Duration
12 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 Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications implements the IAEA's Major Programme 2, "Nuclear Techniques for Development and Environmental Protection". This Major Programme comprises individual programmes on food and agriculture, human health, water resources, environment and radiation technologies. These programmes are supported by laboratories in Seibersdorf, Monaco and Vienna. The Major Programme's objective is to enhance the capacity of Member States to meet basic human needs and to assess and manage the marine and terrestrial environments through the use of nuclear and isotopic techniques in sustainable development programmes.
The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture assists Member States of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the IAEA in using nuclear techniques and related technologies to improve food security, alleviate poverty and promote sustainable agriculture. The Joint Centre consists of five Sections, each with an associated laboratory (located in Seibersdorf, 45 km south-east of Vienna), in the areas of: animal production and health; plant breeding and genetics; insect pest control; soil and water management and crop nutrition; and food safety and control.
The Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Section and Laboratory assist Member States in developing improved soil and water management practices for sustainable intensification of agricultural production systems, the conservation of natural resources and the effective use of external inputs through applied and adaptive research and development activities, technology transfer and capacity building
Main Purpose
Internship will support Research and Development (R&D) activities at the Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Laboratory (SWMCNL), in the field of monitoring and predicting radionuclide uptake and dynamics for optimizing remediation of radioactive contamination in agriculture. The internship will contribute to the continued advancement of methods for assessing and managing contamination in agricultural systems.
Evaluating the plant-availability of pollutants (e.g., radioactive caesium), as well as nutrients (e.g., potassium and ammonium) between soil solution (bioavailable forms) and the soil solid phase (sinks), across varied agro-ecological conditions and soil management practices will be the focus on the internship.
Using laboratory incubation experiments, chemical extractions and Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy (MIRS), the internship will support the development and refinement of predictive models for high-throughput screening of pollutant and nutrient availability in soils, leading to an improved contamination risk assessment and soil remediation planning.
Functions / Key Results Expected
Contribute to soil incubation and related laboratory experiments to assess solid-liquid distribution of pollutants and nutrients, building on methodologies and datasets developed under previous R&D at the SWMCNL .
Refine laboratory methods for identifying soils with elevated potential for radioactive caesium uptake by crops (e.g., using stable Cs-133 tracers).
Participate in sample preparation and Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy (MIRS) analysis, including soil samples from incubation experiments and from experiments conducted in collaboration with Member States.
Contribute to the compilation, expansion and development of datasets on solid-liquid distribution and MIRS spectral data, including associated soil properties, incubation results, chemical extractions and radionuclide/nutrient availability data, in the context of radio-caesium uptake by crops, aiding further research and modelling efforts at the SWMCNL.
Contribute to the refinement of predictive models using MIRS data to estimate pollutant and nutrient availability in soils, with emphasis on improving high-throughput screening approaches for radio-caesium risk assessment.
Qualifications and Experience
University Degree in Biotechnology and Bioscience Engineering
Knowledge of Soil Scienceand/or Biotechnology with a focus on environmental management and assessment
Experience in data analysis, data organization and interpretation of experimental results.
Knowledge of spectroscopy, modelling and statistical analysis.
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.