FA(ST)2Africa on site: Climate research, education, and partnerships in West Africa

Parched soils, shifting rainfall patterns, and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events shape everyday life in many parts of West Africa. What is modeled, simulated, and analyzed in climate models has long since become reality on the ground—directly affecting agriculture, water availability, and societal stability.

Against this backdrop, Dr. Marlon Maranan, project coordinator of FA(ST)2Africa, traveled to West Africa in December 2025. As part of the NetCDA project (German Network for Academic Training on Climate Change Adaptation in Africa), funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, he visited partner institutions in Akure and participated in a NetCDA strategic workshop in Lomé. The aim of the trip was to further develop academic training formats, deepen scientific cooperation, and strengthen joint strategies for long-term capacity building in the field of climate adaptation. Direct exchanges with highly motivated and excellently trained early-career researchers on site left Dr. Maranan both reflective and optimistic. “Traveling to West Africa often means confronting the impacts of climate change directly. However, interacting with motivated young scientists and doctoral researchers repeatedly gives me the sense that they are ready for the major challenges and transformations ahead,” explained Dr. Maranan, a meteorologist at the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

With the FA(ST)2Africa short-term fellowships for international researchers as well as administrative staff from universities or other relevant institutions, KIT sends a strong signal in support of expanding its strategic partnerships with the African continent. The fellowship program enables KIT members to invite excellent researchers or administrative personnel from Sub-Saharan Africa to Karlsruhe for stays of one to three months.

The program supports research stays that help initiate or deepen joint projects in research and teaching. For example through pilot studies, proposal drafts, or the joint publication of key research results. In addition, administrative staff may be invited if they are interested in contributing to KIT’s efforts to expand strategic partnerships with institutions in Africa.

Eligible for nomination are PhD-holding researchers with an outstanding academic profile and proven experience in international collaboration. For administrative staff, their current position and their local networks are of particular interest. Candidates must have lived in a Sub-Saharan African country for at least five years and must not hold a permanent employment contract in Germany at the time of selection.

Only KIT staff members who are actively involved in the FA(ST)2Africa project are entitled to submit nominations. Direct applications from individuals in Africa are not possible.

Selection is carried out by an interdisciplinary committee based on scientific excellence, innovation potential, and prospects for sustainable cooperation. Up to eight fellowships are available, each with a duration of one to three months or, in the case of administrative staff, one to two weeks.

Details about the program

Next Deadline: December 15, 2025 

Contact and Submission: fast2africa∂intl kit edu

Ten years after the Paris Climate Agreement, international climate policy faces a new test. At the UN Climate Conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil, researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are contributing their expertise, among them Prof. Harald Kunstmann, Head of the Regional Climate Systems Department at the KIT Campus Alpin in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Since 2015, he has been actively involved in the annual climate conferences.

Together with partner institutions, Kunstmann is organizing the side event "Early Warning, Anticipatory Action and Risk Insurance for Proactive Disaster Management" on 12 November 2025. The event aims to highlight current advancements and opportunities in forecasting hydrometeorological extremes such as droughts, heatwaves, and floods, with a particular focus on the African continent. The session was developed in the now well-established “co-design” approach across continents. “We are experts in scientific method development, but of course our African colleagues are the experts on the ground. Together we form highly complementary teams when it comes to implementing early warning systems,” Kunstmann explains.

The event will spotlight progress in seasonal climate prediction. In his presentation "Early Warning for Droughts with Subseasonal to Seasonal Predictions: Current Achievements and Regional Co-design in Africa," Kunstmann will showcase recent research demonstrating how improved forecasting models can help identify droughts early on. “We are increasingly able to predict anomalies in temperature or precipitation up to seven months in advance; not to the exact day, but we can indicate whether a month is likely to be warmer, cooler, wetter, or drier overall,” he says. “Especially in tropical regions, this has become increasingly feasible. With statistical methods and artificial intelligence, we can significantly improve the reliability of raw forecasts and thus make an important contribution to decision-making.”

For Kunstmann, there is no doubt that participating in COP30 is worthwhile: “Parallel to the diplomatic and political negotiations, the COP is a large exhibition where cutting-edge knowledge is exchanged, where we can learn from one another, and where new climate protection measures are launched. It is the only platform where researchers, NGOs, businesses, and policymakers come together. The dynamics this creates have been a driver of many positive developments at past COPs.”

Reflecting on recent developments in climate research, Kunstmann highlights the improved availability of climate data as a milestone of the past decade: “Open access to climate data through the European Copernicus Programme has significantly advanced research. These data form the basis for numerous analyses and projections on weather extremes or water availability and create a shared knowledge foundation for international cooperation.”

Kunstmann’s work and that of his team are closely aligned with the goals of the KIT project FA(ST)2Africa, which seeks to strengthen and expand cooperation with partner institutions in Africa. Together, the project aims to develop strategies to address climate, water, and energy challenges in a practical and regionally specific manner.

Other KIT researchers, including Prof. Joaquim Pinto and Prof. Andreas Fink from the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Tropospheric Research (IMK-TRO), also emphasize the progress made over the past ten years. “Climate research has significantly deepened its methodological and conceptual understanding of the Earth system,” says Pinto. “Today, Earth system models achieve kilometer-scale resolution and provide more precise simulations of heavy rainfall, flash floods, or storm intensities.” Fink adds: “We now know much more about the climate system—and there is no all-clear. We have identified several potential tipping points more clearly and assessed their interactions. No one can claim ignorance of these risks.”

Ten years after the Paris Agreement, one thing is clear: our understanding of climate processes has grown, so has our responsibility. Through initiatives like FA(ST)2Africa and the commitment of its researchers, KIT contributes to transforming scientific insights into actionable strategies and strengthening global cooperation for climate protection.