The Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP), the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the ​and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) have been working together for many years to support talented early-career researchers, scientists, engineers, environmental managers, and other professionals to strengthen international capacity and cooperation in fields such as science support and facilitation, environmental management implementation, and climate, biodiversity, conservation, humanities and astrophysics research by way of an annual funding opportunity. For 2019, these Antarctic organisations are joined by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) who will each support additional Antarctic-related fellowships.​

The successful COMNAP and IAATO Fellows were announced on 30/31 July 2019.  They are:

IAATO Fellow 2019 Daniela Cajiao Vargas
from Ecuador currently completing her PhD at the Autonomous University of Madrid. She will take up the Fellowship at North Carolina State University, USA.​

 

COMNAP Fellow 2019 Mikolaj Dziurzynski
from Poland currently completing 

his PhD at the University of Warsaw.

He will take up the Fellowship 

at the University of Florence, Italy.

The COMNAP Antarctic Fellowship Background Information:

The COMNAP Antarctic  Fellowship was offered for the first time in 2011. It is designed to encourage the active involvement of early career Antarctic persons and to strengthen international capacity and cooperation in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty. It is intended to allow people from a COMNAP Member National Antarctic Program country to undertake short-term visits to major international laboratories, field facilities, and/or home institutions in or operated by other COMNAP Member National Antarctic Programs (for a list of members, please visit the "Our Members" page of the COMNAP website).  The fellow's project should contribute to the objectives of the home or host National Antarctic Program's objectives. 

To Apply for the COMNAP Antarctic Fellowship:​

Check eligibility requirements and download an application form and letters of reference templates (file 1 below). Ask your home institute to complete a letter of reference, and discuss with your proposed host institute your proposal and their ability to support your project at their facilities. Include both letters of reference with your application. Your proposed project must align with the priority projects or topics for the application year. Prepare your application and when your application is ready for submission, upload the application along with supporting documentation to the COMNAP Antarctic Fellowship application on-line submission site. 

See below for all necessary documentation and a link to the application site.  All completed applications must be received by the deadline to be considered.

Eligibility requirements checklist, application forms for the COMNAP Fellowship 2020 will be available in February 2020.

List of priority projects for COMNAP Antarctic Fellowship 2020 will be confirmed in February 2020.

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The IAATO Antarctic Fellowship Background Information:

From 2019, IAATO has joined COMNAP, SCAR and CCAMLR to support early-career professionals by way of providing funding for an inaugural IAATO Antarctic Fellowship. For 2019, COMNAP administered the application process on behalf of IAATO.

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Evaluation of Antarctic Fellowship applications received:

For the COMNAP applications, a review panel chaired by a representative of the  COMNAP Executive Committee, and including expertise in the range of projects proposed, will evaluate all COMNAP proposals on the basis of the excellence of the proposed project. This evaluation will also take into consideration factors such as:

§  its relevance to the list of proposed project themes;

§  its achievability within the time frame allotted;

§  the extent to which links have already been established with the proposed host institution;

§  the extent to which it will strengthen the Antarctic science support capacity of the nations involved;

§   its "fit" with COMNAP's goals and objectives.

For the IAATO applications, the IAATO Executive Committee plus one COMNAP EXCOM Member will evaluate all applications received before the deadline and will rank on the basis of excellence and fit to IAATO's overarching  purpose, and must reflect the objectives of IAATO and add to our understanding of human presence in the Antarctic.