures – creating positive feedback loops with increasingly perilous consequences for humanity.
It is recognized, including by international institutions like the United Nations that a sustainable societal response to these challenges requires the collective participation of both men and
women. However, women have historically had fewer opportunities than men to play significant roles in society’s quest for solutions to climate change. This is despite the fact that in many parts of the world women’s livelihoods are more dependent on climate-sensitive services afforded by natural ecosystems, making them more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The AIMS-NEI Fellowship Program for Women in Climate Change Science (WiCCS) seeks to increase women’s participation in, and contribution to, a more sustainable societal response to climate change. This fellowship program was made possible by a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada, www.idrc.ca, and financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC), www.international.gc.ca. It is part of a broader effort by AIMS-NEI to build the intellectual capital needed to better our understanding of the causes of climate change in Africa, and to solve the myriad challenges to Africa’s development resulting from climate change.
Applications are invited from outstanding female scientists currently residing anywhere in the world. Successful applicants are expected to execute, in a suitable African host institution, a selfinitiated project with the potential to contribute significantly to the understanding of climate change and its impacts, and/or to the development and implementation of innovative,
empirically-grounded policies and strategies for climate change mitigation, adaptation and/or resilience, among others.
Because mathematics is important for establishing rigorous linkages between observations, their explanations, and the evidence needed to support impactful decision-making, preference will be given to applicants proposing projects that make substantive use of the mathematical sciences, be it for modelling climate change, quantifying its impacts, evaluating the costeffectiveness of interventions, designing experiments, analysing data, or other relevant activities.
To be eligible, applicants must be:

• female;
• in possession before the fellowship start date of a doctorate in a quantitative discipline, including but not limited to applied mathematics, climatology, physics, computational
• chemistry, statistical ecology, computer science, theoretical biology, and engineering;
• currently employed, on either a permanent or a temporary basis, in a non-profit work environment, including government;
• actively engaged in research, policy, and/or practice relevant to climate change modelling, mitigation, adaptation, and/or resilience among others; and
• the lead and/or senior author of at least one refereed publication on a topic relevant to climate change modelling, the causative factors of climate change, climate change
• mitigation, adaptation, and/or resilience etc.

CAT with the following documents attached:

• a completed personal details form, including a detailed budget for all non-projectrelated activities;
• a completed project proposal form, including a detailed budget for all project-related activities;
• a curriculum vitae; and
• an electronic copy of a representative publication in climate change modelling, its causes, climate change mitigation, adaptation and/or resilience in which the applicant is
• the lead and/or senior author.

Supporting documents should be saved as a pdf in the format: “name of the research  program_type of_document_AIMSentity/centre_monthyear of applying_first and last name of
applicant.” For instance, “MS4CR fellowship_application form_AIMSNEI_Dec2018_SarahJake”.

Applicants should request that three confidential letters of support be emailed to ms4crfellows@nexteinstein.org, using as subject “MS4CR fellowship application support letter-first
and last name of applicant” by the application deadline.

Two of these letters should come from the applicant’s immediate supervisor at her home institution and the named collaborator at her proposed host institution. At least one letter should come from a referee who is qualified to

To apply, please complete this online application form and submit by the 15th April 2020, 23:59

assess the applicant’s experience in climate change research, practice, and/or policy. You should share with your referees a copy of the ‘Terms of Reference for Fellows’ and the ‘Instructions for
Referees’ document. These can be downloaded on the website.
Incomplete applications will not be evaluated.

Current call for applications

We are pleased to open the second call for application for the AIMS-NEI Fellowship program for Women in Climate Change Science. The application deadline is the 30th June 2020, 23:59 CAT.

For More Details About this Fellowship Go to the AIMS Website on https://www.nexteinstein.org/research/aims-nei-fellowship-program-for-women-in-climate-change-science/ 

Application Form  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7PGre8QtSv60zXSVL9T3f0dbEi9cUXX_NVeY5rI7O65-ncQ/viewform

Staff Writer

This article was written and edited by a staff writer.