Job Description - Internship - Solid/Liquid Distribution of Pollutants and Nutrients (TAL-NAFA20250902-001)
Organization
NAFA-Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Laboratory
Primary Location
Austria-Lower Austria-Seibersdorf-IAEA Laboratories in Seibersdorf
Job Posting
2025-09-04, 12:46:13 PM
Closing Date
2025-09-11, 9:59:00 PM
Duration: 12 months
Contract Type: Interns
Full Competitive Recruitment: No
Overview
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. 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, and 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 programmes on food and agriculture, human health, water resources, environment and radiation technologies, supported by laboratories in Seibersdorf, Monaco and Vienna. The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture assists Member States in using nuclear techniques to improve food security and promote sustainable agriculture. 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, 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
The internship will support research and development activities at the Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Laboratory (SMCNL). It will build upon the outcomes of the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on "Monitoring and predicting radionuclide uptake and dynamics for optimizing remediation of radioactive contamination in agriculture" and contribute to advancing methods for assessing and managing contamination in agricultural systems. The CRP contributed to understanding radio-caesium mobility in soil and uptake by crops after nuclear or radiological accidents. This internship will extend that work by evaluating plant availability of pollutants (e.g., radioactive caesium) and nutrients (e.g., potassium and ammonium) between soil solution (bioavailable forms) and the soil solid phase (sinks), across varied agroecological conditions and soil management practices.
Using laboratory incubation experiments and Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy (MIRS), the internship will help develop predictive models for high-throughput screening of pollutant and nutrient availability, facilitating improved contamination risk assessment and soil remediation planning.
Functions / Key Results Expected
* Under the guidance of the Laboratory Head of the Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Laboratory, contribute to soil incubation and related laboratory experiments to assess solid-liquid distribution of pollutants and nutrients, building on methodologies and datasets developed under CRPD15019.
* Refine laboratory methods for identifying soils with elevated potential for radioactive caesium uptake by crops (e.g., using stable Caesium-133 tracers).
* Participate in MIRS analysis of soil samples from incubation and experiments conducted by Member States.
* Provide support for the compilation and development of datasets on solid-liquid distribution and MIRS spectral data in the context of radio-caesium and strontium uptake by crops, aiding further research and modelling efforts at SWMCNL.
Qualifications and Experience
University degree in Biotechnology or Bioscience Engineering. Expertise in soil science and/or biotechnology with a focus on environmental management and assessment. Experience in data analysis and interpretation.
Applicant Eligibility
Candidates must be a minimum of 20 years of age and have completed at least three years of full-time studies toward the completion of a first degree. Candidates may apply up to one year after completing 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) is an asset. Candidates must attach two signed letters of recommendation to their application.
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