Future Earth Internships: Science for the Earth Targets and State of our Planet (Paris, France)

The Future Earth initiative

Future Earth is a major international research platform providing the knowledge and support to accelerate transformations to a sustainable world.

Future Earth is a 10-year initiative to advance Global Sustainability Science, build capacity in this rapidly expanding area of research and provide an international research agenda to guide natural and social scientists working around the world.

Future Earth is managed by a global Secretariat, which consists of five Global Hubs based in Colorado, Montreal, Paris, Stockholm and Tokyo. The Secretariat is complemented by Regional Centres for in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

The Paris Hub operates under the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The hub offices are located at the Jussieu campus of Sorbonne University in the 5th arrondissement of central Paris. The current team has 4 full-time staff members.

Two available internship positions for January 2019

Future Earth Paris Hub is offering two 6 month internship positions starting in January 2019:

Position 1: 2018 Future Earth Day and Science for the Earth Targets

One of Future Earth’s new strategic directions involves the development of an initiative called “Science for Integrated Earth’s Systems Targets”. The initiative will seek to co-produce the knowledge needed to help develop science-based targets on local, regional and global levels (e.g. what knowledge does society need to design a target to protect biodiversity in Paris by 2050?), to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

This initiative is led by the Future Earth Secretariat globally, and will also be translated into a French initiative, to be launched during a two-day event in May in Paris (2018 Future Earth Day). For this position, both French and English proficiency is required as the intern will also be working with the French National Committee of Future Earth.

For this position, tasks will include assistance in (but can also evolve depending on the project’s advancement and the intern’s preferences):

• Preparing online meetings (scientific team working on the Science for the Earth Targets)
• Synthesising existing knowledge on science-based targets and the SDGs
• Producing concept notes for the Science for the Earth Targets initiative
• Preparing scientific workshops for the 2018 Future Earth Day
• Planning logistics and communication needs for the 2018 Future Earth Day

Position 2: State of our Planet report

One of Future Earth’s major priorities for 2019 is the production of its first annual science report, tentatively called, “The State of our Planet”. The report will synthesize recent research and data related to global sustainability that is of relevance to decision makers. The Sustainable Development Goals will be an important political compass for the report, but the report will take a broader view of trends in the linked Earth and human systems.

The position will include a range of different responsibilities and tasks depending on the intern’s interest and experience. These are likely to include:

• Preparing online meetings (e.g. agenda, scheduling, note-taking)
• Synthesising recent global environmental change research
• Producing guidelines for authors
• Providing editing and writing support
• Managing the research database
• Formatting references
• Identifying and supporting communication needs

Salary

540 € per month (legally bound).

Candidate qualifications

Essential

• Excellent level of English
• Currently enrolled in a Master’s level program in a relevant field (and will remain enrolled for the duration of the internship)
• Knowledge of sustainability and environmental challenges
• Eligible  for a ‘Convention de Stage’ in France. A convention de stage is a document required by the French government for any student interested in doing an internship in France. It is similar to a job contract, in that it specifies the missions and the expectations demanded of interns. It must be signed by the educational institution with which the student is affiliated.

Preferred

• Available for 6 months
• Interested in transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research
• Basic level of French (very good level of French required for Position 1)
• Experience in working in an an international team
• Motivated, organised and able to work independently to deadlines as well as to follow instructions, with attention to detail and good interpersonal and communication skills
• Experience using Google’s Online Office Tools (i.e. Drive, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, etc.)

To apply

To apply for an internship, please send your Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a one-page cover letter with the subject “January 2019 Internship” to: vincent.virat@futureearth.org (Position 1) or kaela.slavik@futureearth.org (Position 2), or both (if both positions interest you). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the positions have been filled.