Internship Announcement No. INT/TTD/2007-039 “Transport policy and economic geography” Deadline for Applications: 3 weeks before starting date Division/Section/Unit: Transport and Tourism Division, Transport Policy and Tourism Section Duration: 2 to 6 months Period: Any time during the year 2007
Responsibilities: Under the supervision of a staff member of the Transport Policy and Tourism Section, Transport and Tourism Division, the intern will undertake the following assignments during the period of his/her internship: • Preparation of an analytical study on public policy issues in the area of economic geography and transport infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific. Precise contents of the study are to be defined at the start of the internship but will be closely linked to the Secretariat’s ongoing work. Of particular interest are explorations of the economic significance of the Asian Highway and the Trans-Asian Railway. The following list is indicative of potential assignments: 1. Preparation of GIS-based maps. 2. Basic analysis of data from various sources and integration into a database. 3. Policy-focused future “scenarios” and analysis. 4. Presentation of study results on the Intranet or the Web. 5. Discussion of policy options available. • Day-to-day operational work: The candidate is expected to participate, to limited extent, in day-to-day operational tasks, that are typical of UN organizations. This may include for example, servicing requests for information, support for presentations, projects, internal reporting, etc. • For more information, you may want to contact R. Alexander Roehrl at <>
Learning opportunities during the course of the internship: The goal is for the intern to develop skills in the following learning elements—problem, approach, theory, analysis, and application. These learning elements will give the intern the ability to apply practical, quantitative tools from to cross-border transport infrastructure policy issues: 1. Problem – issues are identified through analysis of official and non-official data, through reading and reviewing policy documents, government submissions, various other materials and evaluating other analytical work/research. 2. Approach – apply qualitative and quantitative methods to an issue, use methods from the sciences, economics, economic geography, and public policy analysis. Basic data intelligence issues will be covered. 3. Theory – set the problem within typical theoretical framework of transport, trade and infrastructure models 4. Analysis – be familiar with qualitative, statistical, systems, and historical analytical approaches 5. Application – apply analytical tools to public policy issues in the area of cross-border transport in Asia. Expected outputs: Regular documentation of work progress, in-house presentation of own work, and final internship report. Use of outputs: This work builds on earlier activities and projects conducted by the division together with other organizations on cross-border transport policy issues. Internship outputs that are of a high quality will be used as input and information material for projects, meetings or intergovernmental. High quality outputs may also be published as UNESCAP working paper.Education: Graduate or PhD student in geography, economics, science, engineering or a related subject.
Indicative skills and qualifications: Experience and interest in analytical work, preferably including some research. Experience in quantitative work, preferably including the use of GIS and databases. Understanding of concepts of economic geography, knowledge of major transport issues, and basic understanding of major issues for landlocked countries and transition economies would be an asset. Hands-on experience with models would be an asset. Very good knowledge of English. Knowledge of Chinese or Russian would be an asset.
United Nations Competencies: Respect for Diversity, Teamwork, Communication, Creativity, Commitment to Continuous Learning.
Requests for other general information may be addressed either by e-mail to or by mail to Human Resources Management Section (HRMS), UNESCAP, United Nations Building, Rajdamnern Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand.
