STEP UP! Fellowship programme for early career scientists

As part of the STEP UP! Fellowship programme run on a 2-year cycle, the Deutscher Wetterdienst awards fellowships to early career scientists to work on a research project during a guest stay at the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) at the ECMWF site in Bonn. The Early Career Fellows will work together with experienced scientists from different teams of the ECMWF and with CESOC.

During their stay, the Early Career Fellows are assigned a supervisor who provides support in all matters of personal and professional development and integrates the Fellow into the communication and know-how exchange processes of the Centre. In addition, the Early Career Fellows receive scientific support through a mentorship with one of the institutions of the Center for Earth System Observation and Computational Analysis (CESOC), i.e. the universities of Bonn and Cologne and Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ).
An important component of the STEP UP! Fellowship programme is the development of professional competencies. The programme therefore includes a further education programme, which is financed by the DWD. Besides participation in one (international) science conference per year, the further education programme offers specialist training units and job shadowing at the DWD. The specific content of the further education modules is coordinated individually in line with the specialist focus of the Fellow’s research activity.

In order to enhance exchange and networking, a guidance programme is planned with half-day events at the beginning, half-time and conclusion of the Fellowship, bringing together all stakeholders of the project and guests of the participating project parties.