United Nations University On-the-Job Research Capacity Building for Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries (OJCB)

Overview

UNU-ISP is pleased to announce that applications are now available for On-the-Job Research Capacity Building for Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries (OJCB). This programme is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, and coordinated by UNU-ISP.

Outline of the programme

UNU-ISP will support the capacity building programme planned and implemented by leading scientists, which mainly consists of on-the-Job training (OJT) for capacity building for young researchers in developing countries.

The purpose of this programme is to:

1. Develop capacity for agricultural research in developing countries.
2. Disseminate new agricultural technologies that are adaptable to local conditions and to local farmers.
3. Ultimately contribute towards increasing world food production through promotion of sustainable agriculture in developing countries.

Each capacity building programme is planned and implemented by a leading scientist (host scientist) who is engaged in research related to sustainable agriculture in developing countries.

The programme consists of:

1. OJT for young researchers in developing countries (trainees) under a host scientist.
2. Guidance for creation of an action plan to be implemented by the trainee after the OJT.
3. Follow up implementation of the action plan by the trainee.

The OJT, which is the main component of the programme, should be conducted for 1 to 3 months in principle, but it is extendable within the limit of the budget, depending on the proposed programme.

Capacity building programme

1. OJT for the trainees under the host scientist
   The host scientist supervises the trainees to achieve the research target set in the proposal submitted to UNU-ISP. The number of the trainees may be more than one as long as the total cost does not exceed the upper limit of the budget referred to in section 3, and the host scientist ensures an adequate standard of living for the trainees. When the number of trainees is more than one under the same host scientist, the period of training for each trainee may be different. An assistant instructor may assist the OJT if necessary.
2. Guidance for developing the action plan to be implemented by the trainee after the OJT
   The host scientist guides the trainees to develop their action plans during the OJT which will be implemented after the OJT to make use of what they have learned.
3. Follow up of the the implementation of the action plan by the trainee
   The host scientist visits the trainees after the OJT to give advice on implementation of the action plan and to monitor the on-site dissemination of the technologies acquired by the trainees during the training course.

Budgetary limitation for the capacity building programmeme

The upper limit of the budget per capacity building programme is $21,200 USD and it is supported within the upper limit of approximately $3,100 USD per trainee per month according to the duration of the OJT.

Please note that the actual amount of funds will be decided after thorough review of the proposal. For example, in the case of 3 months of OJT, the total amount of the budget which can be received by a host scientist who trains 2 trainees for 3 months is:
a) $3,100 x 3 x 2 = $18,600
b) $2,600 x 1 = $2,600
Total = $21,200

Timeline

Call for applications	8 August, 2011
Deadline for submissions of applications	10 October, 2011
Notification of selection results to the host institutions and applicants*1	31 October, 2011
Launch and implementation of capacity building programmes including follow-up visit by host scientist	From November 2011
Submission of the final report by host scientist to UNU-ISP	15 June, 2012

OJT for the trainee under the host scientist and following-up the implementation of the action plan by the trainee must be started after November 2011 and be completed by 30 May, 2012.

*1 The capacity building funds are remitted by bank transfer upon entering into the Institutional Contractual Agreements with the host institutions.

Eligibility requirements

The application can be accepted only from a host scientist who shows an intention to offer capacity building. A letter of support signed by the head of the proposed host institution must be attached to the application.

a) The host scientist/applicant must:

1. Be a scientist belonging to a research organization.
2. Be stationed at a research organization under CGIAR or UNU, or an agricultural research organization in a developing country .
3. Undertake capacity building with the full consent of the host institution (Institutional Contractual Agreements between the host institution and UNU is necessary).
4. Be presently conducting research related to sustainable agriculture in developing countries, and able to train trainees based on current research.
5. Be planning to stay at the host institution throughout the OJT period. If an assistant instructor employed by the host institute is assigned to the OJT, the host scientist can be away from the host institution for up to half of the duration of the OJT.
6. Show evidence of the consent of selected trainee(s).
7. Obtain consent from the assistant instructor where applicable.
8. Be able to write his/her application form and reports in English.
9. Make trainees recognize the challenges of sustainable agriculture in their own country, guide trainees to develop their action plans and assist the trainees to start research activity based on their action plans after the OJT.

Applicants should submit a capacity building plan which includes title, purpose, contents, duration, budget, candidates of trainees, problems to solve and curricula vitae of the host scientist, assistant instructor and trainees.

b) The trainee must:

1. Be less than forty-five years of age and be a national of a developing country (in principle in the DAC list of ODA recipients). However, trainees who are less than forty years of age will be given priority in the selection.
2. Belong to a national or public agricultural research institute, university, etc. in a developing country and return to his/her institute after the OJT.
3. Hold at least a bachelor’s degree from a university or be recognized by the selection committee as possessing equivalent academic qualifications.
4. Obtain consent on participating in the programme for the training from his/her institute.
5. Not be the recipient of any funds from other sources for similar programmes.
6. Be able to communicate in the same language with the host scientist.
7. Recognize the challenges of sustainable agriculture in his/her own country, develop an action plan and be willing to implement research activity based on their action plan immediately after the OJT.

c) The assistant instructor must:

1. Be currently conducting research together with the host scientist or under his/her supervision on research related to sustainable agriculture in developing countries.
2. Be qualified to train trainees based on his/her research background. A post-doctoral fellow can be considered as an assistant instructor.

Responsibilities of the applicant

1. Ensure a successful capacity building programme by liaising with the administrative staff of the host institution and the assistant instructor.
2. Ensure development of the action plan by the trainees and its implementation through on-site visit of work place of the trainees.
3. Submit a final report to UNU-ISP upon completion of the capacity building programme. The report must include: capacity building results, an accounting report and a completed questionnaire from the trainees and host institutions.
4. Manage the allocated funds in a diligent and responsible manner.

Costs covered by the programme

The programme will cover costs for the following items:

a) OJT for the trainee under the host scientist and guidance for action plan development to be implemented by the trainee after the OJT

1. A discounted round-trip economy class air ticket and related travel expenses for the trainee from his/her institute to the host institution where the OJT will take place.
2. Subsistence allowance for the trainee to cover accommodation and other living expenses during OJT period.
3. Allowance to cover basic medical and accident insurance for the trainee during OJT period.
4. Research and capacity building funds including supplies. Durable equipment (scientific equipment, computer, camera, projector, microscope, etc.) of which the acquisition cost higher than one hundred thousand yen per item cannot be purchased.
5. The assistant instructor’s remuneration paid on an as-needed basis.
6. Indirect costs charged by the host institution.

b) Follow up the implementation of the action plan by the trainee.

1. Travel allowance for the host scientist.
2. Office supplies necessary for guidance.
3. Communication expenses (telephone calls, post, etc.).

Please note the following:

• Funds will be remitted by bank transfer to the bank accounts of host institutions.
• The funds in sections a. 1-3 and b. 1-3 will be calculated based on the policies in place at the host institutions.
• The funds in section a.2 will be paid directly to the trainee, and the other funds will be paid to the institute to be used for implementation of OJT, follow-up visit, etc. under the supervision of the host institute.

Application Procedure

Applicants (host scientists) must submit their application documents listed below via e-mail to UNU-ISP by 10 October, 2011 to: ojcb@unu.edu.

Application Documents

Form 1. Application form cover	Word file (29KB)
Form 2. Curriculum vitae for applicant, host scientist	Word file (23KB)
Form 3. Curriculum vitae for trainee	Word file (61KB)
Form 4. Curriculum vitae for assistant instructor	Word file (19KB)
Form 5. Capacity building and research plan/ Budget plan	Word file (25KB)
Letter of recommendation by host institute	Free format
Checklist (revised on 2011/9/9)	Word file (18KB)

» Download all files (zip, 92KB)

Selection and notification of results

Selection Committee
All applications will be reviewed by an independent and experienced selection committee. The committee will examine and select those best qualified for the programme.

Priority for APEC developing economies
Since this project qualifies as a contribution to APEC, priority is placed on programmes which receive trainees from APEC developing countries.

Evaluation criteria for selection

1. Thorough understanding of the purpose of the programme.
2. Suitability of capacity building.
   - Relevance of the research programme proposed by the host scientist (applicant).
   - Relevance of the research achievements of the host scientist to the programme.
   - Relevance of the research activities of the trainees to the capacity building programme.
   - Suitability of the capacity building plan, including the concept of the action plan and planning of follow-up visit.
   - Adequacy of the budget plan e.g., air ticket, subsistence allowance, research and capacity building funds, the overheads, etc.
   - Sustainability and potential to expand capacity building results.

The number of programme to be selected

Approximately 13 programmes (in the case of 2 trainees per programme) will be selected. The amount of funds provided to each institute may be adjusted based on the total funds. A host scientist may submit two or more applications, but only one will be selected.

Implementation of capacity building

UNU-ISP will enter into an Institutional Contractual Agreement with each selected host institution as early as possible after the notification of selection results and before the beginning of the capacity building. The selected applicants must provide UNU-ISP with the required bank account information to facilitate UNU-ISP to remit the funds through bank transfer at its earliest convenience.

Final Report of capacity building results

The final report will contain three separate sections as follows:

1. Section by trainee: Each trainee must write his/her section in English and submit it to the trainer.
2. Section by host institution: Each host institution must write an evaluation and achievement report of the capacity building, and submit it to the host scientist.
3. Section by host scientist: Each host scientist must submit to UNU-ISP the final report comprising the capacity building result (including the action plan by the trainee) and accounting report attached along with a summary after completion of the capacity building by 15 June, 2012 together with 1 and 2.

Correspondence

Please address your correspondence to:

United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace
5-53-70 Jingumae. Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925 JAPAN

TEL: +81-3-5467-1242 FAX: +81-3-3406-7347
E-mail: ojcb@unu.edu

Application Deadline:
10 October 2011

Contact:
ojcb@unu.edu

Application Guidelines

http://isp.unu.edu/news/2011/ojcb-application-guidelines.html


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