Applications for the 2023 Fellowship Scheme are open until 31 July.
If you cannot find the information you are looking for on this page, please check the Frequently Asked Questions page before contacting the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All proposals must be made on the appropriate forms, and submitted online through the SCAR Online Application page.
On this page:
- Summary of the Scheme
- Eligibility for SCAR Fellowship
- Application pack (including elements of the application)
- Evaluation
- Completion of Fellowship
Summary of the Scheme
Eligibility
Eligibility for SCAR Fellowship (full details are given further down this page):
- Current PhD researcher or within 5 years of finishing PhD;
- Visiting an Antarctic research facility in or run by a SCAR member country, which is different from applicant's (a) country of origin and (b) current country of residence;
- Should contribute to the objectives of one or more of SCAR’s science groups, including the Humanities and Social Sciences group, and/or the Scientific Research Programmes.
2023 Award
- 4-5 awards for 2023;
- up to USD $15,000 per award;
- Home institute to bear in-home country costs (e.g. visa costs, domestic travel);
- Host institute to waive bench fees, if any.
Application Package Contents
The application pack contains the guidance and forms needed to apply for a SCAR Fellowship (full details are given further down this page).
- Research Proposal (with relevant appendices);
- Home Institute Reference;
- Host Institute Agreement;
- Guidance on Elements of the Application;
- Guidance on the Evaluation Process.
Notes
- Fellowships run for one year.
- Submission via: Online form
- Any doubts/queries, contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Eligibility for SCAR Fellowship
The SCAR Fellowship programme is for PhD students, or those within five years of having completed a PhD on the day of the deadline for applications, to undertake research at an institute in one of the 46 SCAR Member countries (for a full list of countries, please see the information about SCAR Member Countries). In special cases (e.g. maternity/paternity leave), this five-year period may be extended. Please contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you believe this to be the case. The work must be carried out in a research group of a SCAR member country different from that of the (i) applicant's origin and (ii) current residence.
From 2022 for the next three years, a Prince Albert II Fellowship will be awarded, funded by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation through the Polar Initiative, and selected from among the successful applications in the broad research area of biodiversity and climate change.
Some flexibility was introduced during the pandemic and this will continue. Applicants are able to propose partly or entirely remote Fellowships and, where issues later develop around travel or planned activities, we will work with awardees to enable their fellowships to go ahead.
Topics for support should link to the objectives of one or more of SCAR’s science groups, including the Humanities and Social Sciences group, and/or the current Scientific Research Programmes endorsed by SCAR (visit SCAR's science and research pages for details of SCAR's groups).
Fellowships are awarded based on the criteria for competitive selection, which are clearly stated in the Evaluation guidance given below and in the application pack.
The proposal texts should make it absolutely clear what activities will be carried out, what will be achieved, what deliverables will ensue (e.g. papers, technologies), at what cost, and in what time frame. Guidelines for preparing the proposal are given on the Research Proposal sheet in the Application Pack. In addition, there is a webinar on “Writing for Success” available in English and Spanish which may assist in preparing an application, and SCAR Fellowship webinars are available in Portuguese and German.
In order to apply for a fellowship, candidates will be required to first contact and liaise with appropriate host Antarctic projects or programmes in order to secure the support and mentorship of an active team capable of including them in their own research programme or project group.
Awards will be up to USD $15,000, providing, as needed, economy-class round-trip travel and a modest subsistence allowance for the fellowship period. The fellow's home institute will bear all expenses incurred in his or her home country (domestic travel, visa costs, etc.), and the host institute will waive any bench fees that they might normally charge trainees.
Application Pack
The Application Pack contains the Summary Checklist, the Research Proposal instructions and keywords list, the Home Institute Agreement form and the Host Institute Agreement:
Elements of the Application:
- Research Proposal – Prepared following the guidelines given in the Research Proposal section of the Application Pack. The Applicant must have the Research Proposal (with relevant appendices) as a single document, ready to be uploaded during the application process;
- Home Institute Agreement and Reference - Applicant to send Home Institute Agreement to the Home Institute Referee, and the Referee to return it to the Applicant, along with the reference letter, as a single document, ready to be uploaded during the application process;
- Host Institute Agreement - Applicant to send Host Institute Agreement to the Host Institute Referee, and the Host to return it to the Applicant, ready to be uploaded during the application process;
- Online Application Form - to be completed by the Applicant by the deadline of 31 July 2023.
It is the applicant's responsibility to make sure that all parts of the application (Research Proposal, Home Reference and Host Agreement) are completed and received by them before beginning their online application.
Making the Application:
Once the Research Proposal, Home Institute Reference and Host Institute Agreement are complete and ready to upload, applicants may submit their online application:
Evaluation
SCAR will coordinate volunteers from the Antarctic research community with specific expertise in the indicated discipline areas to evaluate applications. This will be based on a series of five categories, with the following guidance included for potential applicants:
Quality of the proposal (35%)
This section will evaluate the overall quality of the proposal with respect to the proposed research and methodology. This will be based primarily on your research proposal and the evidence you provide for its importance, timeliness and how well both your own background and the expertise of the host institute contribute to the proposal.
Relevance to SCAR activities and/or Groups (25%)
How does the research you are proposing fit in with the existing research activities of SCAR groups and programmes? How will you follow up with these activities after the Fellowship ends?
Does the proposal help build capacity in a country that would most benefit? (20%)
What specific benefits will you as a fellow, and your home institute, gain from the Fellowship? Do you plan to have specific outreach activities at your home institute or elsewhere in your home country to communicate the results and experience of your Fellowship?
Is the study largely self contained? (10%)
Has the proposal made it clear that the planned research is well thought through and has a data plan in place agreed with the host institute?
Is the study feasible in the time estimated and will it likely lead to publication? (10%)
Your proposal needs to make clear that you have considered the practicalities involved in undertaking the research and that there are clear deliverables that can be achieved.
Completion of Fellowship
At the end of each Fellowship, each candidate must provide a report to be published on the SCAR website. Reports should cover the accomplishments and a budgetary report and should be completed following a structure similar to those posted on the Fellows page of the SCAR website. The SCAR Fellowship Scheme should be acknowledged in any resulting publications.