SCAR, COMNAP and CCAMLR Antarctic Schemes Open to Applications
These SCAR, COMNAP and CCAMLR Antarctic Fellowship and Scholarship schemes run in parallel and are offered to early career researchers, engineers, environmental managers and other professionals to strengthen international capacity and cooperation in a range of fields concerned with Antarctic research.
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Fellowship Scheme
SCAR is an interdisciplinary committee of the International Science Council (ISC). SCAR is charged with initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region (including the Southern Ocean).
The SCAR Fellowship Scheme has been created to strengthen international capacity and cooperation within Antarctic research. It is designed to encourage the active involvement of early career researchers in furthering knowledge and understanding of Antarctica. The opportunity enables early career researchers to join a project team from another country and so create new partnerships that will last for many Antarctic research seasons.
Successful applicants can carry out research at major international laboratories, field facilities and/or institutes in or operated by SCAR member countries, to become acquainted with recent advances in research and to develop long-term scientific links. The fellowship is awarded to cover the costs of a short-term visit (a few weeks or a couple of months) to a research group in another country.
Project topics should align with SCAR’s mission and ideally with one or more of its science groups, including the Humanities and Social Sciences group and/or the Scientific Research Programmes.
Applicants should be current PhD researchers or within five years of finishing their PhD in Antarctic and Southern Ocean-related disciplines. In special cases (eg taking maternity or paternity leave), this five-year period may be extended.
Researchers must be from SCAR member countries. The work must be carried out in a research group of a SCAR member country that is different from that of the applicant’s origin and current residence.
Awards of up to $15,000 are available for economy-class round-trip travel and a modest subsistence allowance for the fellowship period. Fellowships run for one year (beginning in August and to be completed by July/August of the following year). SCAR expects to fund between three and four fellowships in 2020.
Applications must be submitted by the deadline of 26 August 2020.
Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) Antarctic Fellowships
Formed in 1988, COMNAP is an international organisation that unites National Antarctic Programs that are responsible for delivering and supporting scientific research in the Antarctic Treaty Area on behalf their respective governments.
The COMNAP Antarctic Fellowship is designed to encourage the active involvement of early career Antarctic researchers and strengthen international capacity and cooperation in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty. It enables individuals from a COMNAP Member National Antarctic Program country to undertake short-term visits to major international laboratories, field facilities and/or home institutions in or operated by other COMNAP Member National Antarctic Program countries. The fellow’s project should contribute to the objectives of the home or host institution, and work within the 2020 priority topic areas.
The fellowships are open to early career postgraduate researchers, defined as someone who is within the first five years after completion of the highest level of university award/certificate/degree obtained, or any person, regardless of university completion, under the age of 40 years old on the day of the application deadline.
Applications are welcome from a range of disciplines and fields including, but not limited to, those with backgrounds in: engineering, environmental management, data management, technology, social sciences, humanities, education, communication and outreach, law, operations and logistics, search and rescue, medicine and science.
Researchers must be from COMNAP Member or Observer countries and propose work in a Member or Observer country that is different from that of the applicant’s origin and current residence.
For the 2020 call, COMNAP will offer one fellowship with funding of up to $15,000.
Applications must be submitted by the deadline of 31 May 2020.
COMNAP also administers the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) Antarctic Fellowship, which has the same criteria and application deadline as the COMNAP Antarctic Fellowship.
The proposed fellowship project must reflect the objectives of IAATO and should result in a greater understanding of human presence in the Antarctic region. Researchers must propose work in an Antarctic Treaty country that is different from that of the applicant’s origin and current residence. IAATO will offer one fellowship of up to $15,000.
Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) Scientific Scholarship Scheme
Established in 1982 with the objective of conserving Antarctic marine life, CCAMLR is concerned with the over-exploitation of marine resources in the Southern Ocean.
In 2010 CCAMLR established the CCAMLR Scientific Scholarship Scheme to assist early career scientists to participate in the work of the Scientific Committee and its working groups.
The scheme aims to contribute to capacity building within the CCAMLR scientific community while generating and sustaining a sound basis of scientific expertise capable of supporting the requirements of CCAMLR in the long term.
Priority areas of research include krill population dynamics, the use of fishing vessels to collect acoustics data on the abundance and distribution of krill, models to assess the spatial overlap of longline fisheries and the distribution of tagged fish, and the impacts of depredation by toothed whales on the assessments in toothfish fisheries.
Scholarships are open to scientists from all CCAMLR members. Preference is given to early career scientists who have not previously, or routinely, participated in CCAMLR working groups and are actively seeking to contribute to important areas of science for CCAMLR. For the purposes of the scheme, an early career scientist is defined as a postgraduate who is actively engaged in relevant research.
Applications must have the support of the Scientific Committee representative of the relevant CCAMLR member, so for applicants thinking of applying, getting in touch with the Scientific Committee representative is essential. Finding a suitable mentor is also a key part of any application. Mentors do not have to be from the same member as the applicant. Awards of up to A$30,000 are available.
Applications must be submitted by the deadline of 1 October 2020.
More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.