Making tomorrow’s infrastructure sustainable and resilient requires investing in high calibre research and innovation today. Increasingly complex infrastructure systems of the 21st century require capabilities that can combine knowledge from multiple disciplines, harness the promise of emerging technologies, and bring together insights from the local level. The CDRI Fellowship Programme is designed to develop a global pool of practitioners who represent such capabilities.
The aim of the CDRI Fellowship Programme is to promote research and innovation on disaster resilient infrastructure (DRI). It does this by supporting practitioners, academicians, and community leaders, who are working in related fields. The Fellows will have an opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with their peers from across the world. The Fellowship provides financial aid to support a search for solutions to real-world problems related to DRI. Promising solutions emerging from the Programme will be shared widely and may be taken up for implementation in multiple contexts. Upon successful completion, the Fellows will join the global network of CDRI alumni and participate in alumni events.
Total number of Fellowships
In a year, CDRI will offer up to 30 Fellowships.
Fellowship amount
CDRI offers a lump-sum Fellowship amount up to US$ 10,000 or equivalent. This amount is inclusive of all costs of research, travelling for research and review presentations, institute overheads, taxes, duties, etc., and any applicable tax. However, if the research teams are invited by CDRI to make presentations at conferences, seminars, etc., the cost of travel will be borne by CDRI. The honorarium/overhead of the endorsing institute will be up to fifteen percent (15%), and is included in the above amount.
Duration of the Fellowship
The research projects under the CDRI fellowship should be completed within 12 months from the disbursement of the first instalment of the Fellowship grant. Generally, no extension is granted in the duration of the project, in extraordinary situations, CDRI may consider an extension of project duration for not more than six months. However, there shall be no increase in the Fellowship amount due to extension of the duration of the Fellowship.
Payment of Fellowship
The CDRI Fellowship grant will be a lump-sum amount to be paid in two instalments of 50% each. First instalment will be paid after the applicant(s) is selected for the Fellowship. Second instalment will be paid after a satisfactory level of research work in the second progress review.
Exclusions
The CDRI Fellowship does not intend to sponsor course fee of applicants for their Master or PhD degrees. Instead, CDRI Fellowship will provide a one-time grant for research projects being taken up by any individual or group of researchers, including Master and PhD students, on the topics relevant for disaster resilience infrastructure. The CDRI Fellowship will be in addition to any existing scholarship/fellowship/salary/income of the candidate(s). If applicants/research projects are receiving any funding from other organizations which restricts receipt of any additional fellowship, then the applicants must clarify this issue with the concerned organizations.
The decision of CDRI in the matters of Fellowship Programme shall be final.
Context
The CDRI Fellowship Programme supports research focused on urban, rural or regional contexts, whether it is focused on resilience of existing infrastructure or new infrastructure. The research may focus on risks at the level of asset (e.g. construction technology for components of a power transmission network) or risks at the level of an infrastructure system (e.g. innovative ways to identify vulnerable nodes in a power grid).
Types of risks
The CDRI Fellowship Programme supports research on building resilience of infrastructure to disaster risks emanating from both natural (hydro-meteorological and geophysical hazards) and man-made hazards. The proposed research may look at risks from extreme events as well as slow-onset events including those emanating from the emerging effects of climate change.
Types of infrastructure
The CDRI Fellowship Programme supports research related to resilience of physical infrastructure (e.g. power, telecommunication, roads, railways, and airports), social infrastructure (e.g. schools, hospitals amd community infrastructure), as well as ecological infrastructure (e.g. natural waterways, wetlands, mangroves).
Thematic Areas
Across the sectors mentioned above, the research may focus on any of the following eight thematic areas:
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Governance & Policy
Governance and PolicyThe development of governance and policy arrangements required to enable the integration of disaster and climate resilience concepts in all infrastructure creation.
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Risk Identification & Estimation
Risk identification & EstimationThe identification and estimation of risk to and from infrastructure from large and small hazards, from the macro to micro scales.
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Standards & Certification
Standards & CertificationAdoption of mechanisms required for developing, enforcing, and updating scientific standards and regulations for infrastructure resilience in light of changing technology and risk profile.
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Capacity Development
Capacity Development & Knowledge ExchangeEnabling the exchange and spread of scientifically accurate knowledge enabling the contribution of all stakeholders to building resilience of infrastructure systems.
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Use of Emerging Technology
Use of Emerging TechnologyHarnessing and leveraging the power of technology to address constraints on accuracy, scale, reach and capacity in constructing, operating, and recovering infrastructure systems.
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Recovery & Reconstruction
Recovery & ReconstructionEx-ante development and adoption of mechanisms for assessing losses, estimating needs, and channelling adequate funds to disaster affected areas in a timely manner.
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Financing
FinancingRisk financing strategies for each nation will depend on its capacity, risk appetite, resources, and willingness to manage risk. Appropriate financing can incentivise resilience of infrastructure systems.
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Community-Based Approaches
Community-Based ApproachesBuilding the capacities of local communities to participate in the process of creating and sustaining small-and large-scale infrastructure, so as to enhance disaster and climate resilience of the community and its surrounding infrastructure.
Indicative research topics
The main emphasis of the research should be to address specific real-world problems and search for implementable solutions in infrastructure sectors. Above-mentioned themes provide few indicative research topics to give an idea of the type of research the Programme may support.
Progress review process
Along with every research proposal, applicants will submit a work plan. At the end of each quarter, research teams will submit a self-assessed plan-vs-achievement report. CDRI Secretariat will monitor the plan with respect to the progress achieved. CDRI may also invite research teams, in person or through video conferencing, for a research review meeting which may include a Panel of experts. Following are tentative timelines for review meetings of research projects:Project closure report
After satisfactory performance in the final meeting, and by the end of 12th month, the project team will submit a project closure report. The project team is expected to acknowledge CDRI in the report and all research publications arising from the research. Research teams will also share an electronic copy of such publications with CDRI, which may be published on its Knowledge Portal. Note: Some journals require special permission and payments for publishing in public domains; such cases will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Opportunities for best performing projects and researchers
CDRI may consider further collaboration with the best performing researchers (Fellows). Also, CDRI may consider to upscale the best research projects. Such decisions will be taken based on the inputs from the Panel of experts reviewing the projects, project closure reports, and other factors considered relevant by CDRI.