About Us
The OPCW internship programme is aimed at motivated students with an interest in gaining experience in international organisations. The programme normally provides work placements in the Technical Secretariat for a three to six month period. The objective of the internship is to provide you with first-hand experience in the day-to-day working environment of an international organisation. You will work with our international experts towards the OPCW mission to achieve a world permanently free of chemical weapons.
As part of our team, working directly with outstanding and inspiring career professionals, you will be exposed to high-profile conferences, participate in meetings, and contribute to our analytical work as well as the organisational policy of the OPCW.
General Information
Responsibilities
Job Summary
The OPCW Laboratory provides support, as well as scientific and technical advice to the Organisation on verification-related analytical issues and ensures the continued accuracy of the verification regime by maintaining state-of-the-art methods and technologies for sampling and analysis.
The Laboratory provides support to routine inspections and non-routine in-the-field missions. It assists in training and certifying inspectors on analytical equipment and procedures; and maintains the OPCW Central Analytical Database (OCAD).
The Laboratory is at the centre of a network of excellence comprising more than 20 laboratories across the world, designated for the analysis of authentic samples, providing a high degree of confidence that chemical analyses are conducted rigorously and to the highest standards.
Main Responsibilities
1. Determining specific markers of chlorine exposure in environmental and biological matrices.
Purpose:
- To discover chemical markers formed by exposure of environmental and biological samples to various concentrations of chlorinating chemicals.
- To provide an intern with an opportunity to apply their knowledge of analytical chemistry (sample preparation & mass spectrometry analysis) to a challenging scientific problem related to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Projected tasks:
- Expose various environmental and biological matrices to chlorine gas and other chlorinating chemicals.
- Analyse the samples for chlorinated markers using modern mass spectrometric techniques for organic and inorganic analysis, including high-resolution mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
- Analyse the isotope profile of the markers and determine if it is possible to discriminate those formed by chlorine gas from other chlorinating chemicals.
2. Determining the chemical profiles of crude CWC – relevant reaction products resulting from in-house syntheses.
Purpose:
- Apply chemical attribution techniques including route determination and sample matching to chemicals relevant to the chemical weapons convention.
- Collect high quality analytical data for the identification and measurement of discriminating markers using chemometric tools.
Projected tasks:
- Determine the chemical profiles of crude CWC-relevant reaction products resulting from in-house syntheses (not to be performed by intern), using mass spectrometric techniques for organic and inorganic analysis, including high-resolution mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy.
- Apply chemometric tools and multivariate analysis for discovering route- or batch-specific signature profiles.
3. Development of an experimental design to find biomarkers of exposure to scheduled chemicals via different sample preparation approaches.
Purpose:
Increased insight into biomarkers in terms of newly scheduled or unexplored scheduled chemicals strengthening the biomedical verification program at CCT.
Learning objective is to acquire experience in the use of analytical methods (sample preparation, tandem mass spectrometry & high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis) for the identification and measurement of discriminating biomarkers in plasma or urine by applying proteomic/metabolomic approach
Projected tasks:
- Developing an experimental design to find the biomarkers via different sample preparation approaches, after spiking scheduled chemicals or degradation products into plasma and urine.
- Analysis of the biomarkers, which can consist of adducts with peptides and hydrolysed products, by using tandem mass
- spectrometry and high-resolution mass spectrometry.
- Applying new derivatization methods to detect hydrolysed products and adducted peptides at low ppb levels.
Start date 1 June 2025
Qualifications and Experience
Education
Essential:
- Enrolled in and have completed at least one year of a chemistry degree programme in a university (or equivalent tertiary institution) or;
- in a graduate school programme (second university degree or higher)
- Have graduated in chemistry from a university or a graduate school within a year prior to the commencement of the internship and;
- Be a citizen of an OPCW Member State and fluent in both written and spoken English.
Desirable:
- Bachelor’s degree in chemistry with thorough knowledge of analytical chemistry applications.
Skills and Competencies
- Teamwork - We work collectively towards a common goal and together we get the job done. As a team member you have to genuinely value other people’s ideas and expertise and be willing to learn from others.
- Commitment to Continuous Learning - The OPCW is committed to a process of continuous learning.
- Technological Awareness - It is hard to keep up with the fast pace of technological change, but the Organization offers training as well as support to keep abreast of technological development.
Languages
Fluency in English is essential and a good working knowledge of one of the other official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is desirable.Additional Information
Acceptance for the programme shall not carry with it any expectation of employment with the OPCW. Interns may not apply for, or be appointed to, any posts or positions at the OPCW within six months of the internship agreement end date. The internship programme is run in accordance with the applicable internal rules and where applicable the OPCW Staff Regulations and Interim Staff Rules.
- Participants in the Internship Programme receive no financial remuneration from the OPCW for expenses that they incur in relation to the programme. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, taxes, accommodation, living expenses and repatriation, etc. are the responsibility of the intern. The intern has to enter and exit the country in accordance with the applicable immigration procedures in The Netherlands.
- Participants will be asked to provide proof that they have sufficient financial means for living expenses for the period of their internship.
- Interns will work with the normal working pattern of the OPCW which will amount to no more than 40 hours a week.
- Participants who are citizens of non-EU countries should agree not to undertake other work in the Netherlands during their internship other than as an intern at the OPCW, notwithstanding whether such other work is compatible with the discharge of their functions with the OPCW.
Only fully completed applications submitted before the closing date and through OPCW CandidateSpace will be considered.
Only applicants under serious consideration will be contacted.
According to article 8 paragraph 44 of the Chemical Weapons Convention the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
OPCW is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. OPCW recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
OPCW General Terms and Conditions
