Internship – Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre

Duration

6 months

Internships

The IAEA accepts a limited number of interns each year. The internships are awarded to persons studying towards a university degree or who have recently received a degree (see Internship web pages for further details).

The purpose of the programme is:

• To provide interns with the opportunity to gain practical work experience in line with their studies or interests, and expose them to the work of the IAEA and the United Nations as a whole;

• To benefit the IAEA's programmes through the assistance of qualified students specialized in various professional fields.

The duration of an internship is normally not less than three months and not more than one year.

Organizational Setting

The Division of IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories (NAML) comprises three separate laboratories that together constitute the IAEA's Marine Environment Laboratories. They use nuclear and isotopic techniques to understand and propose mitigation strategies and tools for the environmental impacts of radionuclides, trace elements and organic contaminants, as well as climate change, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss.

The Radioecology Laboratory uses state-of-the-art nuclear and isotopic techniques to address Member States' most important coastal and marine ecological challenges and needs. These include studies on biomagnification, ocean acidification, carbon cycling, seafood safety and biotoxins, often in the context of future climate-change scenarios. It hosts the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre.

Main Purpose

The objective of this internship is to contribute to various activities of IAEA's Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC). Based at the IAEA's Radioecology Laboratory (REL) in Monaco, the intern will work with the OA-ICC team to organize and implement upcoming activities and events (technical meetings, training courses), update OA-ICC resources (news stream and databases), and draft communication material (reports, newsletters, web stories, social media posts). As part of the activities of the OA-ICC, the intern will also help support the Secretariat of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON), working in close collaboration with Secretariat members (one person from IOC-UNESCO and one person from the NOAA Ocean Acidification program). This includes attending weekly Secretariat meetings, helping with GOA-ON communication, contributing to the activities of the UN Ocean Decade programme OARS (Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability), organizing quarterly meetings of the GOA-ON Executive Council, supporting regional hubs of GOA-ON (e.g. Africa, Mediterranean), and helping prepare GOA-ON activities planned for the 6th Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World, which will take place from 13-16 October 2026 in Wellington, NZ.

Functions / Key Results Expected

• Work with the OA-ICC team to deliver the Centre's annual work plan (organization and facilitation of expert meetings, capacity building and outreach activities)

• Assist in communication activities of the OA-ICC (reports, web stories, newsletters, social media)

• Help maintain and update OA-ICC online resources (news stream, data bases)

• Help support the Secretariat of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON)

• Contribute to exploring potential non-traditional funders for OA-ICC programmes

• Develop a survey to collect baseline data for a series of Key Performance Indicators of OA-ICC activities

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree - University degree in Marine Biology, Environmental sciences, Radioecology, Ecology or a related field.

• Good background knowledge of climate and environmental change, ocean acidification, marine biology, oceanography, radioecology.

• Ability to coordinate and manage projects in a timely manner.

• Ability to work well within a team and in a multicultural and international context. 

• Project management experience is an asset.

Applicant Eligibility

• Candidates must be a minimum of 20 years of age and have completed at least three years of full-time studies at a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of a first degree.

• Candidates may apply up to one year after the completion of a bachelor's, master's or doctorate degree.

• Candidates must not have previously participated in the IAEA's internship programme.

• Good written and spoken English essential; fluency in any other IAEA official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish or Russian) an asset.

• Candidates must attach two signed letters of recommendation to their application.