Mentoring programme for young researchers launched in Bangkok

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific

Mentoring programme for young researchers launched in Bangkok in September by UNISDR and Stockholm Environment Institute

Geneva – Last month in Bangkok, a mentoring programme created by UNISDR and the Stockholm Environment Institute trained its first batch of young researchers, most in the mid-20s to mid-30s, in response to a request from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for more peer-reviewed literature by authors from developing countries.

“By focusing on younger experts, this programme is preparing the next generation of IPCC authors,” said Justin Ginnetti, Associate Programme Officer from UNISDR’s Policy and Practices Unit.

He said young academics in developing countries were already conducting useful research, for example on landslide risk management in Indonesia, or drought in east Africa. However, unless the work was published in peer-reviewed academic journals, organizations like the IPCC cannot use their findings.

Mr. Ginnetti was one of five mentors who led the workshop in Bangkok, helping to “polish ideas for papers, create workplans, plan the editing process and provide training to target journals.” He said he would continue mentoring the participants from a distance, through email and Skype. Other mentors were from the Stockholm Environment Institute, United Nations University and the Institute of Development Studies.

He said the sixteen participants were chosen out of more than qualified 110 applicants, based on their research proposals and their relevance to the 2011 Global Assessment Report and the forthcoming IPCC Special Report on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

According to the Policy and Practices Unit, the next workshop is planned for early 2011 in Africa, where there is high demand for more peer-reviewed research on DRR and adaptation.

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