CREAF wants young people to catch the science bug with a new programme of summer grants

This summer and within the Severo Ochoa program, we will offer to 4 undergraduate students the possibility of a two-month stay as an ecology researcher through the 1^st CREAF Summer Fellowship Programme. It's aim is to become the first step of undergraduate student’s research career.

We are looking for 4 talented undergraduate students willing to be involved as a new generation of ecologists. Spend two months (between May and October 2021) with our researchers, doing field work, lab work, travelling, learning about databases. This experience will be a turning point in your studies, we want to inspire you as a future scientist in ecology.

Who is the programme for?

The Fellowship is addressed to talented undergraduate university students of any nationality in an advanced year of their degrees.

The call is open until 31 March and is intended to be the first step in the research career of undergraduate students.

When it will be running?

4 participants will have the opportunity to work side by side with CREAF researchers during two months between May and October 2021*.

What does the fellowship include?

Selected students will receive a 2000€ stipend plus travel costs up to 200€.  Medical insurance is at the expense of each student.

How does the selection process will be done?

Applications will be evaluated according to a CV, the academic grades and a motivation letter. By March, CREAF will contact all candidates to let them know whether they have been awarded with one fellowship or not. The four selected candidates will choose (following the order resulting from the selection process) the research project they will join during their two-month stay among those proposed by CREAF researchers.

What will you do during your stay?

CREAF offers a wide variety of scientific projects: some will work with the analysis of research data, others will have field trips to observe amphibians and make an atlas, in two proposals you can follow the evolution of arthropod communities, others will discover the landscapes of Doñana and others will travel to Ibiza to discover the impact of an invasive snake.

How can you apply?

All the information here. 

Which projects can you apply for?

1. Agri-ecological measures to enhance pollinator and natural enemy diversity in apple orchards. Hosts: Dr. Jordi Bosch and Dr. Anselm Rodrigo.
2. Cascading ecological consequences of a rapidly spreading snake invasion for native communities on a Mediterranean island ecosystem. Host: Dr. Oriol Lapiedra.
3. Collecting data and creating the atlas of the amphibians of the natural park of Aiguamolls de l'Empordà. Host: Dr. Sandra Saura Mas.
4. Drought effects over soil arthropod communities and feed-backs to organic matter decomposition in a Mediterranean forest. Hosts: Dr. Guille Peguero and Dr. Josep Peñuelas.
5. Endangered and protected flora of the mediterranean basin coast: knowledge and management actions. Host: Dr. Sandra Saura Mas.
6. Exploring forest resilience to climate change-induced extreme events and disturbances. Host: Dr. Franscisco Lloret.
7. Heating up the world: the effects of global warming on the water cycle and the N-P-K cycles in Arctic basins. Host: Estela Romero.
8. Nutrient availability and body size abundance distributions of oribatid mites in tropical rainforests. Hosts: Dr. Josep Peñuelas and Laura Márquez.
9. Permafrost nutrient cycling in a warming world. Hosts: Dr. Olga Margalef, Dr. Oriol Grau and Dr. Josep Peñuelas.

You have all the details in the Fellowship's page of CREAF's website.

CALENDAR

• March: call for Summer Fellowships
• April: students selection from submitted applications
• May-Oct: Summer Fellowship Programme development*
• November 2021: Evaluation of the Programme *

* According to the state of the COVID pandemic, the dates of the stay may benefit from flexibility in common agreement between the hosting researcher and the student.