Research intern on Digital Aspects of Smuggling of Migrants

Vienna

This internship is for a minimum 3 and maximum of 6 months and designed to be full-time. May-October 2026

The internship is located in the Research, Innovation and Partnership Section, Research and Trend Analysis Branch (RAB), Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs (DPA), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Vienna (Austria). The Research and Analysis Branch (RAB) is centrally responsible within UNODC for the collection and analysis of data on drugs and crime trends.The intern will work under the direct supervision of the Research Officer Data Analyst on the TiP/SoM Team. The Research, Innovation and Partnership Section is implementing research on smuggling of migrants, for the UNODC Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants. For this purpose, IPS is looking for a qualified intern to support the research on the digital aspects of smuggling of migrants. The intern shall undertake the following duties, which may include, but are not limited to: • Contribute to the conceptualization of a database designed to track indicators online on smuggling of migrants. • Under the supervision of the data analyst, collect, structure, classify, and analyse migrant smuggling-related content from digital social media, content-sharing and messaging platforms • Use AI and ML tools for data classification and clustering, produce statistical output, and data visualization. • Enter identified and formatted data into the database. • Perform a pilot analysis of the data. The internship is UNPAID and the intern works five days per week (full time - 40 hours).

• Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: (a) be enrolled in, or have recently completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); (b) be enrolled in, or have recently completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s degree or equivalent). • Be computer literate in standard software applications; • Have a demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter; and • Have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views. 1. Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work. experience. However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required. 2. Applicants must be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PH.D. Programme. Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one and attach proof to the application. Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate at a later stage. 3. Applicants should have good knowledge of standard software applications, especially MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and MS Teams. 4. Ability to use data analysis tools such as Python, R, and AI is desirable.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the internship. Knowledge of an additional official UN language is an advantage. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat.

Not available.

Interns are not financially remunerated by the United Nations. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken, may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work/employment authorization. Successful candidates should discuss their specific visa requirements before accepting the internship offer.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.