Climate Food and Farming Scholarships 2026: How PhD Students Can Get 14000 USD for Greenhouse Gas Research

If you are a PhD student in a developing country working on agriculture, climate, or food systems and constantly hitting the “we have no budget for that” wall, the 2026 CLIFF-GRADS Programme is worth your full attention.

This is not a generic travel scholarship or a token “capacity building” workshop. The Climate, Food and Farming, Global Research Alliance Development Scholarships (CLIFF-GRADS) offer around 14,000 USD for a 4–6 month research stay at a host institution, focused squarely on agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigation.

Think of it as a turbo boost for your PhD: you keep your current degree program, but you step out for several months to work with a top lab, get your hands on serious equipment, learn methods your home university may only mention in lectures, and build relationships that can shape your career for a decade.

Applications are now open for the 2026 round (Round 7), with a firm deadline of January 11, 2026.

CLIFF-GRADS is a joint initiative of:

• The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA)
• The Global Methane Hub
• The CGIAR Climate Action Program

In plain language: this is a group of organizations that spend their time and money worrying about how agriculture can feed people without cooking the planet. And they are actively looking for early-career scientists from developing countries to train, support, and involve in that work.

If that sounds like you, read on. This scholarship is competitive, but absolutely worth the effort.

CLIFF-GRADS 2026 at a Glance

What This Scholarship Actually Offers You

Let’s strip away the acronyms and get concrete. If you are selected for CLIFF-GRADS 2026, you get 14,000 USD to support a 4–6 month research stay at a host institution that’s doing serious work on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions or carbon storage.

That money is typically used to cover major costs like international travel, local living expenses, possibly research-related expenses, and other stay-related needs. The exact breakdown can vary by host project, but the headline is: you won’t be expected to self-fund your way through this opportunity.

More importantly, you gain three big things that money alone does not buy:

1. Hands-on technical experience
   You get to work directly on GHG measurement, modeling, mitigation, or carbon storage in agricultural systems. That might mean:

   • Learning how to run gas chromatography equipment to measure methane or nitrous oxide from rice paddies.
   • Working with process-based models to simulate soil carbon changes under different crop management conditions.
   • Helping design mitigation scenarios for livestock systems and comparing emissions under different feeding or manure management strategies.

   Instead of just citing methods from papers, you’ll actually know how they work.

2. Access to equipment and methods your home university may not have
   Many universities in developing countries have strong theory but limited lab equipment or field instrumentation. CLIFF-GRADS plugs you into institutions where:

   • Flux towers, chambers, and sensors are already in use.
   • Data processing pipelines for GHG modeling exist and you can learn from people who built them.
   • Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are established and refined.

   Those methods can shape both your PhD and your future projects when you return home.

3. A genuinely international professional network
   You won’t just meet your host supervisor. You’ll meet:

   • Postdocs and senior scientists working in your exact niche.
   • Other CLIFF-GRADS scholars from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and beyond.
   • Researchers embedded in international initiatives that fund and design climate-agriculture projects.

   These are the people who will later write recommendation letters, co-author papers with you, invite you to projects, or send you that postdoc opening before it goes public.

If you use the opportunity well, the 4–6 months you spend at your host lab can dramatically change your research quality, your publication prospects, and your visibility in the climate-agriculture field.

Who Should Apply to CLIFF-GRADS 2026

CLIFF-GRADS is not for everyone. It is quite specifically targeted, and that’s part of why it’s so valuable. You should seriously consider applying if you check most of these boxes.

You are a PhD student from a developing country

First, you must:

• Be from a developing country
• Be currently enrolled in a PhD program at a university in a developing country

That means, for example:

• A Kenyan PhD student in soil science at a Kenyan university.
• A Bangladeshi PhD candidate in agricultural engineering at a Bangladeshi institution.
• A Peruvian student doing a PhD in climate-smart agriculture at a university in Peru.

If you’re originally from a developing country but doing your PhD in Europe, North America, Australia, etc., this particular program is not aimed at you.

Your work touches climate, agriculture, and emissions

The core focus is agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation, including carbon storage in agricultural systems. That can cover a surprising range of fields, for example:

• Measuring methane emissions from rice paddies under different irrigation or fertilizer regimes.
• Modeling nitrous oxide emissions from intensively managed vegetable systems.
• Studying soil organic carbon under agroforestry systems in semi-arid regions.
• Assessing emissions from cattle systems under improved feed or grazing management.
• Evaluating manure management strategies and their emission consequences.
• Designing low-emission cropping systems that maintain yield.

If your PhD is in something like:

• Soil science
• Agronomy
• Animal science
• Agricultural engineering
• Climate science applied to food systems
• Environmental science with a clear agriculture component

you’re probably in the right zone. The key is that your interests and developing expertise align with agricultural GHGs, mitigation, or carbon storage. You don’t need to already be a modeling wizard or a field instrumentation expert, but you should have a plausible connection to this work.

You have not received a CLIFF-GRADS grant before

This program is for new scholars, not repeat participants. If you already had a CLIFF-GRADS award in a previous round, you can’t apply again.

You can handle a 4–6 month research stay abroad

Your PhD supervisor and department need to be okay with you being physically away for several months. In practice:

• You should be far enough along in your PhD that your topic is clear.
• You should not be in the final emergency months of thesis submission.
• Your supervisor should understand that this research stay will strengthen your thesis, not distract from it.

If you’re early in your PhD (say, year 1 or early year 2 in a typical 3–4 year program) this can be perfect: you still have time to incorporate new data, methods, or collaborations into your thesis.

Insider Tips for a Winning CLIFF-GRADS Application

These scholarships are competitive. Here’s how you tilt the odds in your favor.

1. Make your motivation letter irresistibly specific

You have just one page to convince reviewers that:

• You understand what CLIFF-GRADS is about.
• You have a clear research direction.
• This particular research stay will significantly advance your PhD and your career.

Avoid the generic “I’m passionate about climate change and helping farmers.” Everyone says that.

Instead, show that:

• You know which type of GHG issue you’re interested in (e.g., nitrous oxide from maize systems, methane from smallholder dairy, soil carbon in degraded lands).
• You have a concrete idea of the methods or skills you want to gain (e.g., static chamber field measurements, model calibration, stable isotope techniques, etc.).
• You can connect your home context with global knowledge (e.g., how a method used in New Zealand dairy systems can be adapted to dairy systems in Tanzania).

Be precise, not poetic.

2. Show that your PhD and the host research topic are a tight fit

CLIFF-GRADS placements typically match you with a specific research project at a host institution. Reviewers want to see that:

• Your current PhD topic is compatible with that host project.
• The new skills or data from the research stay will feed directly into your thesis, not sit in a separate folder.

If there is a call text with project descriptions (often there is), pick one that fits what you already do, then explain:

“Currently my PhD focuses on X in [your country]. The proposed host project works on Y, which uses methods A and B that I do not have access to. By participating, I will be able to apply A/B to X and generate data that will become Chapters 2 and 3 of my thesis.”

That level of clarity is gold.

3. Get a strong, specific letter from your PhD supervisor

The program requires a letter of support from your supervisor. A weak “To whom it may concern, I support this application” letter will not help you.

Talk with your supervisor early and explain:

• What CLIFF-GRADS is.
• How long you’d be away.
• How the research stay benefits both your thesis and the lab/university.

Encourage your supervisor to mention:

• How long they’ve known you.
• Your technical and academic strengths.
• Why this international placement is timely and important for your PhD.
• Their willingness to integrate the results into your thesis and support you through the stay.

Offer to share a short bullet-point list to make their life easier, but don’t write the letter yourself.

4. Keep your CV laser-focused

You have only one page for your CV. This is not the place to list every conference you ever attended as a listener.

Prioritize:

• Your current PhD topic and field.
• Any publications or manuscripts in progress (be honest about status).
• Technical skills relevant to GHG/agriculture/climate work.
• Relevant field or lab experience.
• Awards, scholarships, or recognitions that indicate you finish what you start.

If you have limited publications (very common for PhD students), emphasize skills and responsibilities. Reviewers understand career stage.

5. Write in clear, simple English

Applications must be in English only. Reviewers are not marking your grammar, but they need to understand you without effort.

• Use short sentences.
• Cut unnecessary jargon.
• Ask a friend or colleague with good English to read your motivation letter and highlight confusing phrases.
• Don’t hide behind big words; clarity reads as confidence.

6. Show how you’ll use the experience when you return

CLIFF-GRADS is about building capacity in developing countries, not just funding travel.

Make it explicit how you will:

• Share what you learn with your home lab or department (e.g., training sessions, seminars, joint experiments).
• Use the new methods or data in follow-up projects or grant applications.
• Stay in touch with your host lab for future collaborations.

Reviewers want to see that this is the start of something, not a one-off adventure.

A Realistic Application Timeline (Working Backward from January 11, 2026)

Treat the January 11, 2026 deadline like a hard exam date. Here’s a practical timeline that won’t leave you stressed and scrambling.

By mid-October 2025

• Read the full call carefully.
• Check your eligibility (developing country, enrolled at a university in a developing country, no previous CLIFF-GRADS award).
• Discuss the idea with your supervisor and get their support in principle.

Late October – mid-November 2025

• Draft your motivation letter.
• Trim your CV down to a sharp one-page version focused on this call.
• Identify which type of host project or research area is the best fit.

Mid-November – early December 2025

• Share your motivation letter with at least two people:
  • One scientific colleague or mentor who understands your field.
  • One person with strong English who can improve clarity.
• Revise based on their feedback.

Early – mid-December 2025

• Ask your supervisor formally for a letter of support and share the deadline.
• Give them a short brief with:
  • The program summary.
  • Why you’re applying.
  • Key points they might mention.
• Confirm they can send you the letter well before New Year.

Late December 2025 – early January 2026

• Finalize all documents into one merged PDF (motivation letter, CV, supervisor letter).
• Complete the online application form carefully.
• Submit at least 3–5 days before January 11 to avoid last-minute internet or platform issues.

If you treat the deadline as January 6 for yourself, you’ll be much calmer if anything needs last-minute fixing.

Required Materials and How to Prepare Them

You must submit everything in one single PDF file, in English. Here’s what that file needs to contain and how to make each part strong.

1. Motivation Letter (1 page)
   This is the heart of your application. Use it to:

   • Introduce your PhD topic in 2–3 precise sentences.
   • Explain your interest in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions / carbon storage.
   • Describe what specific skills or methods you want to gain during the research stay.
   • Show how this stay fits into your thesis plan and your long-term career goals.
   • Briefly mention how you’ll share and apply your new skills when you return.

   Avoid vague claims like “I want to contribute to global food security.” Show exactly how.

2. Academic CV / Resume (1 page)
   Include:

   • Name and contact details.
   • Education (with your current PhD program clearly identified).
   • Main research interests.
   • Technical skills (field methods, lab methods, coding, modeling, etc.).
   • Publications, if any (even under review or in preparation, labeled honestly).
   • Key achievements or scholarships.

3. Letter of Support from Your PhD Supervisor
   This letter should be on institutional letterhead if possible, signed, and clearly show:

   • Their role (PhD supervisor, co-supervisor, etc.).
   • Their assessment of your potential.
   • Why this specific opportunity is suitable at this stage of your PhD.
   • Their support for you being away for 4–6 months.
   • Their commitment to integrating the experience into your PhD work.

Once you have these three pieces, combine them into one PDF file in the order: motivation letter, CV, supervisor letter. Name the file something professional, e.g., CLIFF-GRADS_2026_YourName.pdf.

What Makes a CLIFF-GRADS Application Stand Out

Reviewers are trying to choose candidates who will use this opportunity well and who genuinely align with the program’s goals. Strong applications usually have these features:

Clear alignment with agricultural GHGs and mitigation

The best applications don’t just mention “climate change” in passing. They:

• Clearly define the agricultural system (rice, maize, livestock, agroforestry, etc.).
• Identify the relevant greenhouse gas or carbon component (methane, nitrous oxide, soil carbon stocks).
• Indicate whether they are more focused on measurement, modeling, mitigation options, or carbon storage.

Reviewers should be able to summarize your interest in one sentence.

Demonstrated potential, even with limited resources

You’re from a developing country; reviewers know your lab may not have the fanciest tools. What impresses them is when you show:

• You’ve done the best you can with what you have.
• You’ve taken initiative in your PhD (fieldwork, data analysis, collaborations).
• You think rigorously about methods and data quality.

Your CV and motivation letter together should say: “Give this person access to a strong lab and they’ll do something meaningful.”

A coherent story: PhD topic → host research → future plans

Every part of your application should reinforce a simple story:

• Here’s what I’m already doing (PhD topic).
• Here’s what the host program can add (skills, methods, data, network).
• Here’s how I’ll use that addition (thesis chapters, papers, future research and teaching back home).

If a reviewer can see that arc clearly, you’re in a good place.

Common Mistakes That Hurt Otherwise Good Applications

You can have a strong profile and still miss out if you stumble on basics. Watch out for these:

1. Being vague about your research

“My research is about climate change and agriculture” is too broad. Reviewers need:

• The crop or system you work with.
• The problem you’re investigating.
• The methods you use or plan to use.

If they finish your motivation letter still guessing what you actually do, that’s a problem.

Fix: In the first paragraph of your letter, write one sharp sentence like: “I am a third-year PhD student studying nitrous oxide emissions from irrigated maize systems in northern Nigeria, with a focus on how fertilizer timing and application method affect emission peaks.”

Now they know exactly where to place you.

2. Weak or generic supervisor letters

A letter that could have been written for any student is a missed opportunity.

Fix: Talk to your supervisor early. Explain the program. Give them enough time and information to write more than “X is a good student.”

3. Ignoring formatting and length limits

One page means one page. If you submit a two-page CV or a sprawling motivation letter, you’re signaling that you don’t follow instructions.

Fix: Edit ruthlessly. Remove less relevant items. Prioritize clarity over completeness.

4. Last-minute submissions

Technical glitches, missing signatures, or typos are most common when you hit submit two minutes before the deadline.

Fix: Decide your personal deadline is several days earlier than January 11.

Frequently Asked Questions About CLIFF-GRADS 2026

1. Do I need to be in a specific discipline to apply?
No specific label is required, but your work must connect clearly to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation, or carbon storage. You might be in soil science, animal science, agronomy, agricultural engineering, environmental science with a strong agriculture component, or related fields. The key is the climate-agriculture-emissions link.

2. My university is in a developing country, but I am originally from a high-income country. Am I eligible?
The call specifies students from developing countries and enrolled at universities in developing countries. If you are not from a developing country, you likely do not meet the core eligibility requirement, even if you study in one.

3. Can I apply if I’m in the first year of my PhD?
It depends. If your topic is already well defined and your supervisor fully supports the timing, you can apply. However, you’ll be more competitive if you can clearly show how the research stay connects to your thesis, which is easier once your project is more developed.

4. Can I apply if I’m almost finished with my PhD?
If you are very close to submitting, a 4–6 month stay may not realistically fit into your timeline. Reviewers may be wary if your expected graduation date is too early. You’ll need to show that you still have time and that your institution agrees.

5. How is the 14,000 USD used?
While the call text doesn’t spell out every line item, this amount typically covers travel, living costs, and research stay-related expenses for the 4–6 month period. The exact management of funds may vary by host institution and project. If awarded, you’ll receive detailed guidance.

6. Is English proficiency tested formally?
There’s no mention of an official test requirement (like TOEFL/IELTS), but your application must be in English and your ability to work in an English-speaking research environment will be inferred from your writing and background.

7. Can I apply again if I was rejected in a previous round (but never funded)?
Yes, the restriction is only for those who have already been awarded a CLIFF-GRADS grant. If you applied before and were not selected, you can apply again in 2026 with a stronger application.

8. Will I be able to choose my host country or institution?
Typically, CLIFF-GRADS placements are tied to predefined host projects. You may express preferences or be matched based on fit, but this is not a “study anywhere you like” funding pot. The focus is on matching your skills and interests with available GHG-related research projects.

How to Apply for CLIFF-GRADS 2026

Here’s how to move from “this sounds nice” to an actual submitted application.

1. Read the full call details carefully.
   Don’t rely only on summaries. Visit the official application page and look for any attached guidelines or project lists.

2. Confirm your eligibility.

   • You are from a developing country.
   • You are currently enrolled in a PhD program at a university in a developing country.
   • You have never received a CLIFF-GRADS grant before.
   • You can commit to a 4–6 month research stay starting before the end of 2026.

3. Prepare your three core documents.

   • One-page motivation letter (clear, specific, and concrete).
   • One-page CV (focused and relevant).
   • Supervisor support letter (requested early and thoughtfully).
     Merge them into a single PDF in English.

4. Complete the online application form.
   Go to the official Round 7 application form and fill it in carefully. Double-check spelling of names, emails, and institution details. Upload your merged PDF when prompted.

5. Submit well before January 11, 2026.
   Aim to submit at least three days early in case you encounter technical issues or need to correct anything.

Get Started

If you are a PhD student in a developing country working on the knotty problem of how agriculture can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, CLIFF-GRADS 2026 is one of the most targeted and practical opportunities you’ll find.

It gives you funding, skills, networks, and a clear line on your CV that says, “I’m serious about this field, and serious organizations believed in me.”

Ready to try?

Visit the official application page and get all the details here:
Apply for CLIFF-GRADS Programme 2026 (Round 7)

Set aside dedicated time, treat this like a major grant application, and give yourself the best possible shot.