Graduate Fellow – Blending multi-source rainfall data

Job Description

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a PhD Graduate Fellow on behalf of International Water Management Institute (IWMI). This is a 6-month fellowship based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

ILRI works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR Research Centres dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. www.ilri.org.

IWMI is an international, research-for-development organization, with offices in 15 countries and a global network of scientists operating in more than 55 countries. IWMI’s work focuses on improving water management at different scales from farm to large basins. For four decades, IWMI’s research results have led to changes in water management that have contributed to social and economic development in many countries. https://www.iwmi.org/ . The office in Addis Ababa covers the East African region and is hosted at ILRI Addis Ababa.

The position:

This fellowship is part of the IWMI’s Digital Innovations for Water Secure Africa project. This fellowship will involve the fellow collaborating with key stakeholders to enhance rainfall datasets by integrating diverse satellite and gauge data, focusing on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The fellow will also be responsible for validating the accuracy of these enhanced rainfall datasets in the Lake Tana sub-basin by utilizing independent rain gauge measurements. Furthermore, the fellow will create a Jupyter notebook to analyze rainfall patterns across various land uses, leveraging available land cover and rainfall products from the Digital Earth Africa (DEA) platform.

Digital Innovations for Water Secure Africa” (DIWASA, in short) is an IWMI flagship project with initial funding for 2020-2023 but a second phase extending till 2027. In the first phase, the project focused on two main components – Water Accounting (at selected basins and continental levels) and Water Resilience (information products for support managing flood and drought risks). This led to the development of multiple water data products and tools. The second phase of DIWASA aims to improve water security across scales (basin, country, and continental level) in Africa through improved availability, access, and application of water data, products, and tools. It focuses on working with stakeholders and Digital Earth Africa to enhance the use of water data, products, and tools to have a more significant impact on water security in Africa. The project primarily focuses on Ethiopia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Zambia. It targets reaching out to up to five more countries, river basin organizations, and continental-level organizations through capacity development and training activities.

Our fellowship program provides a great opportunity for early careers (who are at the beginning or early stages of their career) to gain experience working with earth observation data and products to tackle real-world water challenges. The fellows will get an opportunity to work with a group of researchers with a strong background in remote sensing and hydrology. They will also collaborate with key stakeholders of the DIWASA project, including governmental ministries, universities, and research centers. The fellows will become members of the water accounting network that brings together thousands of experts who apply earth observation to solve water challenges in Africa.

Responsibilities:

1. Integrate multi-source satellite and gauge data to improve remotely sensed rainfall datasets at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
2. Validate the accuracy of the improved rainfall datasets in the Lake Tana sub-basin using independent rain gauge measurements.
3. Develop a Jupyter notebook to analyse rainfall patterns over different land uses using the available land cover and rainfall products on the Digital Earth Africa (DEA) platform.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate should be

1. Enrolled as a PhD candidate in an Ethiopian university.
2. Registered for a PhD degree course in either f water resources engineering, water resources management, hydrology or hydraulics.
3. Experienced in the use of MS office, GIS, and python/R coding.
4. Demonstrated skills in written and verbal communication in English.

Post location: The position will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Fellowship Duration: 6 months.

Terms of appointment and benefits: ILRI will offer a monthly stipend to cover living expenses in the project location, medical insurance, and cover research expenses. The fellow will be co-supervised by academic and IWMI supervisor(s) and receive various capacity development opportunities at ILRI.

How to Apply:

All applications MUST include the following (applications not containing these documents will not be considered):

• a cover letter addressed to the Senior Manager – Capacity Development ILRI, expressing interest in the fellowship position and the motivation. The position title and reference number (REF: ILRI PhD/GF/IWMI/02/2025) should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.
• CV, including names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience.
• academic qualification certificates/transcripts.

Applications must be submitted through this: LINK by clicking on the “APPLY NOW” tab on or before 09th May 2025.

We thank all applicants for their interest in working for IWMI/ILRI. Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training). ILRI also does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.

To find out more about ILRI visit our websites at http://www.ilri.org

To find out more about IWMI visit our websites at https://www.iwmi.org/ .

 ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.