WASCAL Graduate Schools Courses – WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) is a large-scale research-focused Climate Service Centre designed to help tackle this challenge and thereby enhance the resilience of human and environmental systems to climate change and increased variability.
It does so by strengthening the research infrastructure and capacity in West Africa related to climate change and by pooling the expertise of ten West African countries and Germany.
Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), WASCAL is implemented in a collaborative effort by West African and German partners.
The Competence Centre, a newly established institute in West Africa, carries out research and provides science-based advice to policymakers and stakeholders on climate change impacts, mitigation, and adaptation measures.
The Core Research Programme complements the scientific activities of the Competence Center, and is implemented by a network of German and West African research institutes.
The creation of ten WASCAL Graduate Schools Courses in West Africa aim to contributes to the education of the next generation of African scientists and policy makers in the field of climate change and land management.
WASCAL Graduate Studies Programmes
The WASCAL Graduate Studies Programme supports and facilitates academic education amongst West African universities in association with German counterpart institutions.
The activities focus on the training of doctoral and Master’s students.
The Graduate Studies Programme consists of ten (10) Doctoral programmes and two (2) master’s programmes.
1. Host University
Each of the ten doctoral programmes and two master’s programmes is autonomous and based at one lead university selected in a consultative process among the candidates’ countries.
The programmes pool the scientific and educational strength of faculties in the West African region and thereby facilitate high quality research and education.
A significant part of the WASCAL effort is the strengthening of this trans-national communication and capacity building.
2. Interdisciplinary Approach
Added value is gained by cross-linking experts and university institutes between the ten identified priority fields, thus enabling an interdisciplinary working approach.
This involves teaching, student supervision, and exchange of cross-border experiences.
3. German Partner Universities
The German partner universities collaborate with the Doctoral Programs and Master’s Programs through curriculum development, visiting professorships and co-supervision of graduate students.
In addition, West African students and faculty members are given the opportunity to conduct research at German universities or to visit counterpart research institutions.
6. Language Requirements
Language of all the programmes is English, but applicants are not rejected should they only have a limited command of the English language. Language training programmes for graduate students are provided for both English and French.
7. Resources and Facilities
The WASCAL Competence Centre is a common resource for all the WASCAL students, and faculties that will have access to all facilities. Their research is integrated in the overall WASCAL agenda.
The overall programme is coordinated by the Capacity Building Department located at WASCAL Headquarters in Accra.
Available WASCAL Graduate Schools Courses
1. Doctoral Programmes
- West Africa Climate System – Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Nigeria
- Climate Change and Water Resources – Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Benin
- Climate Change Economics – Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD), Sénégal
- Climate Change and Land Use – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana
- Climate Change and Agriculture – Institut Polytechnique Rural de Formation et de Recherche Apliquée, (IPR-IFRA), Mali and University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana
- Climate Change and Biodiversity – Université Felix Houphouët Boigny (formerly, Université de Cocody-Abidjan), Côte d’Ivoire
- Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management – Université de Lomé (UL), Togo
- Climate Change and Adapted Land Use– Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT-Minna), Nigeria
- Climate Change and Energy – Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey (UAM), Niger
- Climate Change and Education – University of The Gambia (UTG), the Gambia
2. Master’s Degree Programmes
- Climate Change and Marine Science – University of Cape Verde
- Informatics for Climate Change – University of Ouagadougou 1 Pr. Joseph KI-ZERBO
How To Apply For WASCAL Programmes
Application is done through the call for application on the WASCAL website which is www.wascal.org
WASCAL Competence Centre?
WASCAL Competence Centre is a regional science-based hub situated in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where WASCAL deploys its research programme to support the provision of climate and environmental services.
Functions of WASCAL Research Department?
- To provide evidence-based outputs that support the provision of climate and environmental services.
- To serve as science implementation/advisory agency for other climate service centers and ECOWAS members.
- To backstop the capacity building program.
How WASCAL Research Operate
WASCAL Competence Centre sets up win- win partnerships at international, regional and national levels with research, academic and service provision organizations
Key Areas of Research in WASCAL
WASCAL research system lies in a transdisciplinary approach with climate science, biophysical and socioeconomics programs as key pillars supported by a regional observation network and a data center.
Unique Value of WASCAL Research Operations
WASCAL Competence Centre is a unique transdisciplinary science-based climate and environmental service center whose scope of intervention, targets the diversity of agroecological zones of West Africa.
Role of WASCAL in the Fight Against Climate Change in West Africa
WASCAL implements a threefold strategy:
- To contribute to the emergence of the new generation of climate change experts through training and capacity strengthening.
- To roll out innovative impact-oriented research programs.
- To provide demand-driven and science-based climate and environmental services to policy makers and other key stakeholders.
Function of the Capacity Building Department
To facilitate academic education amongst 12 West African universities in collaboration with German institutions through the Graduate Studies Programme (GSP), and In-service Training.
Key Objectives of the Department
- To train Doctoral and Master’s degree students in climate change thematic areas.
- To strengthen relevant areas of existing human capacity of member countries to allow them participate in the on-going global discourse on climate change and respond to current and future adaptation or mitigation challenges.
- To develop capacities to assess the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies. To promote an operational approach to knowledge in the field of climate change through case studies and strategies for better technological absorption in the area of the Green Economy
WASCAL Capacity Building Department
- Graduate Studies Programme (DRP) comprising Doctoral Research Programme and Master Research Programme
- Thesis Grant
- In-service training (Seminars, Workshops & Visiting Scholar programmes & Building Local Capacity).
