Call for early career professional participants: Join us in Jeju, Republic of Korea, for APN's Proposal Development Training Workshop

The APN Secretariat is now welcoming applications from early career professionals from Temperate East Asia, with a background in marine and freshwater ecosystems! Join APN's Proposal Development Training Workshop in Jeju, Republic of Korea (2-6 June), to gain hands-on experience in developing collaborative regional research proposals for funding success.

With the theme "Innovative Knowledge and Climate-Resilient Solutions for Sustainable Resource Management and Plastic Pollution Mitigation in Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems", the APN Secretariat is pleased to announce its Proposal Development Training Workshop (PDTW) in Temperate East Asia to be held from 2-6 June 2025 in Jeju, the Republic of Korea. The TEA-PDTW will advance APN’s strategic research interests and mission to address global change, with a spotlight on the sustainable management of marine and freshwater ecosystems amid rising plastic pollution and climate challenges, which falls under one of the Temperate East Asia subregional priority topics as outlined in the APN Call for Proposals. Through a combination of presentations, group discussions and practical exercises, participants will gain a critical understanding of the field’s complex challenges and opportunities. They will learn how to identify research gaps, develop research questions, design methodologies and create compelling narratives for their proposals.

Coinciding with Jeju Island’s hosting of World Environment Day (WED) 2025 —the first in Korea since 1997— the TEA-PDTW aligns with global efforts to end plastic pollution, bolstered by Jeju’s pioneering ‘2040 Plastic Zero Island’ vision and disposable cup deposit system. Early career participants at the TEA-PDTW will have the opportunity to join the official World Environment Day 2025 events taking place in Jeju in June 2025, with the APN Secretariat team.

Considering limited financial resources and the numbers that can be accommodated for an effective workshop, participants will be selected on a “first come, first served” basis. For this reason, we encourage those interested in submitting their application before the deadline on Friday, 28 March 2025, midnight JST.

Participation

The PDTW is open to early career professionals from Temperate East Asia working in areas related to the workshop’s main theme. For this reason, applicants requiring funding support will only be accepted from early career professionals who are from, living in, and working in APN’s Temperate East Asia member countries: China, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation.

Application Process

Interested persons should complete the mandatory four steps outlined below.

Complete and submit the application form provided with this announcement for the TEA-PDTW on the APN Information System (APNIS).
Submit resume/CV (maximum 2 pages) with minimum details: Full name, Nationality Date of Birth, Gender, Current Affiliation, Education/Employment History.
Submit a short motivation essay (300-400 words). The best essay will address the following questions in a narrative style:

How will this training workshop be important in your career development and what are the expected impacts?
What is your research interest(s)?
What is your motivation for undertaking regional-based Global Change research?
Indicate which of the 3 sub-themes you are interested in (place in order of preference).

Submit a letter of recommendation from your supervisor indicating:

Endorsement to attend the workshop.
How will the training workshop benefit the trainee’s research career?
Commitment and consent as the supervisor of the trainee to encourage the trainee to submit regional-based proposals (to APN or other funding bodies) and/or become engaged in regional-based Global Change research.

Please visit the event announcement on the APN Website for the full application guidance and other relevant participation considerations: https://www.apn-gcr.org/news/call-for-participants-2025-apn-proposal-development-training-workshop-in-the-temperate-east-asian-region/

We would greatly appreciate your support in disseminating this announcement widely with your respective research and professional networks. Thank you in advance for your assistance, and we look forward to welcoming applications from early career professionals in Temperate East Asia.