Striving for International Cooperation in Sustainability Research
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) hosts the prestigious ”Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development” to promote the international exchange of innovative green ideas. The award, under the patronage of Minister Professor Johanna Wanka, honours young researchers each year. The winners come from numerous countries and scientific disciplines and are recognised for their outstanding achievements in making our societies more sustainable. Selected by a high-ranking jury of German experts the award-winners are granted unique access to the country’s research elite.
Are you an up-and-coming scientist with innovative ideas and a strong focus on sustainable development? Does your research have the potential to change the world? We challenge you to convince our high-ranking expert jury and become one of the 25 Green Talents 2017!
The award is open to all disciplines as long as it is related to sustainable development. In 2017 the award has a focus on “Sustainable Production and Consumption” and this year’s Science Forum, taking place in October, will integrate sustainability hot spots in Germany related to this theme. Nevertheless, we highly welcome applications from all (not connected) research areas.
Who can apply?
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
– Enrolment in a Masters or a PhD programme in any field related to sustainable development or must have completed their degree (Master/PhD) with significantly above-average grades in a similar programme no more than three years before the end of the application process.
– Excellent proven command of English
– A non-German citizen or anyone not residing in Germany (individuals therefore not eligible to apply: German passport holders as well as anyone living in Germany at the time of application even if the residence is temporary).
No exceptions to these requirements can be accepted. Ineligible applications will automatically be disqualified.
The Green Talents Competition focuses on outstanding young scientists who are active in the field of sustainable development. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) fosters interdisciplinary approaches in this regard. Applicants can therefore come from any scientific field closely related to sustainability research. In view of the fact that this year the award focuses on “Sustainable Production and Consumption” we particularly welcome submissions relating to this topic in the 2017 Green Talents Competition. However, the competition is still open to all fields and offers equal opportunities to win.
What is required from me during the application process?
You first need to make sure that you meet the mandatory requirements in order to apply for the Green Talents Competition. Applications can only be submitted via an online tool. This will guide you through the application process. Please note that the application will take some time. However, you can take a break and save the information you have completed and continue at a later stage.
The selection will be based on an applicants’ achievements in the field of sustainable development and their specific interest in cooperating with German partners.
The application consists of the following four parts:
- Forms with personal information and questions about your academic and professional career, including details about university degrees, research work, lists of publications, etc. You will not have to upload a CV.
- Questions regarding your publications and patents. You donothave to hand in full articles. We merely require a list of books/chapters/articles you (co-)authored. Please list your publications in chronological order, naming the titles, potential co-authors, the publisher and the context (book/chapter/article/conference paper etc.).
- Include articles/papers that have been submitted but have not yet been approved
- Exclude papers under preparation
- Questions regarding your motivation to participate in the forum (we recommend that you write your answers in advance and simply copy them into the text fields):
- Please briefly explain your actual research by showing how it relates to sustainable development and demonstrate your interdisciplinary interest.
- What new perspective are you providing to sustainability research? What is your professional goal?
- How is your research/work related to sustainability science in Germany? Please also indicate which of the institutions in this year’s Science Forum are most relevant to you and why.
- What do you expect to gain from the Green Talents Award for your future career?
- Letter of recommendation: letter in which the author assesses the qualities, characteristics and capabilities of the person being recommended in terms of the individual’s ability to perform a particular task or function.
- This should focus on your career as a scientist and activities up until now,
- must be in English,
- should not be older than 6 months,
- can be written by current or past supervisors from either academia or industry.
Your application will be incomplete and cannot be processed without this document. However, we are well aware that despite it being common practice for individuals being assessed to be handed a reference letter in Europe, this may not be the case in other countries. If your assessor refuses to give you a letter of recommendation, please upload a Word document with his/her name and complete your application. The assessor should then send us a letter via e-mail to greentalents@dlr.de, stating your name and application ID number. We will add the letter to your documents. In this case, you will receive an additional e-mail confirming that the letter of recommendation has been submitted. Important: the letter must reach us before the deadline. Otherwise your application will be incomplete and therefore disqualified.
- It is mandatory to indicate the level of your English skills and to add an English language certificate to your application. For example, this can be a certificate from a language examination (TOEFL, IELTS etc.), a certificate from language classes you have taken or confirmation from your university that your courses are taught in English. As a native speaker, please simply fill out and attach the declaration of proficiency in English signed by yourself, indicating your full proficiency.
What does the funding include?
When selected as a “Green Talent”, you will be invited to a two-week Science Forum in Germany (which takes place in October 2017). This means that the BMBF will cover your travel expenses (to/from Germany and during the trip) as well as your meals and accommodation during the forum. Costs for health insurance and visa fees cannot be covered and must be paid by the participants.
We will cover return flights to Germany and also provide a monthly allowance when you return in 2018 for your Research Stay. This allowance is intended to support you during your stay and will be sufficient for accommodation, insurance, food and your daily needs. However, it is not intended to support your research.
For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://www.greentalents.de/index.php