Request for Applications: ITTO Fellowship Programme

The goal is to promote the sustainable management of tropical forests, the efficient use and processing of tropical timber and better economic information about the international trade in tropical timber.

Objective

• To develop human resources and enhance professional expertise in member countries in tropical forestry, tropical timber industries and related disciplines, with a view to promoting sustainable management of tropical forests, efficient utilization and processing of tropical timber, and better economic information on the international trade in tropical timber, aligned to the International Tropical Timber Organization’s (ITTO) Strategic Action Plan (SAP) 2022-2026, climate change mitigation and adaptation, the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.

Priority Areas

• The eligible activities will aim at developing human resources and professional expertise in one or more of the following areas:
  • Promote good governance and enabling policy frameworks for strengthening SFM and related trade, and enhancing SFM financing and investment;
  • Increase the contribution of tropical forests to national and local economies, including through international trade and legal and sustainable supply chains;
  • Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in tropical timber producing forests;
  • Reduce tropical deforestation and forest degradation and enhance the provision of environmental goods and services;
  • Improve the quality and availability of information on tropical forests, forest product markets and trade; and
  • Build and develop human resource capacity to implement SFM and increase trade in forest goods and services from sustainably managed forests.

Funding Information

• The maximum amount for a fellowship award is US$10,000. The ITTO Fellowship Award provides tuition/training/conference fees, transportation fees, daily subsistence allowance, book allowance and other allowances.
• For post-graduate studies, only a partial tuition fee or a small research grant can be provided.
• Approved Fellowship Awards are non-transferable to other programmes or institutions.

Eligible Activities

• Participation in international/regional conferences, short term training courses, training internships at industries, research and educational institutions, study tours, and lecture/demonstration tours;
• Technical document preparation, publication and dissemination, such as manuals, monographs and short videos/documentaries;
• Small grants for post graduate studies.

Eligibility Criteria

• Only nationals of ITTO Member countries are eligible to apply.
• Awards are to be made to individuals not to institutions.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Previous ITTO Fellowship awardees are not eligible to apply for an ITTO Fellowship, within two years of receiving an award and submitting to the Secretariat a final report on the activity for which the award was made.

Selection Criteria

• Fellowship applications will be assessed against the following selection criteria:
  • Consistency of the proposed activity with the Programme’s objective and priority areas;
  • Qualifications of the applicant to undertake the proposed Fellowship activity;
  • The potential of the skills and knowledge acquired or advanced under the Fellowship activity to lead to wider applications and benefits nationally and internationally;
  • Reasonableness of costs in relation to the proposed Fellowship activity.
• Additional consideration will be given to:
  • Geographic and gender balance;
  • Balance among the ITTO priority areas;
  • Competency in the language in which the training will be given, where applicable (e.g. courses, conferences, study tours).

Application Requirements

• Applicants must attach the following documents in PDF file when submitting applications:
  • Scanned copies of two letters of recommendation signed by referees
  • Official letter(s) of acceptance from host institutions
• Provide Supporting documents for the following:
  • Short-term training courses and training internships: documents showing the course description and the course fees
  • Conferences: documents showing the conference description and the conference fees, and an abstract of the paper or a full paper if the applicant is presenting a paper
  • Study tours and lecture/demonstration tours: a detailed schedule of visit and pro-forma invoices of major items of expenses
  • Technical document preparation, publication and dissemination: an outline of the technical document or a draft of the document, and pro-forma invoices for printing and other budgeted items
  • Post-graduate studies: a brief research proposal and documents showing the programme description, the tuition fees and other major items of expenses
  • Traveling by air: documents showing airfare (economy class), such as a pro-forma invoice
  • Visa fee and airport tax: supporting documents showing the costs for the visa fee and airport tax
  • Travelling on land: supporting documents showing the costs for car rental, approximate distance for travelling between the places of visits, the costs for train/bus, etc
  • For those who are non-native speakers of the language to be used in the fellowship activity: a certificate indicating proficiency in the language.

For more information, visit ITTO.