Master Programme Climate Change and Marine Sciences

The Atlantic Technical University, Cabo Verde, hosts the Master Research Programme on Climate Change & Marine Sciences (MRP-CCMS) under the Capacity Building Programme of the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), with funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research( BMBF).

WASCAL is a wholly West African international organization with focus on academic and transdisciplinary research, building graduate-level scientific capacity and serving policy makers in West Africa with science-based advice on adaptation to climate change impacts and land use management. It cooperates with many agencies and universities in the region, providing a knowledge platform of excellence for its partners.

WASCAL is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany and its 11 West African member countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, The Gambia and Togo).

WASCAL’s mission is to provide information and knowledge services at the local, national and regional levels to West African member countries to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change. We do this through capacity building support to young West African scholars in fields of climate, natural and social sciences and by strengthening the regional universities deliver climate and environmental services in member countries.

The Master’s Research Programme on Climate Change & Marine Sciences of the Atlantic Technical University is implemented in close cooperation with the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the University of Kiel and the Thünen Institute, as German partner institutions and with the National Institute for Fishery Development (INDP) as the Cabo Verdean partner institution. This consortium is well suited to provide needed scientific and academic skills in climate, marine sciences and management both on an international and on a regional level in West Africa, in a climate change context. The proposed Master Research Programme will adequately prepare West African students for subsequent post-graduate studies or professional careers as managers or experts in industry, consultancy, governmental agencies etc.

WASCAL MRP opening at the Atlantic Technical University for the first Master’s Research Programme on Climate Change & Marine Sciences for the 2019-2020 academic year comes off this 28th November 2019 at the University.

The Programme includes:

1. Four months of Language Proficiency courses in English Language for Francophones and Lusophones at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana; and French Language for Anglophones, at the University of Lomé, Togo.
2. Three semesters of joint Master courses related to marine sciences, coastal and marine management and climate change at the Atlantic Technical University (including national and international lecturers);
3. Shipboard training with a local research vessel and a German international research vessel (pending availability and sponsoring) for training on ocean observation data collection and data collection for individual student research projects (field training and research projects will be supported by the Ocean Science Centre Mindelo [OSCM]);
4. Three weeks of scientific trip to the German partner institutions;

ELIGIBILITY

• Be citizen of a WASCAL member country (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo); other ECOWAS member countries may be admitted without scholarship on an availability basis;
• Hold a Bachelor’s Degree in one of the following fields or any other related fields: Biological Sciences, Oceanography, Geography, Sciences of the Atmosphere;
• Have at least an intermediate level in English language.