In 2010 CCAMLR established the CCAMLR Scientific Scholarship Scheme to assist early career scientists[i] to participate in the work of the Scientific Committee and its working groups. The objective of the Scholarship Scheme is to contribute to capacity building within the CCAMLR scientific community in order to help generate and sustain a sound basis of scientific expertise able to support the requirements of CCAMLR in the long-term.
Scholarships of up to A$30 000 are available to facilitate participation in CCAMLR Scientific Committee workshops or working group meetings, relevant preparatory meetings, and exceptionally, meetings of the Scientific Committee, over a period of two years. Scholarships are open to scientists from all CCAMLR Members. Preference will be given to early career scientists who have not previously, or routinely, participated in CCAMLR working groups and are actively seeking to participate in scientific endeavours relevant to the objectives of CCAMLR.
Completed applications forms must be submitted to CCAMLR by the Scientific Committee Representative of the relevant Member and provide the following information:
- the name, address and affiliation of the candidate scientist;
- specific details with respect to the scientific contribution to the work of CCAMLR and how this relates to the priorities of the Scientific Committee.
- confirmation of participation from at least one established scientist with significant experience of attendance in relevant CCAMLR working groups, who may be from the applicant’s country or from another CCAMLR Member, who has agreed to mentor the successful candidate;
- the working groups and workshops that the scientist would participate in;
- any additional travel to preparatory meetings, for instance with the mentoring scientist and his/her institution;
- justification of the need to apply for scholarship money;
- a preliminary budget, based on assumptions about the future disposition and length of Scientific Committee working group meetings;
- evidence that other funds are available to support the work of the scientist during the proposed period of tenure of the scholarship;
- a commitment that the Member will facilitate participation by the recipient in the work of the Scientific Committee for the duration of the scholarship;
- references from the scientist’s home institution and the Member’s Scientific Committee Representative.
Proposals will be reviewed by the Scholarship Review Panel (led by the Chair of the Scientific Committee) using the following criteria:
- scientific and other qualifications of the candidate;
- relevance to the work priorities and work plan of the Scientific Committee and the extent to which it will strengthen the scientific capacity and engagement in the work of the Scientific Committee of the applying Member;
- strength of the linkages between the applicant and mentor scientist(s)
- justification for the budget requested.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to ensure that sufficient information is provided to allow the Review Panel to determine the scientific contribution that would be made to the work of CCAMLR. This should include the specific objectives of the work to be undertaken, how this relates to the priorities of the Scientific Committee, and provide sufficient detail to determine exactly what data and analyses will be required to achieve the stated objectives.
The deadline for applications to be considered in 2013 is 1 October 2013. Further details and an application form are available from science_scholarship@ccamlr.org
[i] For the purposes of the CCAMLR Scholarship Scheme an early career scientist is defined as a scientist who is actively engaged in relevant PhD research, or has received their PhD in the last 5 years.