JRC offers mentoring opportunity for refugee scientists

The JRC today launches a call inviting junior refugee scientists to apply for a European training and mentoring programme.

The initiative will offer participants the opportunity to pursue activities in their field of expertise and help them build up work experience, qualifications and contacts for potential future employment in Europe.

Each participant will be paired with a JRC mentor and take part in research-focused training, as well as a skills and career development workshop run in collaboration with the Global Young Academy.

The programme will provide a first-hand introduction to the JRC's scientific work and the European research context.

Participants will work with their mentor to identify possibilities for future scientific support, based on mutually agreed individual needs.

This initiative is aimed at junior refugee scientists and researchers based in Europe with the following:

• At least a master’s degree in a relevant scientific/research field;
• Less than five years research experience;
• A residence permit for Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands or Spain (asylum/refugee status);
• A working level of English.

Applications close on 6 December 2018.

The 3-day training is planned across the JRC's sites in Europe (depending on the participant's area of expertise) in February, March or April of 2019.

The workshop is expected to take place in Italy, in March or April of 2019.

To apply, please send your CV and an explanatory letter or email to:

JRC-REFUGEE-SCIENTISTSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (JRC-REFUGEE-SCIENTISTS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Background

This year's programme follows a successful pilot project in 2017, where refugee scientists from Syria, Ethiopia and Iraq spent a week with the JRC, learning more about our work in general, and in their areas of expertise, such as consumer product safety or land resources.

Participants found the lab visits and direct interaction with JRC researchers particularly useful in allowing them to compare their skills to the requirements of related work in Europe.

They urged the JRC to continue with the mentoring programme and to reach out to other scientists.

The scheme is in line with the efforts of the EU (most notably through the science4refugees initiative), academia and NGOs to help refugee scientists and researchers to continue their scientific work, develop their skills, and to connect to other European researchers.

Related Content

More information on the training and mentoring initiative for junior refugee scientists