PhD application form

A total of at least 3 PhD scholarships will be provided to qualified candidates from Isiolo, Marsabit, and Samburu (or with strong experience in these counties) to conduct their PhD studies through Faculty ITC. To be eligible, you need to have an MSc degree or equivalent in a relevant domain which is received less than 10 years ago, and not be in possession of a PhD degree yet. The PhD will take 4 years full time and should culminate in a thesis of 4 first-authored peer reviewed articles or book chapters. Detailed information about ITC’s PhD programme can be found here. During these 4 years, your focus will be on research, but there are also professional learning opportunities including (mandatory) courses. The envisaged set-up is 9 months in the Netherlands (including course work and defending PhD proposal), 2.5 years in Kenya (fieldwork, paper writing, frequent supervision meetings that are partially online), and 9 months in Netherlands to finalize the thesis. Co-supervision with a Kenyan university can be explored. The scholarship includes a monthly living allowance consisting of ~1500€ during the months in the Netherlands (matching immigration requirements), and of ~800€ during the research time in Kenya. The expected start date is 1 September 2024 (to fit within the RANGE project).

To select qualified and committed candidates, we ask you to submit the application form below (note: in case you are pre-selected, the official ITC application procedure will then follow). Please apply by the deadline of 15 March 2024. Following that date, we will collect all applications and decide on next steps, which may include online interviews. Potential topics are listed below, but we are also curious to hear your own ideas. Note that spatial analysis/data (including from remote sensing and the field) should be an integral part of all PhD research.

APPLICATION FORM

Upload a CV including educational background (with ranking), positions held, main qualifications and relevant skills for the project, publications, as well as the names of two persons who can serve as a reference (including a university supervisor). We appreciate inclusion of a passport photo in the CV. Please keep it within 4 pages maximum.

Upload here your CV

First name / Given name

Last name / Family name

Gender

Birth date

Your Bachelor degree: indicate domain and university

Date of obtaining Bachelor degree

Ranking of Bachelor degree

Your Masters degree: indicate domain and university

Date of obtaining Masters degree

Ranking of Masters degree

Place of residence

County of origin

If selected "Other" in the previous question, please indicate here

Explain the depth of your experience in pastoral areas, including your family’s connection to pastoralism, where possible (1000 characters limit)

Concisely explain why you would be a good PhD candidate for the RANGE project (1500 characters limit)

Each PhD research topic may require a different set of skills. The list below provides titles that reflect some of our current ideas on relevant topics but may be subject to change. Please indicate which topic(s) are most appealing to you and would match your interest/background.

Development of a participatory regional planning tool for environmentally sustainable economic investment

Monitoring the effectiveness of rangeland interventions with the aid of satellite image time series

Mapping of key dry- and wet-season grazing lands and herd migration patterns through participatory mapping and remote sensing

Innovating and enhancing drought monitoring by linking high-resolution remote sensing with field data.

Innovative methods for in-situ data collection in drylands through sensor networks and crowdsourcing

Exploring scalable technologies for assessing dynamics in livestock densities for enhanced planning of rangeland utilization

Improved prediction of weather impacts on forage availability and household health using meteorological data and remote sensing

Other

Explain why you made the selection in the previous question and why you would be the ideal person to focus on the selected topic(s) given your background, skills, and local insights (1500 characters limit)

If you were free to fully define your own PhD research within the RANGE project, what would be the topic, and what would be the main research question(s)? Explain why you would be the ideal person to focus on the selected topic(s) given your background, skills, and local insights (2500 characters limit)

Indicate how you envisage implementing the newly acquired knowledge in the period after the PhD programme to contribute to the sustainable development in the Kenyan ASALs (or specifically your home county)? (1500 words limit)

PLEASE NOTE

The questions in this form request your personal information. Hereby I consent that the information provided can be consulted by RANGE consortium partners (University of Twente, Mercy Corps, FCDC) and shared with local research collaborators in Kenya. I furthermore agree that the provided information will be retained for the lifetime of the RANGE project (until December 2028).

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