The time required for the completion of the PhD program is 3 years.

Training components

The following steps are required : English upgrade (see 3. Langage requirements above), classroom courses, and research component.

Intensive Classroom Courses (6 months)

Registered students will take part in six months of intensive course work at IPR/IFRA (Mali).

Contents of the Program : The teaching units or modules are as follows :

i. Introduction to Climate Change ;

ii. Research Methodology and Skills Development (Scientific research methodology, Scientific editing, Communication with rural communities) ;

iii. Statistics and Modeling Tools (Biostatistics, Programming models, Sampling methods, field trials and surveys) ;

iv. Agricultural Production Systems and CC (Agricultural water management, Soil fertility management, Soil conservation and restoration, Integrated pest management, Animal production and range management, Agro-biodiversity management, Production and post harvest technologies) ;

v. Agricultural Markets and Policies (Post harvest processes and supply chain value system, Agricultural policies) ; vi. Modeling of Agro-ecosystems (Development of crop models at the field scale, Application of simulation models to assess climate impact on crop production, Agricultural land use mapping) ;

vii. Technology Innovations in Agricultural Production and,

viii English or French language training

Research component

Every student will carry out research in a common agreed upon location, including the research plan preparation, field work, data analysis, final write up and defense.

  Research Plan Preparation (3 months), during the course-curriculum phase.

  Field Work (maximum 24 months) : The field work can be done in or outside Mali depending on expertise of the supervisor, availability of equipment and accessibility to relevant data.

  Data analysis : (visit to Germany/WASCAL) (maximum 6 months) : During the course of their research, students will visit Germany to use specialized equipment and computing facilities otherwise not available in Mali or in the partner universities. Students may otherwise visit the WASCAL Competence Centre (Burkina Faso).

  Final write up and defense (maximum 7 months) : The final write up of the thesis will be undertaken at the university where the supervisor works or at IPR/IFRA or in the Competence Centre (Burkina Faso). The thesis defense will be conducted in Mali (at IPR/IFRA or at ISFRA).