The One Planet Summit organized on 15 December 2017 in Paris outlined concrete steps to meet the objectives set by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The 12 commitments that resulted out of this event consist of 30 actions intended to intensify and accelerate global efforts to fight climate change. One of these actions is the implementation of the One Planet Fellowship Programme (OPFP) with a duration of 5 years (2019-2023).
Objectives: science, leadership, networking
The One Planet Fellowship Programme with a budget of 19,2 millions US dollars (17,3 M €) aims to build a vibrant, connected and intergenerational network of African and European scientists equipped to lead research on agriculture - climate change in Africa.
It is designed to enhance the capacity of high potential researchers focused on agriculture and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Its three pillars include:
Activities
Implementation of One Planet Fellowship is led by AWARD and Agropolis Fondation and involves several activities:
A three year programme is proposed to the Fellows:
During the first year of the programme, the selected Fellows high potential African agricultural researchers whose research focuses on climate change are selected. Referred to as the One Planet Laureate Candidates, these researchers are paired with more established African researchers who are carefully chosen to match their area of expertise and career goals. These are the One Planet Fellowship Mentors. These Laureate Mentor-Mentee pairs commence a year-long mentorship relationship and are supported to build a successful partnership geared toward enhancing the fellows’ career growth. The pairs are also supported to attend a variety of leadership and science research skills courses.
In the second year of the Fellowship, the Laureate Candidates select emerging African scientists and emerging European scientists to whom they serve as mentors, creating a mentorship chain of three generations of scientists.
In the third and final year of the Fellowship, the top performing One Planet Laureate Candidates are supported to enhance their research skills by participating in a research placement (Advanced Science training AST) at a leading European research institution that has a strong emphasis and reputation for climate change science. Here, the Candidates are also carefully paired with outstanding European researchers who serve as supervisors to mutually agreed research projects aimed at strengthening a specific skill for the One Planet Fellow.
List of the European hosting institutions
Each Fellow is in the center of an ecosystem of 5 persons with an African mentor, a European supervisor, a young African mentee (less than 30 years old) and a young European mentee (less than 30 years old).
The top performing OPFP Laureates selected for the Advanced Science Training (AST) also have the opportunity to take part in a one-week Study Tour in Brussels-Belgium and Rome-Italy, followed by a Science Week in Montpellier-France, organised by Agropolis Fondation. They visit institutions like the European Commission and the FAO, attend numerous conferences, establish new contacts, etc.
2023 Study Tour Programme
2023 Science Week Programme
The programme actors
OPFP consists of 3 cohorts of 45 Fellows.
The first cohort, composed of 45 high-potential scientists, selected from a pool of more than 1,500 candidates, was launched in September 2019.
Nearly 1,000 candidates applied for the 45 places in the second cohort identified in April 2020, in a world struggling with COVID-19.
This second cohort launched the opening of the program to French-speaking countries in North Africa, bringing the number of target countries to 14 (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia).
The call for applications for the third cohort Call for Applications : 3rd Cohort – One Planet Fellowship Programme - Agropolis Fondation (agropolis-fondation.fr) will end on February 28th, 2021.
Ultimately, a total of more than 600 researchers - women, men; Europeans, Africans; young, experienced; Anglophones, Francophones - will thus have benefited from the program.
(c) Award
The Science Advisory Panel
The Science Advisory Panel provides advice and overall guidance to both AWARD team (Africa) and Agropolis Fondation (Europe) on all scientific matters regarding the Fellowship. It is comprised of up to 10 leading agriculture and climate scientists representing the diversity of disciplines covered by the Fellowship.
Funding partners
It is co-funded by the BNP Paribas Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the European Commission through the DeSIRA Initiative.
Implementers
One Planet Fellowship Programme is jointly implemented by Agropolis Fondation and AWARD (African Women in Agricultural Research and Development).
Collaborators
AST laureates
List of 10 laureates selected for 2019 cohort
List of 41 laureates selected for 2020 et 2021 cohorts
Who is who (trombinoscope)
For OFPP activities in Europe
Camille Rannou
opfp@agropolis.fr
Programme Manager, Agropolis Fondation, Montpellier, France
For OPFP activities in Africa
Michèle Mbo’o-Tchouawou
mmboo-tchouawou@cgiar.org
Deputy Director, AWARD
Nairobi, Kenya
The One Planet Fellowship Programme (brochure)
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