Scientific and Research Officers in ICRISAT

Scientific Officer – Malawi

ICRISAT in partnership with ILRI and SSLLP seeks application for the position of Scientific Officer for the project on

Improved Livelihoods through Sustainable Intensification and Diversification of Market Oriented Crop Livestock Systems (CLIM2 Project). This position is based in Blantyre, Malawi.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. ICRISAT and its partners help empower those living in the semi-arid tropics, especially smallholder farmers, to overcome poverty, hunger, malnutrition and a degraded environment through more efficient and profitable agriculture.

ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT, established in 1972, is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. For more details, see www.icrisat.org.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Small Scale Livestock & Livelihoods Program (SSLLP) are partnering in an EU funded project under the grant component of Farm Income Diversification Program (FIDP). The project aims at increasing income and livelihoods for smallholders, rural poor, youth and women through sustainable intensification and diversification of plant and animal production. Through an Innovation Platform approach the project will:

1. Improve farmers’ access to resources, technologies, information and markets
2. Increase production and productivity of smallholder crop-livestock farming systems by identifying and adopting suitable technologies, and management and marketing practices.
3. Improve value chains at all levels through targeted capacity-building and stimulation of micro, small and medium scale enterprises.

Scope of work

The Scientific Officer (SO) position requires a qualified Socio-Economist with agribusiness knowledge and strong facilitation and project management skills. The SO will be key for establishing and facilitating Innovation Platforms (IPs) and develop and implement agro-business plans around crop and livestock production. Specific fields of work include coordination, facilitation and research support in order to:

Responsibilities: 

• Coordinate on-farm activities of ICRISAT, SSLLP and ILRI on the ground and communicate activities among the wider project stakeholders
• Supervise implementation of on-farm project activities and associated data requisition through regular field visits and document findings
• Support creation and monitoring of IPs, broker information, knowledge, contacts, initiatives, partnerships among farmers, private sector, government support services, development community
• Organize and facilitate capacity development and training of IP members, with specific emphasis on farmers
• Coordinate, implement and document multi-stakeholder meetings, coordinate visits of researchers and support data collection
• Clear and timely communications that carry the momentum of activities and support instant learning and planning
• Report writing

Educational Qualifications:

 MSc (Agricultural Economics; Rural Sociology; Communication Sciences; Development Studies or related discipline)

Other Skills and Requirements:

• Excellent communication and facilitation skills, strong ability in networking with multiple actors, private sectors, NGOs, government, are crucial.
• Knowledge of smallholder crop livestock production, notably technologies and market development, collective action, institutional development, innovation systems, climate variability and change in the agro-ecological zones of Southern Malawi.
• Minimum of five years post graduate experience in research and/or development. Practical experience in stakeholder engagement and value chain development would be advantageous.
• Strong organizational skills, client orientation and an ability to work effectively in multicultural and multidisciplinary teams.
• English language (spoken and written) is a requirement, local language is an advantage.
• Conversant with computers and related statistical software (SPSS, Excel, STATA, etc)
• Capable of working with limited supervision and self-motivated
• The position will be based in Blantyre city and requires frequent traveling. Driving license is required.

General:

This is a Nationally Recruited Staff position for two years and renewable based on the performance of the incumbent and funding availability, and the Institute’s continuing need for the position.

How to apply:

Applicants should apply on or before 29-March-2018, with latest Curriculum Vitae, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about your professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted.

Please CLICK HERE to submit your application.

Research Associate – Genomics and Molecular Breeding (3 positions)

ICRISAT seeks applications for the position of Research Associate. These positions (3) are based at ICRISAT Headquarters, Patancheru, Telangana, India.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. ICRISAT and its partners help empower those living in the semi-arid tropics, especially smallholder farmers, to overcome poverty, hunger, malnutrition and a degraded environment through more efficient and profitable agriculture.

ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT, established in 1972, is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. For more details, see www.icrisat.org.

Responsibilities:

• Genetic / genomic analyses of high-throughput genotyping / sequencing and phenotypic data for trait dissection and molecular breeding
• Develop SSR/SNP assays for high throughput screening of breeding material
• Utilizing genomic information for breeding
• Processing, analysing, and archiving genomic and phenotypic data sets, conducting analyses, interpreting findings, and compiling of results and writing reports,
• Assist in training breeders of the national agricultural research system
• Any other work assigned by the supervisor

Requirements:

• PhD in Biotechnology/ Plant Science/ Genetics/ Plant Breeding preferably with experience of genomics applied to crop improvement together with good knowledge of genetics, genomics and plant breeding.
• Preference will be given to candidate with working experience on genomics and marker development.
• Good team player in cross-functional environments with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

General:
This is a Consolidated Position for three years, renewable based on the performance of the incumbent, funding availability and the Institute’s continuing need for the position. 

How to apply:

Applicants should apply on or before 31 March 2018, with latest Curriculum Vitae, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about your professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted.

Please CLICK HERE to submit your application.

Senior Research Fellow (2 positions)

ICRISAT is seeking applications from candidates from the Indian Nationals, for the Senior Research Fellow positions (2). The incumbents will be based at ICRISAT Headquarters at Patancheru, Telangana State, India.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. ICRISAT and its partners help empower those living in the semi-arid tropics, especially smallholder farmers, to overcome poverty, hunger, malnutrition and a degraded environment through more efficient and profitable agriculture.

ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT, established in 1972, is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. For more details, see www.icrisat.org.

Responsibilities:

• Process and analyse sequencing data from Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platforms
• Use a variety of bioinformatics tools to analyse and manipulate whole genome resequencing data
• Expression studies using RNA-Seq data, gene ontology and metabolic pathway analysis
• Compilation of results and writing reports

Requirements:

• Master’s degree in the area of Computational Genomics/Computational Biology/Computer Science or similar, with minimum 2 years of research experience and at least one year in NGS data analysis
• Sound knowledge of genomics and molecular biology is must
• Proficient in any one of the programming/scripting in languages: Python, Perl, PHP, R, Shell Scripting. Must be experienced in working on Linux and CLI environment

Competencies:

• Ability to work as team as well as independently with minimal support
• Fluency in spoken and written English is essential

General:
This is a Consolidated position for two years, renewable based on the performance of the incumbent, funding availability and the Institute’s continuing need for the position. 

How to apply:

Applicants should apply on or before 25 March 2018, with latest Curriculum Vitae, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about your professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted.

Please CLICK HERE to submit your application.