The IPBES Fellowship Programme

Become an IPBES fellow! 

There are no open calls for becoming an IPBES fellow now. For those who have applied to become a fellow in the task force on scenarios and models or for the methodological assessment on monitoring biodiversity and nature's contributions to people ("monitoring assessment"), you may expect to hear back on the results of the selection process in April 2024.

The IPBES Fellowship Programme

The IPBES fellowship programme provides an opportunity for outstanding early-career individuals from all backgrounds and disciplines working on biodiversity and ecosystem services to participate in IPBES assessments. The fellows gain first-hand experience in participating in major multidisciplinary scientific assessments while working with, and being mentored by, leading experts. The programme is an integral part of IPBES work on capacity-building, and aims at developing the capacities of fellows in undertaking assessments, thus creating a pool of experts suited for contributing to future assessments and promoting the work of IPBES in their home countries and institutions.

Benefits of being an IPBES fellow

Fellows selected to take part in the programme will participate in the production of one of the chapters of their assessment, taking part in author and chapter meetings together with the rest of the experts undertaking the assessment. Fellows will also be invited to participate in capacity-building workshops bringing together fellows across all ongoing assessments to share experiences and learn about key cross-cutting and assessment specific topics.

Being an IPBES fellow means being part of a multidisciplinary and multicultural group of outstanding early-career individuals sharing an ambition to contribute to improving the science-policy interface of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Throught the programme, fellows:

• Get hands-on experience in working in multidisciplinary teams to produce major scientific assessments
• Work with, learn from and get to know internationally leading experts from all over the world
• Learn about the interface between science and policy on biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Receive training and mentoring
• Connect with other outstanding early-career experts  
• Expanded their social and professional network
• Get the opportunity to participate in joint projects and publications

What is the role and responsibility of fellows within an assessment?

• Fellows are an integral part of the IPBES assessment chapters and they collaborate with the coordinating lead authors (CLAs) and lead authors (LAs) in developing sections or parts of the chapters
• Fellows receive training to gain in-depth understanding of the IPBES assessment process
• Fellows will be paired up with a mentor for the assessment period
• Fellows are expected to participate in the author meetings and training workshops

Mentorship

As part of the programme, fellows are paired up with a senior expert in their assessment that will act as a mentor for the fellow for the duration of their fellowship. There are no limits on the content of the collaboration between mentors and fellows and there are a number of examples of fellows and mentors working together on joint projects, publications and funding applications beyond the scope of their collaboration under the IPBES assessment.

Being a mentor is an excellent opportunity for IPBES experts to get to know, work with and learn from a group of bright early-career scholars from all over the world.  In the words of Eduardo Brondizio, mentor and co-chair of IPBES global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services, on being a mentor: "You end up learning far more than you end up contributing, to be honest."

Benefits of hosting an IPBES fellow

The fellowship programme is a great opportunity for organisations to contribute to the work of IPBES. Institutions hosting IPBES fellows directly support the implementation of the IPBES work programme by allowing the fellows to spend up to 15 % of their working time on IPBES. The programme also offers an excellent opportunity for organisations seeking to strengthen the capacities of their early-career experts/researchers on working on international biodiversity assessments and contributing to intergovernmental policy processes.

Institutions and organisations that are interested in supporting the fellowship programme can do so by:  

• Nominating their outstanding early-career experts/researchers to participate in IPBES as fellows in response to calls made by the secretariat
• Supporting fellows' participation to meetings and workshops; and
• Arranging or supporting activities, in collaboration or dialogue with the capacity-building task force, for fellows or alumni

IPBES Fellowship Alumni Network

The first cohort of fellows graduated from the fellowship programme with the approval of the summaries for policy makers of the assessment on land-degradation and restoration and the regional assessments on biodiversity and ecosystem services of Africa, the Americas, The Asia Pacific and Europe and Central Asia in March 2018.

The IPBES Fellowship Alumni are an important resource for IPBES, both as a pool of experts for upcoming assessments, mentors and resource persons for new cohorts of fellows, and as ambassadors for IPBES in their local institutions and countries.

Represented in all UN regions, the IPBES Fellowship Alumni represent a "community of practice" working together to mobilize resources and expertise to develop cross-cultural collaborations and support IPBES's mission, to strengthen knowledge foundations for better policy through science, for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

Support

The fellowship programme is an unpaid scheme in which selected fellows are expected to work pro bono, as all other IPBES experts. Expenses for attending selected meetings will be covered for fellows from developing countries and countries with economies in transition in accordance with UN rules. Fellows from developed countries are expected to cover their own expenses and are encouraged to seek support from their home institutions.

Nomination and selection process

You can read about the process for nomination and selection of IPBES fellows in this document.

List of fellows and alumni