Application open

The Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), under an agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is offering PhD scholarships to 200 people from all over the world, including 60 from developed countries. All details are available from the link given below.  Application deadline for the next fall semester (starting in September 2016) is March 2016.

If you have an interest in agricultural and environmental monitoring, water and energy resources, remote sensing, GIS, agrometeorology, crop modelling, climate change or food security (including economic aspects), we would be pleased to hear from you. We can help you with the preparation of a proposal to join the Digital Agriculture Division of Prof Wu Bingfang at CAS in Beijing. CAS is a modern, sophisticated and friendly working environment!

We focus on several themes:

  • Global crop monitoring and forecasting (CropWatch). We publish regular global crop condition bulletins (http://www.cropwatch.com.cn/) and have an interest in food security,  crop modelling, ground and satellite-based monitoring indicators, regional crop forecasting, GIS, data dissemination and other related subjects;
  • Climate change impacts, adaptation and related issues (such as biomass and water resources assessment and mapping), especially in Africa
  • Land cover mapping and vegetation monitoring at regional scale. We completed the China National Land Cover Database (ChinaCover for 1990, 2000 and 2010) with 30m resolution and 38 classes with an overall accuracy of about 85%  (ChinaCover2010). The 2000-2010 time series include fractional vegetation cover, LAI, FPAR, NPP, phenology and forest above-ground biomass estimation using airborne LiDAR and scaling models;
  • Evapotranspiration management and monitoring (ETWatch), including Basin-wide ET Management based on basin-scale water consumption balance, allowable water consumption, identification of water consumption tradeoffs, competition and feedback among different water sectors.

If you are tempted by one of the broad subjects listed above, kindly send an email to our administrative assistant Ms Shuyi Xue (xuesy@irsa.ac.cn) with your CV and indicate your technical field and preferences. 

Additional detail on the application procedure is given here:  http://twas.org/opportunity/cas-twas-presidents-phd-fellowship-programme