ICARDA Internsip Program

The Host Organization
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is a non-profit international agricultural research center and is a member of a worldwide consortium of 15 international centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The Internship Program
ICARDA's internship program is designed to provide practical experience in research and other areas of the Center's activities for eligible applicants. The subject should be of mutual interest to the intern and the hosting Program/Unit of ICARDA. The internship will usually be for a period of one to six months, as per the need, and is not intended to lead to an advanced degree (M.Sc. or Ph.D.). The practical experience provided during the internship would complement and strengthen the intern's academic study and provide contacts in the professional spheres that s/he is likely to enter at later stages in preparation for an advanced degree. On the other hand, the intern is expected to contribute to enhanced research efforts in the host Program/Unit of the Center by bringing in diversity and additional dynamism in the research team.

The activities for the intern will be tailored to the needs of both the intern and the host Program /Unit. Opportunities are wide including such fields as management of natural resources- water, land and biodiversity; plant-water relations; water-use efficiency; plant nutrition; agro-ecological characterization using geographical information system and remote sensing; crop modeling; crop production; integrated management of pests and diseases; on-farm research and technology transfer; range management and rehabilitation; nutrition and management of small ruminants (sheep and goats); milk processing; sociological and socio-economic studies; improvement of wheat, barley, food legumes (lentil, chickpea, faba bean) and feed legumes (vetch and lathyrus) using classical plant breeding, farmer-participatory approaches, and biotechnology; grain quality evaluation; seed production, seed health testing; genetic resource collection, conservation, characterization, and documentation; computer and biometrics; library and information system management; information dissemination; and publishing.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria
A limited number of internships will be available every year for applicants from the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region as well as from out side. Priority will be given to applicants from the region and those who are self-funded. Candidates must be able to work in a multi-cultural environment with research and support staff of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds. Their work will be within the ICARDA on-going research programs and activities and should not be part of or lead to any degree training. Fluency in English, some prior research experience, computing skills, and working knowledge of other languages (Arabic and French) would be advantageous. A selection committee would review all applications.

Terms of Internship
Interns would be exempted from usual ICARDA fees for training and training material. They would, however, be expected to pay their international travel, local transport, insurance and living expenses at ICARDA. The host Program/Unit will provide office and research supplies and facilities. Subject to availability of funds, the host may also cover costs of accommodation of interns in ICARDA trainee's apartments, and their local transportation and health and accident insurance. But this would likely be very restricted. The interns are not permitted to bring their dependents/family members with them. Details of monthly charges for accommodation, local transportation and insurance are available from the Head of the Human Resources Development Unit (HRDU) at ICARDA.

Applications
Applications for the internship program can be made all the year round.