2017 NF-POGO Shipboard Training Fellowship onboard GEOTRACES GA13-FRidge cruise

General Information

20 Dec 2017 to 1 Feb 2018

The Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) in partnership with the Nippon Foundation, the University of Liverpool, University of Southampton and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) announces a special Fellowship for on-board training on the GEOTRACES North Atlantic ‘FRidge’ Cruise. One berth has been reserved on the cruise for the selected candidate. The programme is designed to promote training and capacity building leading towards a global observation scheme for the oceans.

The GEOTRACES Programme

GEOTRACES is an international programme which aims to improve the understanding of biogeochemical cycles and large-scale distribution of trace elements and their isotopes in the marine environment. Scientists from approximately 35 nations have been involved in the programme, which is designed to study all major ocean basins over the next decade. GEOTRACES’ mission is to identify processes and quantify fluxes that control the distributions of key trace elements and isotopes in the ocean, and to establish the sensitivity of these distributions to changing environmental conditions. More details can be found at www.geotraces.org. GA-13 is the latest UK contribution to GEOTRACES and will take place between December 2017 and February 2018 sailing along the mid-Atlantic Ridge (Figure 1).

The training will consist of an initial phase of 2 weeks based at Liverpool University where the Fellow will learn to measure dissolved oxygen based on the ‘Winkler’ technique. This is a measurement vital to the calibration of the sensor package attached to the water column sampling CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) system that will be used during the cruise to take the water samples. Following that, the Fellow will then receive 2 weeks’ training at PML on the use of a segmented flow, colorimetric, 5 channel nutrient autoanalyser. This system is configured to analyse nitrate, nitrite, silicate, phosphate and ammonium. This will include the preparation of reagents and standards, and the operation of the analyser including basic trouble-shooting. Sampling and handling of the water samples will be included according to the International GO-SHIP protocols. Following the cruise the cruise results will be quality controlled through the computer and final data sets produced and interpreted alongside other ocean variables including salinity and temperature etc. from the cruise.

Priority areas

Not applicable

What is offered

The selected candidate will have the opportunity to visit the University of Liverpool and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in the UK, for one month prior to the start of the cruise to participate in analytical training, and cruise preparation and planning. To sail on the cruise on 20th December 2017 (departing from Southampton), and ending on 1st February 2018 in Guadeloupe. The fellow will help make biogeochemical observations concerned with dissolved oxygen and nutrients. Following the cruise they will spend approximately one additional month at PML, learning to quality control and analyse the results statistically, and interpret them in the context of the cruise scientific aims. The main objectives of the cruise are to map the distribution of trace elements and isotopes along the mid-Atlantic ridge south of the Azores and in particular focus on the processes that govern the size and scale of signals linked to different types of hydrothermal vent site. In addition, via approximately 30 full water column profiles, we can assess how variations in ridge driven mixing may affect the horizontal and vertical mixing of tracers in this region. Core measurements are planned to include dissolved and particulate trace elements, major nutrients, helium and dissolved oxygen. One fellowship is being offered and the successful candidate will be trained in the collection and analysis of water samples for dissolved oxygen and macronutrients (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate and ammonium). Total period of Fellowship: Approx. 20th November 2017 to 1st March 2018. Candidates should be available to participate for the full period.

Application

Who can apply

This fellowship program is open to early scientists, technicians, postgraduate students (PhD or MSc) and Post-doctoral Fellows involved in oceanographic work at centres in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

How to apply

Fellowship applicants should complete and submit electronically the application form, together with a recommendation letter from the parent supervisor and a second recommendation letter from an additional referee. Additionally, the parent supervisor recommendation letter needs to be submitted as a hard copy. If short-listed, the candidate may be asked to undergo an informal telephone/video conferencing interview. Applications and recommendation letters should be written in English and submitted in pdf format. It is recommended that descriptive sections be limited to about 100 - 150 words. Please use font sizes of 10 pt or larger. Only applications that are complete in all respects will be considered for the Fellowship. Please send electronic versions of completed applications and attachments by e-mail to pogoadmin@pml.ac.uk. In addition, mail signed original parent supervisor recommendation letter to: POGO Secretariat Plymouth Marine Laboratory Prospect Place, The Hoe Plymouth Devon PL1 3DH United Kingdom

Review process

1. The fellowship will provide the costs of a round-trip ticket between the home institute of the trainee and UK; travel in the UK between the arrival airport in the UK, Liverpool and Plymouth; subsistence allowance for up to two months’ stay in the UK depending on the particulars of the proposed training (at a rate of 1000 GBP per month, normally for one month before the cruise and one month after the cruise); the flight back to the UK from Guadeloupe; accommodation in UK (to join ship); accommodation in the Guadeloupe (on leaving ship); ship messing fee; seafaring medical and sea survival course. 2. The trainee’s institute will bear all expenses incurred by the fellow in his/her own nation (domestic travel, visa costs, personal insurance etc.), and the host institutes (PML and University of Liverpool) will waive any bench fees that they may normally charge trainees. 3. The host institutions will cover the expenses related to the training itself (such as the cost of consumables or software). 4. POGO assumes no responsibility for compensation in the event of sickness, accident, death or disability of a Fellowship holder, nor does it arrange for insurance of a trainee or reimburse premiums paid therefore. It is the responsibility of the trainee to arrange travel insurance to cover the time taken to travel to the ship and for the subsequent return home, as well as to ensure suitable insurance cover is provided by the parent institute for the duration of the cruise. 5. The trainees are not considered agents or members of the staff of POGO, and shall not be entitled to any privileges, immunities, compensation or reimbursements, except as otherwise provided herein, nor are the trainees authorised to commit POGO to any expenditure or other obligation. 6. The trainee and the supervisors at the parent and host institutes are required to provide a short progress report at the end of the training period, to evaluate the success of the fellowship programme.