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Intern Innovation and End-use Sectors Position at IRENA – Innovation Week 2023

Simon Tyrus CaineApril 17, 2023

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Contents

Background Assignments Minimum Requirements Internship Conditions FOLLOW US ON OUR CHANNELS

Table of Contents

Background

The IRENA Innovation Week series has become a landmark biennial event to discuss the latest innovations that will lead to a global energy transition. The first two editions of this event held in 2016 and 2018 focused on the energy supply side, exploring zero-carbon power systems based on integrating high-shares of renewables. The third and most recent edition of the Innovation Week held virtually in 2020 focused on the energy demand side by providing important new insights into challenges, opportunities, and emerging solutions for end-use energy sector decarbonisation, informed by IRENA’s recent Reaching Zero with Renewables report.

The fourth edition of the Innovation Week is scheduled to take place during 25-28 September 2023. The theme for this year’s event is “Renewable solutions to decarbonise end-use sectors”. The discussions that are envisaged as part of this Innovation Week include but not limited to:

The role of policy to catalyse end-use sector decarbonization.
Power Systems of the future – implications for electrification of end-use sectors
The role and potential of Hydrogen and the derivatives
Transport: Solutions to decarbonise shipping and aviation sector, and road transport
Buildings: Solutions for smart electrification of heating and cooling in residential sector
Industry Solutions: Decarbonization of Iron, Steel. Chemical and Petrochemical sectors.

In addition to these focused thematic discussions, the Innovation week will also include various side events and bilateral meetings.

At present, IRENA has 168 Members (167 States and the European Union) that acceded to its Statute, and 16 additional States in the process of accession and actively engaged.

Assignments

Under the supervision of IRENA staff, the interns are expected to perform a range of technical, analytical and organizational functions to support the organization of the Innovation Week 2023. Tasks can include:

Preparation and planning for IW2023, including:
- Support with the organization of the event, send out invitations, do needful follow ups and template preparation for session briefs.
- Support with the internal coordination between all teams organizing different sessions.
- Support the coordination with the communication and logistics teams for all details pertinent to the event.
- Support with the creation of the web page of the event, app (if the case) and other digital tools.
- Track the registration process.

Support during the event:
- Provide trouble shooting support as required.
- Take notes during different sessions.

After the event:
- Support with collecting notes and gathering the outcomes of the event.

Learning Areas

During the internship period, the successful applicant will develop a deep understanding around the area of renewable solutions to decarbonize end-use sectors. The intern will also be able to further develop their skills related to research, analytical thinking, drafting, oral and written communication and organizational skills.

Timeframe

The internship is for a period of six months commencing May 2023. The exact period will be determined based on the availability of the intern and the needs of the programme. The maximum duration of the internship is nine months, subject to projects’ status and the intern’s performance.

Travel

Intern is to make themselves available to travel to Bonn, Germany from 18 to 29 September 2023 to provide support during Innovation Week 2023. Authorized travel will be set out as per the Agency’s travel policy, specifically for the aforementioned dates.

Minimum Requirements

Candidates must have completed an undergraduate degree and be enrolled in a Master’s or doctorate programme at a recognized university at the time of application and for the duration of the internship or have recently graduated and is accepted into the internship programme within six months of their graduation.
Candidates must be fluent in English (both oral and written) and demonstrate excellent writing and communication skills.

Competencies:

Candidates should demonstrate the ability to work in teams, have planning and organizational skills, demonstrate professionalism, as well as analytical and communications skills.
Candidates must be able to work in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment.
Preference is given to candidates studying in a field related to renewable energy, such as economics, development studies, environmental sciences, international relations, engineering, technology, or other related fields with good understanding of renewable energy and international cooperation.
Knowledge of electrification, green hydrogen and/or synthetic fuels and their use within industrial sectors or knowledge on materials criticality for the energy transition would be an asset for some tasks.

Internship Conditions

IRENA internships may be remunerated if an intern is not already sponsored by their government, university or institution. In such cases, the intern is requested to indicate their sponsorship in their cover letter.

Interns of IRENA are not considered to be staff members. The selected intern will work on a full-time basis (40 hours per week) remotely from his/her current location as per the working hours of Bonn Duty station.

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