WASCAL has admitted 132 Doctoral students to its 4th Batch academic year. The students, from 11 West African countries, benefit full scholarship from WASCAL’s Graduate Studies Programmes (GSPs).
The students will be studying in 12 of the West African leading Universities in various Climate Change Thematic Areas, under the sponsorship of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF) through WASCAL .
The scholarship also forms part of WASCAL’s commitment to training and building the capacity of the next generation of African scientists to champion the fight against climate change, while influencing governments and policy makers. The graduate programme also aimed at designing strategies to adapt to threats, opportunities and uncertainties of Climate Change within the region.
Speaking at the induction ceremony, the Executive Director of WASCAL, Dr. Moumini Savadogo, welcomed the new students with particular attention on Cape Verde and Burkina Faso.
“WASCAL is so delighted at another feat towards a sustainable fight against Climate Change in West Africa. I, therefore, want to congratulate you all for emerging as the top students among other scientists from all over West Africa. We are even more excited because this year, we can boldly talk about the inclusion of Cape Verde and Burkina Faso coming on board to tackle Climate Change in Marine Sciences, and Climate Change and Informatics respectively. Congratulations”. He said
The 132 students, comprising 110 Doctoral Research Programme and 22 Master’s Research Programme Students were drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Togo, Benin, The Gambia, Senegal, Burkina-Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Cape Verde. They will be moving into their various universities, depending on the Climate Change Thematic Courses they are pursuing.
Since its inception in 2012, 390 students have benefited from the scholarship programme. The postgraduate programme is a partnership between 12 West African Universities and selected German Institutions.