Announcement of Opportunity

Announcement of Opportunity TO HOST an IPY International Programme Office

The International Council of Science (ICSU) is pleased to invite offers via National IPY Committees or IPY National Points of Contact to host an International Programme Office (IPO) in support of the International Polar Year 2007-2008.

The function of the of the IPO will be, in conjunction with WMO (World Meteorological Organization) staff, to support the anticipated joint ICSU-WMO IPY committee tasked with the oversight and guidance of the IPY planning and implementation.

It is envisaged that IPO will be required to operate for at least 5 years starting as soon as possible and extending beyond the period of field activities (1 March 2007 – 1 March 2009).

Prospective applicants are requested to send an Expression of Interest via their National IPY Committee or IPY National Point of Contact to Leah Goldfarb at ICSU (address below) not later than 31 August 2004. Detailed offers in the form of a completed template are requested to reach ICSU no later than 30 September 2004.

Background

ICSU and WMO are committed to co-sponsoring an International Polar Year in 2007-2008, which will include major research activities in both polar regions and a substantial range of outreach and education programmes.

The International Planning Group (PG), formed by ICSU in May 2003, has been active in establishing the characteristics defining the Polar Year. It has produced an initial Outline Science Plan and is now developing recommendations for establishing an implementation strategy including outreach and education elements. The PG is currently soliciting comments on the Science Plan, which is available at www.ipy.org; comments should be sent to Cynan Ellis-Evans at jcel@bas.ac.ukby 1 September 2004.

This group will complete its work in September 2004 and will be succeeded before the end of the year by a joint ICSU-WMO IPY committee tasked with taking the planning and implementation activities forward and supporting the organizational structure for IPY.

The IPY Planning Group has identified the urgent need for an International Programme Office, and the February 2004 meeting of the ICSU Executive Board tasked the Planning Group with establishing an IPY IPO at the earliest opportunity.

The WMO as a proposed co-sponsor of IPY also intends to provide administrative support for its IPY activities. It is therefore anticipated that a distributed IPO, shared between ICSU and WMO, will be established.

Functions of the International Programme Office for IPY 2007-2008

Overall;

• To provide active support to the ICSU-WMO joint IPY committee for the central planning, coordination, oversight and guidance.

Specifically;

• To support the meetings and activities of the joint ICSU-WMO IPY committee
• To act as the central Point of Contact for IPY National Committees, related international programmes, and all participating or interested organizations and individual researchers.
• To organize and / or coordinate international meetings and workshops on the IPY.
• To promote the IPY internationally by all appropriate means.
• To coordinate the dissemination and uptake of research outputs across IPY.
• To facilitate the acquisition of funding to sustain the IPY coordination and oversight structure.
• To support the development of outreach and education programmes through development of IPY branding and through coordinating the creation of promotional material.
• The support and maintain the IPY website.

The International Programme Office will also support the joint coordination group by providing the following functions:

• Organization and recording of key meetings
• Central handling of correspondence
• Tracking of action items
• Archiving of key documentation
• Maintenance of an IPY activities database
• Financial management of the central budget
• Maintenance of the IPY website and preparation of newsletters
• Assistance in production of reports and synthesis documents.

The minimum staffing of the IPO is envisaged as an Executive Director, a webmaster / media specialist, and an administrative assistant. In spite of the need to establish the IPO as soon as possible, the position of the Executive Director will be advertised internationally.

IPY National Committees / National IPY Points of Contact are encouraged to submit Expressions of Interest to ICSU by 31 August 2004. The deadline for full offers is 30 September 2004. The latter should provide detail of the offer being made available by using the template provided (as a separate file).

Selection criteria will include:

• Level of scientific overlap between the host organization and IPY and the institution’s reputation and track record.
• Overall attractiveness of the offer including duration, number of positions, and funding level, including in-kind support.
• Earliest start date

Application Form (.rtf, 23 KB)