Call for WACREN Climate Leadership, Innovation, Mentorship & Bridging (CLIMB) Champions
Call for Climate Champions
WACREN WACREN Climate Leadership, Innovation, Mentorship & Bridging (CLIMB) Champions
The WACREN Climate Leadership, Innovation, Mentorship & Bridging (CLIMB) is a specialised community forum that connects doctoral researchers in West and Central Africa to the region's data and computing infrastructure, and to international platforms where their work can gain visibility and follow-on funding. It launched at the 10th AfriGEO Symposium in Abuja, with support from the European Commission under the AfricaConnect4 project.
WACREN is now inviting applications to join the network as CLIMB Champions.
About the CLIMB
CLIMB will bring together 60 doctoral fellows, 20 each in Climate, Agriculture and Health. Fellows and champions work across borders and disciplines, and have a voice in how the network is run. It is governed jointly by WACREN, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), AfriGEO and the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adjusted Land Use (WASCAL).
Fellows and champions will benefit from:
- Shared access to WACREN's regional data and computing infrastructure, including WMO-compliant climate monitoring, satellite data access and federated high-performance computing.
- A cross-border peer community of doctoral researchers across countries and disciplines.
- Joint research initiatives with GEO, AfriGEO and WASCAL, turning real-time climate data into predictive models and decision-support tools for agriculture, water resources, energy and health.
- International visibility through WACREN-hosted side events at major forums, starting with COP31 in Antalya in November 2026 and continuing through the GEO Symposium and Plenary cycle.
Who is a CLIMB Champion?
At least 20 outstanding fellows and workshop alumni will be recognised as CLIMB Champions: regional ambassadors for climate data and for research and education network infrastructure. Champions will:
- Promote access to climate data, open science and FAIR data practices in their institutions
- Connect local research needs to CLIMB and WACREN's regional infrastructure
- Take part in the mentorship programme and represent the network at regional and international events
- Share and amplify climate research from West and Central Africa
Who can apply?
- Doctoral researchers working on climate, agriculture or health in WACREN's member countries
- WASCAL doctoral alumni
How to apply
Submit your application through this Indico page by November 30, 2026. Please include:
- Short statement of motivation
- CV
- Research summary, discipline (Climate / Agriculture / Health), and institution
- Any other required document