National Associate Scientist - BOLD project
ICARDA, India

Working closely with the Project Lead, the National Associate Scientist will support the Project Lead in implementing research for development activities outlined in the bilateral project ‘BOLD Augmenting and Upscaling CWR-derived Grasspea Elites for Climate Resilience in Farmers’ Fields’ funded by the Crop Trust and will be responsible for ensuring all the activities implemented by partners in time, collect and analyze the data, and prepare technical report. He/she will also be responsible for communication with headquarters and the Crop Trust for technical matters and reports.

Reports to: Project Lead

Location: Delhi, India

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is a treaty-based international non-profit research organization supported by CGIAR.

ICARDA’s mission is to reduce poverty, enhance food, water, and nutritional security, as well as environmental health in the face of global challenges including climate change. We do this through innovative science, strategic partnerships, linking research to development and capacity development that take into account gender equality and the role of youth in transforming the dry areas. ICARDA works in partnership with governments, universities, civil society, national agricultural research organization, other CGIAR Research Centers, and the private sector. With its temporary Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, ICARDA operates in regional and country offices across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. For more information: www.icarda.org

All CGIAR Centers are currently engaged into a reform process (One CGIAR’) that will help ICARDA and CGIAR achieve better impact through more strategically integrated research, unified governance, an integrated structure and new research modalities across participating Research Centers. This transformation is supported by CGIAR donors who have committed to increased funding as a result of these reforms.

• Evaluate CWR- and landrace-derived grasspea and develop new varieties based on elite CWR-derived lines through participatory evaluation.
• Characterize key genebank materials for the target traits by partner genebanks of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.
• Conduct participatory evaluations of pre-breeding lines with farmers in collaboration with NARS partners.
• Make characterization and evaluation data available online.
• Collaborate with headquarters’ scientists, national partners and FLRP scientists associated with grasspea to ensure the implementation of research activities outlined in the project
• Data management, statistical analysis and interpretation of results generated from various experiments
• Prepare manuscripts for publication in reputed journals, technical bulletins, and training materials envisaged in the project
• Prepare technical report and update research outputs in MEL.
• Assist in organizing workshops, farmers field days, trainings, and developing different training materials including power point presentation.
• Collect the most interesting results from the project and provide them back to ICARDA and the Crop Trust communication team.
• Represent ICARDA in regional and international fora.
• Perform any other duties as required by Regional Coordinator.

Requirements

• PhD in plant breeding, plant genetics or related scientific fields from a reputed agricultural university
• At least 5 years’ experience in breeding crops preferably legumes

• Proven record of quality research publications in international journals
• Experience in data management, field experimentation, statistical analysis and result interpretation
• Experience in providing training to young scientists in the field of plant breeding, seed production and on-farm demonstration
• Proven record of managerial, team-building, and supervisory skills in field experiments and on-farm demonstrations
• Well versed in computer programs and in-depth knowledge of statistical packages
• Excellent communication skills in spoken and written English and Hindi
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural work environment

Benefits

This is a nationally recruited position available for Indian nationals for which ICARDA offers an attractive compensation package including a competitive salary, medical insurance, 30 days of annual leave, five months’ maternity leave, and 15 days’ paternity leave.

The successful candidate will be offered a contract of 3 years, of which the first 12 months will be a probationary period. The contract will be renewable

Job Rewards and Benefits