CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR “COSPAR” CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP 2017

The West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), in collaboration with NASA and the University of Missouri – Kansas City, will be conducting a Capacity Building Workshop on „Interdisciplinary Remote Sensing, Modeling, and Validation of Environmental Processes“ from June 12 -23, 2017. This  workshop, primarily sponsored by the International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and WASCAL, is aimed at enabling that extensive knowledge base, capacity, and results developed under major international research programmes/projects to be transferred to young professionals and graduate students in West Africa. By interacting very closely, during a period of two weeks, with experienced professionals in space-based interdisciplinary research, which is in its infancy in West Africa, these young scientists will be equipped to pursue similar collaborative scientific research paradigms within their regions. This will provide an excellent avenue to maximize the societal benefits that result from such interdisciplinary research efforts. Major American and European space missions will be addressed, including: Landsat, Terra, Aqua, Aura, Meteosat, Calipso, and SMAP.

WASCAL is a large-scale research-focused Climate Service Centre designed to help tackle severe challenges posed by climate change and thereby enhance the resilience of human and environmental systems to climate change and increased variability. It does so by strengthening the research infrastructure and capacity in West Africa related to climate change and by pooling the expertise of ten West African countries and Germany. The WASCAL Capacity Building Programme through the Graduate studies programme helps to educate the next generation of scientists in West Africa to attain an intimate knowledge of different climate related issues in order to help the region develop suitable management strategies.  WASCAL’s graduate studies programmes (GRPs) are implemented in ten leading Universities across 10 West African countries.

Venue: GRP Climate Change and Land Use Conference Room, Kwame Nkurumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.

Date: June 12-23, 2017

Target Group: The workshop is for advanced doctoral students and early career scientists drawn from all countries in the West Africa sub-region and it will focus on advanced analysis of satellite and climate data for multi-sectoral applications, including climate, agriculture and water resources.

Candidates applying for the COSPAR workshop are expected to have earned a PhD, or at least a Masters degree and should be working or registered in a doctoral program in West Africa.

Other general requirements include:

1.    Gender-balanced selection decision.

2.    Proficiency in English Language.

Partners

WASCAL, NASA and University of Missouri. We have also assembled a team of world-class instructors from Africa, Europe and the US who have all agreed to participate as Lecturers. 

Finances

Limited spaces available for sponsored participants. Tuition and workshop fees will be waived for sponsored participants. However self-sponsored participants will have to cover the full cost of participation which include travels, accommodation and subsistence in addition to a modest registration fee of 100 US dollars.

Application Procedure

A letter of expression of interest to attend the workshop and detailed curriculum vitae should be sent by email to:

The Director of Capacity Building
WASCAL, CSIR Office Complex  
6 Agostino Neto Road Airport Residential Area
PMB CT504, Cantonments
Accra- GHANA

Email: capacitybp@wascal.org, copy: weto.s(at)wascal.org; odame.g(at)wascal.org

Deadline

All applications/expression of interest must be received by March 15, 2017

Please see details at the workshop website: http://feer.gsfc.nasa.gov/meetings/COSPAR2017/