Call for nominations: Climate Frontiers Fellowship

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Call for nominations: Climate Frontiers Fellowship

Following the successful award of its Climate Frontiers Fellow for Resilience in 2020, the Center once again seeks to recognize invaluable collaborations with experts. For 2023, the OML Center launches another one of its Climate Frontiers Fellowships, this time in the area of Climate Change in Society and Development (S&D). The OML Center Climate Fellowships aim to promote and support climate resilient-thinking and decision-making in the long-term, investing long-term capacity that not only advances the mission of the Center but also benefits wider sections of society. 

Specifically, the Fellowships aim to augment and complement the Center’s human and material capital for climate change-related research, practice, communications and advocacy; and support expertise, experience and development efforts that contribute to  the Center’s multi-sectoral interdisciplinary initiatives. Through user-centered co-production, it also seeks to contribute to larger efforts in raising awareness and public understanding of climate change and in enabling climate action, and lastly, to imbue the Center’s brand with excellence and leadership through their work.

Fellowship Overview

What is Climate Frontiers Fellowship?

The Climate Frontiers Fellowship is one of three categories of Fellowships developed by the Center. More specifically, it seeks to recognize talented and high-performing individuals in specific fields of expertise, whose work has significantly contributed and has further potential contribution to the Center’s mission of actionable science. The Fellowship is expected to result in pioneering work for both the Center and the Fellow, or in the accomplishment of the OML Center’s objectives in which the Fellow plays a critical and unequivocal role. 

For 2023, the Center will award the Climate Frontiers Fellow for Society and Development. Climate change is a critical environmental and social challenge. It stands apart from other societal problems not just in its urgency and scale, but also in its complexity. It is important, therefore, that action against climate change is informed by the best available scientific evidence, including evidence from the social sciences. While knowledge base about the climate system and its variation and impacts has been continuously expanding through the efforts of our natural and physical science, there remains a significant gap in understanding the social aspect, given the abstruse challenges and stress that climate change brings to social, economic, political, and environmental systems.

Who is eligible to nominate?

To be eligible, the proposed Climate Frontiers Fellow for Society and Development must: 

  • Be a Filipino citizen; 
  • Have a doctorate degree;
  • Have had a  professional affiliation with an institution (academe, public sector or civil society) and held at least a professional and/or executive position in such an institution;
  • Have made relevant contributions to and have at least ten (10) years of professional experience in either of the fields of climate change science, including but not limited to environmental science, social sciences (sociology, geography, human ecology, social or community development, economics, and disaster risk reduction management). Candidates must demonstrate an impressive record of qualifications in any of the aforementioned fields;
  • Possess intermediate to advanced competency in either of the areas of social and climate science research, gender and development, vulnerability assessment, socio-economic impact study, or spatial analysis. Has fundamental understanding on the foundations of climate sciences (climate modeling, atmospheric/ocean modeling, or flood inundation modeling) and its integration and utilization with the social aspects of climate change;
  • Presented a research paper (published or unpublished) during a conference on any relevant topic, such as but not limited to those related to climate change. If the paper is jointly authored, the involvement of the nominee in the research should be explained;
  • Involved in community work in one’s field and in advocacy and information dissemination; and
  • Of good moral character.

Nominations may be made by the heads of government or private research institutions, departments, institutes of colleges or universities, academic or professional scientific organizations, societies, non-government organizations, or environmental organizations. Individuals may also self-nominate for the fellowship.

What are the expected outcomes?

The Climate Frontiers Fellow for Society and Development will work with the Center in  identifying strategies and solutions to enable and promote collective climate action through the integration of diverse kinds of knowledge with the social sciences and other relevant disciplines. Specifically, the Fellow will:

  • Developing a strategic portfolio analysis that identifies and prioritizes programs and projects aligned with the mid-term goals and identified strategic plans of the Center.
  • Based on the portfolio analysis, pioneer the development of a social impact framework for the Center that integrates a social dimension criteria, including but not limited to: gender and social inclusion; and monitoring, evaluation, and learning to climate change adaptation. The output will serve as the S&D model to be applied to existing and future OMLC projects.
  • Provide strategic advice to the conceptualization and development of impact-oriented outputs for the Center’s Society and Development (S&D) key research area, and in creating synergy and uniformity between aligned activities and projects of the Center.
    • OMLC’s S&D Program – Provide guidance on the development of an integrative assessment of the impacts of climate change on society and development and identification of factors that lead to or adoption of climate action
    • Project Upturn and eCCET Helper – Provide guidance on the continuous development of the Upturn Tool and eCCET Helper; the implementation and evaluation of solutions modeled in the Upturn Labs, and capacity-building initiatives for local governments and other partners. 
    • Sea Level Rise Project – Provide guidance on the vulnerability and impacts assessment and adaptation options of selected coastal sites to sea level rise, and on the integration of results into the SLR decision-support platform for local planners. 
    • Project SIGND – Provide guidance on social inclusion, esp. on the vulnerability assessment of the Deaf community to climate change and in the assessment of training needs for capacity-building with Deaf communities and service providers (local governments and relevant institutions). 
  • Leverage existing networks of climate change actors by bridging relevant institutions to promote and encourage collaboration with OML Center to help develop the Center’s programs and strengthen its research agenda. 

What are the target outputs?

  • Strategic Portfolio Analysis of the Center’s integrative S&D Program
  • Social Impact framework for the Center
  • At least one (1) short online webinar, can be credited to other OMLC events and activities
  • At least one (1) internal seminar with OML Center staff and/or Lopez Group employees/clusters to operationalize mainstreaming of the developed social impact framework. 
  • At least one (1) public Fellowship Lecture on social sciences related topics on climate change

How will the nominations be evaluated and who will evaluate them?

Nominations will be screened based on (1) potential for impact, (2) leadership, and (3) innovation.

The nominations will be evaluated by the Climate Fellowship Awards Committee. The Executive Director will then submit the recommendations to the OML Center Board of Trustees (BOT) Program Committee (ProgCom) for review, approval and eventual endorsement for ratification of BOT.

How will the outstanding nominee be awarded?

The Climate Frontier Fellowship for Society and Development shall be awarded to the Board-approved candidate  along with a grant amounting to PhP 650,000.00. 

How long is the duration of the fellowship?

The duration of the Fellowship will be for one (1) year upon the acceptance of the Fellowship and the signing of the agreement.

When is the deadline for nomination?

Nominations must be received by the OML Center on or before June 30, 2023 (Friday), 23:59 PST.

How to submit nominations?

Nominations must be filed through the dedicated online submission form. The form must be completed in full and must include all the required supporting documents to be considered eligible for the Fellowship. Incomplete or late submissions will not be considered.

Who can I contact if I have any questions?

You may send your inquiries at [email protected]

Terms and Conditions

Once approved by the OML Center BOT and completion of necessary documentation, the appointment (original, renewal or reappointment) of the Climate Frontiers Fellows for Society and Development shall start upon the acceptance of the Fellowship and the signing of the agreement by the Fellow.

Initial appointment shall be for one (1) year without prejudice to renewal unless otherwise stipulated in any donations to establish/fund the award.

No limit shall be placed on the number of times a Fellow may receive the award, the sole basis of the award being merit, provided only one (1) award is given at a time to the Fellow.

Reappointment may be granted multiple times within three (3) years from the initial appointment. The renewal or reappointment is based strictly on merit and timely compliance with the obligations under the previous appointment. The review and recommendation of renewal shall be done on a yearly basis.

The appointment shall be terminated if the Fellow receives any convictions for criminal or administrative offenses during the award period.

RenewalFellow’s contract is renewed to continue providing support across projects/programs stipulated in the original contract. Scope of work remains, with possible slight changes to outputs. 
ReappointmentFellow’s is reappointed on new terms and scope of work with significant changes to scope of work relative to original contract. 

Extension
Fellow’s original contract is extended due to factors beyond the control of both the Fellow and the OML Center. Original terms, scope of work and output remain, with adjustments to schedule of deliverables made. 

While each Fellowship consists of its own specific set of conditions, the general terms that apply to all Fellowships are the following: 

  • Fellows will be expected to execute a set of responsibilities that will be mutually agreed upon by the Center and the Fellow upon the award of the Fellowship. This may include executing a project, conducting research, sharing of resources, etc. 
  • Initiatives under the Fellowship must be aligned with the Center’s vision, mission and values, contributing to the overall program agenda.
  • Initiatives must be the original idea of the Fellow, or must have sought the necessary permissions if applicable. Discoveries and other outputs of the Fellowship shall be co-owned by the Center and the Fellow.
  • Fellowships are not to be used for material gain or profit, during or after the term of the Fellowship. Commercialization of any outputs of the Fellowship must seek the approval of the Center.