PICES Intern Program
(Approved October 16, 1999; Revised November 2014)

Introduction
A PICES Intern Program will allow early career individuals from PICES member countries to gain experience in operations of intergovernmental scientific organizations and coordination of multidisciplinary international ecosystem research programs by working in the PICES Secretariat for periods of up to one year. The PICES Secretariat would supervise up to one intern at any point in time. PICES would benefit from the intern program directly through the presence of an additional professional in the secretariat and indirectly, over a period of years, by strengthening the capacity of member states to coordinate their involvement in PICES programs.

Objectives
The PICES Intern Program has two goals:

• Professional development of marine scientists and managers from PICES member countries (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA);
• Increasing the capacity of the PICES secretariat to support the work of PICES.

Nature of the internship
Under the supervision of PICES Secretariat, interns will work on projects of the Secretariat relevant to their professional interests and development needs, including ESL (English as a Second Language) training if required. Interns may be given a wide variety of tasks as to assist in:

• preparing information for and providing secretarial support to PICES Working Groups and Scientific and Technical Committees;
• organizing scientific meetings;
• organizing and editing various PICES publications;
• coordinating international cooperative program in marine science; and
• coordinating PICES activities with efforts to other relevant organizations.

Internships will normally begin on or about February 1 and extend for a period up to a maximum of 12 months.

Qualifications of candidates
Applicants must be staff of the academic or government sector of PICES member-countries (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA), have a university degree (M.Sc. or Ph.D. will be an asset), the ability to read, write and speak English (taking into consideration whether English is the candidate's native language), the ability to use computers and the internet, and demonstrated personal initiative.

Guidelines for application and selection procedure
In the selection process, it is important to ensure balanced distribution of internships among member countries (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA). There will be an annual competition for PICES interns. A member country that has had an intern in any year is eligible to have an intern in the following two years only if there are no applicants from other member countries.

• The PICES Intern Program will be advertised on the PICES website. National delegates are encouraged to take additional measures to advertise the PICES Intern Program within their countries.
• Applicants will apply to their national delegates for PICES, describing their interests and qualifications, providing a resume delineating their academic and work experience and three professional references. Applicants will send a copy of their application to the PICES Secretariat.
• The national PICES delegate will review applications from his/her country and transmit his/her nominee(s) to the PICES Secretariat for final selection. Applications must be received by the Executive Secretary by the date of the first Governing Council meeting at the PICES Annual Meeting.
• The Chairman of PICES will select the successful candidate in consultation with the Executive Secretary and the Chairman of Science Board.
• The Executive Secretary will inform all Governing Council members of the result of the competition.

Financial support
PICES interns will be provided a stipend of CDN $3,000 per month by the Secretariat. Travel costs for the intern to and from the place of residence and the location of the Secretariat will be normally borne by the individual’s home country. Travel expenses associated with the intern’s work in the Secretariat will be covered by PICES. Since the intern will continue to be an employee with his home institution while at the Secretariat, his/her medical insurance and all other benefits will remain the responsibility of the intern’s home country.