The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is pleased to announce the initiation of The Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program (Borlaug Fellows Program) for Guyana. The Borlaug Fellows Program offers training and collaborative research opportunities in international agricultural science, leadership and policy. Training venues may include U.S. universities, government agencies, private companies, not-for-profit institutions and international agricultural research centers. Each Fellow will be assigned a mentor who will coordinate the Fellow’s training and will visit the Fellow's home institution in Guyana after completion of the training.

The application deadline for the Borlaug Fellows Program
for Guyana was October 15, 2005.
Application deadlines for 2007 are forthcoming.

• Provide early- to mid-career Guyanese professionals an opportunity to work one-on-one with U.S. scientists in their field of agricultural research specialization at a U.S. university or research center
   
• Enable the Fellow to apply the knowledge gained from this experience in their own research programs and to further Guyana’s agricultural development
   
• Foster increased collaboration and networking between Guyanese and U.S. agricultural scientists

• Guyanese citizens currently working in the fields of agricultural research and/or development
   
• Good working knowledge of the English language
   
• Minimum MSc. degree with three years’ practical experience in the agricultural sciences
   
• Currently employed by a research or development institution in Guyana, with the intent to continue working in Guyana for a minimum of two years following their return from the United States

• Priority research areas: agricultural production, processing and marketing, agronomy, plant pathology, horticulture, plant genetic resources conservation and use, plant breeding, entomology, mycology, microbiology, veterinary sciences, agricultural economics, sustainable agriculture, food safety, sanitary and phytosanitary issues, agricultural biotechnology, and related policy and regulatory issues.
   
• U.S. host institution: to be determined
   
• Participants spend 4-6 weeks in the United States during the 2007-2008 academic year (September-May)
   
• Individual research will be conducted under the supervision of a US faculty or research mentor
   
• Fellows and faculty mentors will participate in a scientific follow-up workshop in Guyana to be held in 2006 (contingent upon availability of funding)

Application deadline: October 15, 2005

For further information and application forms, e-mail BorlaugLAC@usda.gov, or contact:

Program Management Specialist
Program Office – USAID Guyana
100 Young and Duke Sts.
Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana
Tel: (592) 225-7315
Fax: (592) 225-7316
E-mail: cnoble@usaid.gov