Dear Colleagues, Please see below the announcement below of five new fellowships for workshops and research in Costa Rica. These are great opportunities for all career stages, from graduate students to senior researchers.
Please distribute as you see fit. Thank you! Carolina Murcia Science Director Organization for Tropical Studies [email protected] _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ANNOUNCING The Emerging Challenges in Tropical Science Program The Emerging Challenges in Tropical Science Program (ECTS) is a new integrated program of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) designed to catalyze research that addresses the most significant challenges to sustainability in the tropics, especially within the landscapes that surround OTS' research stations in Costa Rica. Specifically, the ECTS Program will provide research fellowships, workshop support, and data management and access to promote research in Costa Rica that addresses three emerging challenges to tropical ecosystems: - How do tropical ecosystems respond to a changing climate? - How do natural and human-dominated systems interact? - How can we restore tropical ecosystems and increase their ecological value? ECTS Program activities and current deadlines The ECTS Program will catalyze research on emerging challenges in tropical science through several mechanisms. Details of the program activities can be found at found at http://education.tropicalstudies.org/en/emerging-challenges-in-tropical-science.html. ECTS Workshops. This program will foster expert working groups to develop proposals that fall within the three ECTS themes. Once a year, OTS will award 1-2 grants, on a competitive basis, for working groups to meet at one of the OTS research stations for 3-7 days. The purpose of these workshops is to further develop an innovative and competitive research idea and to prepare at least one grant proposal (or preproposal) to support research at one (or more) OTS research station(s). The previous OTS Emerging Frontiers in Tropical Science Workshop Program will be assimilated under ECTS. The deadline for this competition is Monday Feb 15th, 2016 and the first Monday of February in subsequent years. ECTS Research Fellowships. OTS will award competitive research fellowship grants on an annual basis for researchers focused on an ECTS topic at or around OTS stations. This award is open to all scientists, but is targeted at early career scientists from OTS member institutions to facilitate preliminary work that will be conducive to further research at OTS stations. Proposals that initiate new long-term research, build upon long-term data collected at OTS stations, or provide long-term continuity to ongoing projects started by senior researchers will be prioritized. Grants will cover OTS station fees for up to 10 weeks. Deadlines for this competition are twice a year: The second Monday in February and the last Monday in June. Announcement of awardees will be made within three weeks. ECTS Graduate Student Fellowships. Twice per year, OTS will award research fellowships to graduate students to start thesis work that is focused within an ECTS theme. Priority will be given to students working on the long-term research programs or legacy datasets of the stations. Scholarships will cover station fees for up to 10 weeks and include a $700 allowance. Deadlines are: 1st March and 1st October every year. Announcement of awardees will be made within three weeks. ECTS Sabbatical Fellowships. Station-based sabbaticals will be available to scientists for periods of up to 4 months for ECTS research or the assembly and synthesis of long-term data from OTS stations. Sabbatical fellows are expected to give at least one seminar at the station, give guest lectures to OTS courses, and contribute to the intellectual environment OTS research stations. The fellowship will cover room and board for up to 16 weeks, and transportation to/from the airport, as well as database access and assistance. We will also consider a significant reduction in station fees for the fellow´s family. Applications may be submitted at any time during the year. Announcement of awardees will be made within three weeks. Applicants are encouraged to contact the station directors to discuss space availability. ECTS Dark Data Fellowships. This fellowship will foster the recovery of historical data that is currently unavailable to promote new research. To this purpose, OTS will support a senior scientist who owns dark data - that is, unpublished, unavailable historical data - collected at one of the OTS research stations to work with a data manager with the purpose of digitizing the data, building the metadata and posting it into the new OTS DataONE node. This fellowship will cover airfare, up to three weeks stay at an OTS research stations, and the time of a data manager. Applications may be submitted at any time in the year. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Science Directors to discuss the data manager´s availability. Announcement of awardees will be made within three weeks. For more information go to: http://tropicalstudies.org/ECTS or contact: Dr. Carolina Murcia Science Director Organization for Tropical Studies [email protected]
