Winston Quest scores a first in Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship
Architect Winston Quest has made history by being the first Jamaican to be awarded the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, tenable in Germany.
Quest, a Munro College and Black River High School alumnus, will take up the one-year fellowship in March 2018, which will be preceded by a two-month intense language course starting January of next year. The fellowship ends in February of 2019, but can be extended by a further three months if it is determined that more can be achieved with additional time.
He won a recent poster competition in Germany that qualified him for the award and will look at: ‘An Exploration into the possible replica of the Sponge City concept in Jamaica’.
Quest, an architect planner at the National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), studied architecture in Santiago de Cuba and has been employed at NEPA since September 2014.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants fellowships under the International Climate Protection Fellowship Program.
Up to 20 International Climate Protection Fellowships are granted annually, funded under the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety’s International Climate Initiative.
Germany plays a leading role in climate protection and climate-related resource conservation and highly qualified international researchers and practitioners have significant interest in collaborating with Germany as an attractive location for research and further training. Prospective leaders from emerging and developing countries are an important target group for sustainable cooperation with Germany.
The International Climate Protection Fellowships allow successful candidates to spend a year in Germany conducting a research-related project they have chosen themselves. The program is also designed to facilitate long-term contacts and collaborations with specialist colleagues in Germany, increasing the opportunities for successful international cooperation in climate protection and resource conservation.
Quest attended the selection meeting for the International Climate Protection Fellowship Program between September 12 and 15, 2017 in Bonn, Germany, where each participant is asked at the selection meeting to present their research proposal in the form of a poster, a-10 minute presentation and an interview. There were 43 candidates, including postdoctoral candidates, from 19 countries defending their proposal – all aiming to secure themselves in the 20 available spaces given annually by the foundation.
“The journey to this award began from my visit to China in July to August 2016 for the seminar on Water Resources and Capacity Building for Jamaica the Sponge City concept was introduced to the participants,” Quest told the Jamaica Observer.
“The Sponge City concept sparked further interests as this seemed like a solution to Jamaica’s problems with storm water run-off, flooding within our city, and other key factors, further research began on this since then.
“In November to December 2016, I participated in a short course in Sustainable Cities at the Center for International Postgraduate Studies of Environment Management in Dresden, Germany. Within the course the participants were introduced to several options for further professional development, and this is where I learnt about the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In further research about the foundation the additional research needed for the Sponge City concept and its application within Jamaica synced seamlessly within the foundation requirements that would provide the necessary resources to complete a research paper,” the award winner stated.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation combines individual funding for outstandingly qualified researchers with the lifelong integration of these researchers into a globally active network of excellence. This “Humboldt Family” connects leading scientists and scholars around the world to Germany. In competition for the topmost experts it offers various programs to attract scientists and scholars at different stages of their careers.
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