Call for applications

Call for applications

On-the-job training for early-career researchers on ‘Integrated Decision Support System Modeling’

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT®, is a not-for-profit agricultural research and training organization with partners in over 100 countries. Please refer to our website for more information: www.cimmyt.org

Background

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA)-COVID response Activity, led by CIMMYT and funded by the USAID/Nepal mission, aims to rapidly and effectively respond to the threats posed by the COVID-19 crisis that undermine the recovery and sustained resilience of farmers in the Feed the Future (FtF) Zone of Nepal.

The Activity’s second objective (Objective II: Break the smallholder irrigation bottleneck and build rural resilience to the COVID-19 crisis) focuses efforts to develop appropriate and sustainable irrigation planning and development in Nepal while also considering how irrigation can increase resilience and generate income for smallholder farmers in COVID-19 crisis-affected districts of the FtF Zone. Our main partners for this Objective are IWMI, Texas A&M, and Cornell University, providing support on predictive models and scenario analysis to provide local, district, and provincial level assessment of water resources.

Objectives and scope

The CSISA-COVID response Activity calls for applications for a 10-month on-the-job training (March to December 2021) aimed at two early-career researchers who want to improve skills in working across disciplines and develop innovative methods or adapt existing ones in diverse contexts.

Selected candidates (one male and one female, young Nepali researchers) will be trained remotely and work closely with the Texas A&M University-led Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation on (a) selection of scenarios for irrigation and multi-use water resources development assessments, and (b) in interpretation and fine-tuning of model scenario outputs, respectively.

Both young researchers will be receiving a competitive monthly allowance throughout the training period. 

Qualifications

• Awarded or in-process Masters’ Degree in fields of agriculture, environment, hydrology, water resources, statistics, and economics
• Solid understanding of crop and farming systems in western Nepal
• Ability to fully participate in research, including taking zoom calls in the early morning or evening time
• Under the age of 35
• Demonstrated ability to carry forward learnings and contribute to Nepal’s agricultural development in the future
• Demonstrated experience with GIS (Geographical Information Systems)
• Strong understanding of data management
• Highly computer proficient
• Prior experience with modeling a plus

Candidates must send their CV and cover letter to Recruit-Nepal@cgiar.org no later than February 28th, 2021.

Please include reference (OJT irrigation modeling) in the subject of your email.

Incomplete applications (without CV and cover letter) will not be taken into consideration.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.