Call for expression of interest: Research opportunity for graduate students to support the implementation of the EAF-Nansen Programme’s Science Plan

24/09/2020

The EAF-Nansen Programme, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and executed by FAO with the scientific support of the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen, Norway (IMR), is pleased to announce a research opportunity for 10 graduate students, already admitted on a Master’s or a Ph.D. programme in ocean-related fields, to collaborate with the EAF-Nansen Programme on their degree project.

Successful candidates are expected to start their assignment as soon as possible. Both full-time and part-time arrangements will be considered.

The EAF-Nansen Programme started its activities in 2017 and aims to strengthen the knowledge base for sustainable fisheries management, support improved fisheries policy and management in line with the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF), and develop human and institutional research capacity in ocean science and fisheries management.

The aim of the initiative is to strengthen national capacities of the partner institutions of the EAF-Nansen Programme through enhancing the capacities of individual staff or prospective staff by obtaining higher academic qualifications.

Who can apply?

The call is open to students from the partner countries of the EAF-Nansen Programme, already admitted to a Master's or a PhD programme.
Candidates must hold at least a Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
Female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

2. Selection criteria and selection process

Candidates will be assessed against the following criteria:

Priority will be given to the students collaborating with a partner institution of the EAF-Nansen Programme at the time of application.
Research work must be related to the EAF-Nansen Programme's Science Plan, as described in section 6 below.
Geographic distribution and gender equality will be considered in the selection of the candidates.
Good knowledge of English is required (to be able to read and access all relevant literature, and to ensure smooth communication with all colleagues within the specific Science Plan teams).

Selected candidates will be contacted to discuss and jointly finalize individual proposals and the work plan. Details of the grant received will be discussed, including possible arrangements with the university in which the candidates are enrolled.

3. Conditions

The Programme will provide support for necessary expenses for the selected candidates to carry out their studies according to agreed individual plans up to a maximum amount of USD 15 000 per year for the maximum of 2 years.
All payments will be subject to FAO financial rules and regulations.
The candidate shall not be considered an employee, staff, representative, agent, contractor or affiliate of FAO or IMR, and shall not be entitled to any privilege, immunity and compensation by FAO.

4. How to apply

Applications should be sent to the EAF-Nansen Programme Coordination Unit:
[email protected] before 26 October 2020.
Additional documents should be attached when submitting the application:

Certificate(s) of academic degree
Curriculum Vitae, including a list of publications
Motivation letter explaining which of the research projects listed in the table below the candidate is applying for
A letter of support from the partner institution
A letter confirming that the student will be released from some academic duties for the research assignment.

Other relevant documents: e.g. proof of formal admission to a Master's/PhD programme

5. List and description of research projects and required qualifications

A list of projects identified within the Science Plan of the EAF-Nansen Programme is provided below, with examples of specific research topics and expected academic grade. Other specific research topics linked to the EAF-Nansen Programme's work might also be considered.

N	Science Plan Theme	Research Project	Short description of each research topic (examples)	Expected academic/grade level to be attained	EAF-Nansen Programme (IMR) resource person
1	Theme 1	Analysis of the distribution of zooplankton communities along the Northwestern African coast and relationship with environmental conditions.	Analysis of the samples collected by the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen using zooscan and classical method and comparison of results	PhD	Isari Stamatina
2	Theme 1	Zooplankton ecology	Zooplankton communities on the Mozambican Shelf (involving samples from Nansen 2018 survey in Mozambique)	Master	Isari Stamatina (IMR)
3	Theme 2	Investigate variations in abundance and distribution of pelagic species for the management of shared stocks	Revision and analysis of the time series of small-pelagic fish based on scientific surveys off North West Africa	PhD	N. Nikolioudakis (IMR)
4	Theme 2	Study and estimate interactions among pelagic fish and their response to environmental forcing	Characterization of the pelagic communities off NorthWest Africa. Based on the acoustic and environmental data collected through the surveys with the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen, characterize pelagic communities and their environmental preferences	Master or PhD	N. Nikolioudakis; M. Ostrowski (IMR)
5	Theme 4	Stock structure analysis tools for the hakes, monk and kingklip in the Benguela	Analyse samples collected by the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen and presently held in NatMirc for parasites, otolith shape and genetic analysis, as well as other biological parameters.	PhD	Arved Staby (IMR)
6	Theme 4	Distribution of demersal fish in the Gulf of Guinea in relation to bathymetry, oceanographic variables, and benthic habitats	Based on the data collected by the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen, identify main demersal communities in the Gulf of Guinea and their environmental and habitat preferences (in collaboration with Theme 7).	Master	Arved Staby (IMR)
7	Theme 4	Climate change impacts on the demersal communities of the Gulf of Guinea	Model possible impacts of climate change on demersal communities of the Gulf of Guinea.	PhD	TBD
	Theme 5	See Theme 11
8	Theme 7	Coral gardens and reefs on the Atlantic coast off Morocco and Mauritania: Distribution, habitat, associated community, and threats from climate changes and fishing	- Describe the seafloor habitat: Using bathymetry and back scatter from acoustics, oceanography data (chemistry, currents, T, S, DO….), and sediment observations from video. - Describe observed coral communities (invertebrates and fishes) and their habitat requirement based on video -Assess threats related to climate changes (sand burial ….) fisheries and littering. Collaboration with Th 10.	Master/PhD	Lene Buhl-Mortensen/ Melissa Chierici (IMR)
9	Theme 7	Essential habitats for demersal fish communities of Gulf of Guinea	- Describe the seafloor habitat: Using bathymetry and oceanography - Describe bottom fauna based on bycatches of coral and other invertebrates. - Compare with demersal fish communities -Assess threats related to climate changes. Collaboration with Th 4 (topic 8 & 9)	Master/PhD	Lene Buhl-Mortensen/ Arved Staby (IMR)
10	Theme 7	Bottom habitat of the Myeik Archipelago in Myanmar	- Describe the seafloor habitat: Using bathymetry, oceanography and video - Describe bottom fauna based on video. -Assess threats related to climate, fishing, and littering	Master/PhD	Lene Buhl-Mortensen/ (IMR)
	Theme 8	Nutrition and food safety	Microplastics in fish.	PhD	Tanja (IMR)
	Theme 8	Nutrition and food safety	Nutrient composition and food safety parameters of fish from Myanmar and potential contribution to food and nutrition security	PhD
	Theme 8	Nutrition and food safety	Nutrient composition and food safety parameters in fish from Ghana/Senegal.	PhD
	Theme 9	Comparative analysis of interannual variability of the seasonal cycle within the Angolan and Ivory/Western Gulf of Guinea coastal upwelling and of its impacts on availability of sardinella to coastal fisheries	Evolution of extreme climatic events in the coastal tropical Atlantic and their impacts on tropical upwelling ecosystems of the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana and Angola.	MSc	Marek Ostrowski
	Theme 9	Comparative study of the Canary and Benguela currents eastern boundary upwelling ecosystems	Ecological barriers at the major fronts of coastal West Africa. (1) Comparative study of seasonal and interannual variability at the Angola-Benguela and Cap Blanc (Canary Current) Fronts. (2) Impact of variability at these fronts on distribution of selected species - a habitat suitability study.	MSc/PhD	Marek Ostrowski Robinson Hordoir
	Theme 9, Theme 3	Shelf and Inner-shelf circulation off the South-Eastern coasts of Africa -South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania And The climatic events and availability of pelagic fish to coastal fisheries in the Bay of Bengal, 2000-2018	Investigation of the correspondence between large-scale mesopelagic DVM patterns and ocean currents and water masses in the tropical sectors of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.	PhD	Marek Ostrowski Bjorn Erik Axelsen
13	Theme 10	-Assess variability and change in oxygen and nutrient concentrations and spread of deoxygenation zones -Advance our understanding of the biological carbon pump in oxygen minimum zones off west Africa	Assess variability and change in oxygen and nutrient concentrations in the water column off West Africa using samples from the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen.	Master	Melissa Chierici
14	Theme 10	Develop historic assessments of frequency and intensity of low oxygen to better be able to predict future events. Study the past variability in oxygen in relation to physical forcing and primary production. Assess variability and change in ocean acidification state such as the pH and the depth of the calcium carbonate saturation horizon	Advance our understanding of the biological carbon pump in oxygen minimum zones. By identifying and quantifying the primary producers to determine how much DIC is taken up. Collaboration with ST 1 and ST 9.	Master	Melissa Chierici
15	Theme 10	Advance our understanding of the biological carbon pump in oxygen minimum zones off west Africa.	Advance our understanding of the biological carbon pump in oxygen minimum zones. By identifying and quantifying the zooplankton species feeding on phytoplankton to determine the impact of grazing on the biological pump. Collaboration with Theme 1 and Theme 9.	Master	Melissa Chierici
16	Theme 10	Advance our understanding of the biological carbon pump in oxygen minimum zones off west Africa.	Assess variability and change in ocean acidification state such as the pH and the depth of the calcium carbonate saturation horizon.
17	Theme 11	Carry out case studies for ecosystem characterization	Ecosystem characterization in Northern Mozambique.	PhD	Cecilie Hansen

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