After presenting his intern research at the first IAEA Intern Exposition, Raymond Li, an intern in the IAEA Department of Nuclear Applications and an electrical engineering graduate, said, "My internship at the IAEA has opened a lot of doors for me. Having had the chance to work with Agency experts has given me insight into the type of work that is available for people with my expertise and training."
Held on 11 December 2013, the IAEA Intern Exposition, opened by the IAEA Department of Management's Deputy Director General Janice Dunn Lee, was organised to recognize the important contributions interns make to the IAEA.
The IAEA internship programme is a stimulating experience that allows recent graduates or those still studying towards a degree, an opportunity to gain real-world knowledge and experience at an international organization. The Agency accepts roughly 125 interns every year from over 55 countries and has since 2008 also been meeting its aim for a balanced gender ratio.
IAEA interns have the opportunity to be placed throughout the Agency and hence come from diverse backgrounds and disciplines that also reflects the varied range of fields in which the IAEA is active. The eight presenting interns' areas of work exemplified the range of diversity, from nuclear power to public information to safeguards and technical cooperation in Africa.
Sarah Filion-Provencher, an intern in the Incident and Emergency Centre in the IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, and one of the exposition's presenters, explained her first impressions on joining the Agency, "It might have seemed overwhelming at first to integrate in a team so technically knowledgeable about nuclear science, but I quickly learned that my skills were very complimentary to theirs and I have been able to make significant and important contributions to the Agency."
Internship positions at the IAEA are not limited to only nuclear engineers and those with science degrees, as its mandate also requires legal, communications and diplomatic expertise, for which the IAEA also takes on interns with relevant degrees in law, international relations, communication and management.
The IAEA's internship programme is one effort to assure that the future has enough nuclear professionals and diplomats to take on the responsibility of ensuring the continued propagation of safe and peaceful nuclear technology.
Internship programmes have been the start of careers, and Deputy Director General Janice Dunn Lee in fact began hers as an intern at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1975, progressing eventually to become its Director of International Programs some 23 years later.
Now leading the IAEA Department of Management, Janice Dunn Lee aspires to see the Agency's internship programme continue, increasing benefits for its participants and the IAEA.