Call and Workshop Application Form
UK coordinator: Stuart Jenkins
São Paulo State coordinator: Ronaldo Christofoletti
Dates and venue: 17th-20thMarch 2015; Santos, Brazil
Under the Researcher Links scheme offered within the Newton Fund, the British Council and FAPESP will be holding a 4 day workshop on the above theme in Santos (São Paulo state, Brazil) on 17th to 20th March 2015. The workshop is being coordinated by Dr Stuart Jenkins (Bangor University) and Ronaldo Christofoletti (Universidade Federal de São Paulo), and will have contributions from other leading researchers (Prof. Michael Burrows - Scottish Association for Marine Science; Prof. Steve Hawkins - University of Southampton, UK; Dr Áurea Ciotti – CEBIMar/Universidade de São Paulo and Dr Alexander Turra – IO/Universidade de São Paulo). We are now inviting Early Career Researchers from the UK and São Paulo State (Brazil) to apply to attend this workshop. All travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the Researcher Links programme. See below for more details and application.
Initiative
The British Council and FAPESP have launched a new five-year programme to encourage international research collaboration between ambitious young researchers from the UK and eighteen countries around the world. The programme, now co-funded under the Newton Fund, the British Council and FAPESP, “Researcher Links” provides opportunities for early career researchers from the UK and internationally to interact, learn from each other and explore opportunities for building long-lasting research collaborations.
As part of this programme, a ‘call to action’ was issued in April 2014 for leading researchers to propose themes for bilateral workshops to be held in one of these countries which will bring together early career researchers to discuss their research and start to build international relationships. Successful applicant organisations from the UK and the State of São Paulo are now recruiting early career researchers and welcome applications to attend the above workshop.
The workshops will provide a unique opportunity for sharing research expertise and networking. During the workshops, early career researchers will have the opportunity to present their research and discuss this with established researchers from the UK and partner countries. There will be a focus on building links for future collaborations and participants will be selected on the basis of their research potential and ability to build longer term links.
Newton Fund, the British Council and FAPESP will cover the costs related to the participation in the workshop, including: travel (both international and local), accommodation, health insurance and meals.
Workshop information
Coastal marine ecosystems are among the most highly productive in the world. They provide a diverse array of natural, social and economic services including recycling of vital nutrients, food production, defence from sea level rise and storms, natural waste processing, recreation and education. These ecosystem services are at risk from a range of anthropogenic impacts including climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions are changing our climate, leading to regionally variable warming, changes in precipitation regimes, an increase in the frequency of extreme events and a reduction in the pH of the sea. In addition to the changing climate, anthropogenic pressures at local and regional scales need to be considered. The past 50 years has seen a huge rise in the demands on coastal marine resources as coastal populations grow and become increasingly urbanised. Overfishing, habitat loss, pollution, eutrophication and introduction of non-native species are all having negative effects on coastal ecosystems. A major interdisciplinary research effort is required to understand how the structure and function of naturally variable marine ecosystems respond to multiple anthropogenic impacts, with researchers operating at multiple temporal and spatial scales utilising a range of approaches from regional understanding of oceanographic forcing to localised experiments of biological interactions. Ecologists, bio-geochemists, oceanographers, geologists, sedimentologists all need to work in an interdisciplinary manner and do so within a socio-economic framework. Management of coastal ecosystems requires not only basic understanding of how biological, bio-geochemical and physical processes react to changing environmental conditions, but also the ability of researchers to communicate their science to policy makers and end users. The integration of economists plus researchers and practitioners in coastal zone management is a fundamental part of addressing 21st century environmental issues and through fundamental and applied research, maintain ecosystem services in the face of the complex drivers of climate change and other anthropogenic impacts.
The workshop will bring together scientists, environmental economists and researchers working on governance and social issues related to coastal management. In addition to the overarching goal of bringing together UK and Brazilian researchers the aims of the workshop are two fold, firstly to facilitate and encourage an interdisciplinary approach among marine scientists and secondly to encourage an approach which integrates scientific research objectives with social and economic drivers. By encouraging this approach in early career researchers and putting in place a framework to facilitate long term collaborations between Brazil and the UK we believe we can make a positive contribution to enhancing sustainable development and welfare in coastal ecosystems under a globally changing environment.
Application and Deadline
The full application must be completed and submitted by December 12th to Stuart Jenkins and Ronaldo Christofoletti at fapesp.bc.workshop@gmail.com
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications must be submitted using the Researcher Links application form
- Applications must be submitted before the above deadline
- Participants must be early career researchers: Early Career Researchers are defined as holding a PhD for less than 10 years on the starting date of the workshop.
Quality Assessment
- Experience and relevance of the applicant’s research area to the workshop
- Motivation and contribution to the aims of the workshop
- Description of the long term impact expected through the participation in the workshop
- Ability to disseminate workshop’s outcomes
Notification of results
Applicants will be notified by email at least 2 months prior to the workshop.
Equal Opportunities
The British Council is committed to equal opportunities and diversity in all its activities and this includes the avoidance of any bias in the assessment of applications due to gender, disability, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or religious belief. Participants’ selection undertaken by workshop organisers must not contravene this policy. Extra support to enable participation of early career researchers with special needs will be given.