2020 NF-POGO-NIOMR Shipboard Training Fellowship onboard Gulf of Guinea cruise - leg 1

General Information

2 Nov 2020 to 29 Jan 2021

The Gulf of Guinea (GoG) is an important global resource. Ranked among the most productive coastal and offshore waters in the world, the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem is rich in fishery resources, petroleum and is also an important global region of marine biological diversity. The large human populations of about 40% of the region’s 280 million heavily depend on the lagoons, estuaries, creeks and inshore waters surrounding them.

There is still a paucity of information with respect to the linkage between physical and biogeochemical processes in this under-sampled and poorly understood region. Very little information presently exists for subsurface waters from depths of 1000m and beyond for essential ocean variables (EOVs) such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, nutrients, etc. More data on these EOVs are essential for better understanding of the dynamics of the ocean waters within this region and also key to sustainable management of the resources therein.

The project "Acquisition of Oceanographic Data for Susteinable Resources Management in the Gulf of Guinea" aims to contribute to the oceanographic information for the African region on the global ocean science map which is presently sparse. The project brings together marine scientists from five African countries within the Gulf of Guinea region (Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d'ivoire), in partnership with European institutes.

Priority areas

The Gulf of Guinea cruises will sample diverse parameters such as salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, pH, current speed and direction, nutrients, bottom sediment and meteorological data in an offshore transect from Lagos into the Gulf of Guinea with ten (10) stations.

The fellows will support the sampling activities during the cruise, and both the cruise preparations and data analysis at the NIOMR.

What is offered

The training will take place on sampling in one of the 6-day cruises in the Gulf of Guinea during the wet and dry seasons. The first cruise is tentatively programmed to December 2020. The fellows will receive additional training at NIOMR one month prior to the cruise to participate in the cruise preparations, become familiar with the analytical techniques and equipment, and one month after the cruise to analyse samples, process and analyse the data and interpret the results.

Total period of Fellowship: ~2.5 months, including cruise. Candidates should be available to participate for the full period, and should allow for flexibility of up to two weeks either side, as cruises dates are subject to final confirmation at time of announcement.

Application

Who can apply

Ten fellowships are available for early career scientists, technicians, postgraduate students (PhD or MSc) and Post-doctoral Fellows involved in oceanographic work in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. Two fellowships will be granted for each of these countries.
Due to the nature of the project this training is associated with, only candidates currently living and working in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo will have applications considered.

How to apply

-- PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE INITIATING THE APPLICATION PROCESS --

1- Fellowship applicants should complete and submit the electronic application form (click on the APPLY HERE link at the bottom of this section) together with a recommendation letter from the parent supervisor.

1.1 - The parent supervisor letter must contain date and the parent institute logo.

1.2 - Considering the worldwide situation, the requirement of sending the printed copy of the parent supervisor letter by post is dismissed. The eletronic copy is required.

2- The last sections in the application form "Pratical Details" (Estimated cost of economy return international air travel from parent country to host institution) and "Supervisor at host institution" (Name and letter of acceptance by host supervisor) are not required.

3 - Please note that the application form includes sections on the applicant's background and training requirements, capacity building intentions, a summary CV, and a fellowship proposal. In case of unstable internet connections, we recommend preparing this text in an offline document, then copy-pasting into the online form.

4 - If short-listed, the candidate may be asked to undergo an informal telephone/video conferencing interview.

5 - Application and recommendation letter should be written in English and the letter must be submitted in pdf format. It is recommended that descriptive sections be limited to about 100 - 150 words. Please use font sizes of 10 pt or larger.

6 - Only applications that are complete in all respects will be considered for the Fellowship.

Deadline: The deadline for applications for the 2020 fellowship is Saturday 31st October 2020 23:59 (GMT). All applicants will be informed of the decision within one month of the deadline.

Review process

Representatives from POGO and NIOMR will review the applications. In their decision-making, the Selection Committee will consider the following points:

Quality of the application;
Curriculum of the applicant;
Evidence that the training will lead to capacity-building with potential lasting impact on regional observations.

Furthermore, gender balance will be taken into consideration.

Terms

The fellowship will provide the costs of a round-trip ticket between the home institute of the trainee and Lagos; subsistence allowance for up to two months’ stay in Nigeria depending on the particulars of the proposed training (at a rate between 550 EUR and 850 EUR per month, depending on the cost of accommodation, normally for one month before the cruise and one month after the cruise); ship messing fee; seafaring medical and sea survival course (if required).
The trainee’s institute will bear all expenses incurred by the fellow in his/her own nation (domestic travel, visa costs, personal insurance etc.), and the host institute (NIOMR) will waive any bench fees that they may normally charge trainees.
POGO assumes no responsibility for compensation in the event of sickness, accident, death or disability of a Fellowship holder, nor does it arrange for insurance of a trainee or reimburse premiums paid therefore. It is the responsibility of the trainee to arrange travel insurance to cover the time taken to travel to the ship and for the subsequent return home, as well as to ensure suitable insurance cover is provided by the parent institute for the duration of the cruise.
The trainees are not considered agents or members of the staff of POGO, and shall not be entitled to any privileges, immunities, compensation or reimbursements, except as otherwise provided herein, nor are the trainees authorised to commit POGO to any expenditure or other obligation.
The trainee and the supervisors at the parent and host institutes are required to provide a short progress report at the end of the training period, to evaluate the success of the fellowship programme.

Enquiries to info@pogo-ocean.org