Intern - Computational Social Science

Work LocationIn-person Expected duration3 - 6 months Duties and ResponsibilitiesThe Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) has a mandate to enhance international support for Africa's development and security through its advocacy and analytical work; assist the Secretary-General in improving coherence and coordination of the UN System support to Africa; facilitate inter-governmental deliberations on Africa at the global level, in particular relating to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD); and establish a monitoring mechanism to review commitments made towards Africa’s development. In line with its mandate and core functions, OSAA initiates and coordinates the critical work of the United Nations on the interrelated issues of peace, security and development in Africa. This position is in the Policy Innovation Unit in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General and reports to the Programme Management Officer in the unit. The duties and responsibilities of this position include: Data-Driven Policy Research • Contribute to quantitative analyses using socio-economic, political, and environmental datasets relevant to African development priorities (e.g. resilience, inequality, youth employment, regional integration). • Assist in applying statistical, econometric, or machine learning methods to identify trends, patterns, and policy-relevant insights. • Support the design of case studies, policy briefs, and data visualizations for internal and public audiences. Data Sourcing & Diplomacy • Contribute to identifying and collecting high-quality datasets from government portals, national statistical offices, regional bodies, and international organizations. • Assist in data diplomacy efforts, including liaising with data providers, preparing correspondence, and documenting data acquisition workflows. • Support efforts to improve data provenance, accessibility, and comparability across sources. Technical Development • Support the maintenance and extension OSAA’s data processing and visualization codebase (in R and Python). • Contribute to the development and integration of an interactive data dashboard to visualize African development indicators. • Assist in implementing best practices in reproducible research, including GitHub-based version control, metadata documentation, and workflow transparency. Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing • Contribute to documenting analytical workflows and tools developed during the internship. • Participate in internal meetings, brainstorming sessions, and collaboration with interdisciplinary teams. • Support the translation of technical findings into policy-relevant outputs in collaboration with policy analysts and communications teams. Qualifications/special skillsApplicants must meet one of the following requirements: (a) be enrolled in, or have recently completed, a graduate school programme in Computational Social Science, Data Science, Economics, Political Science, Development Studies, Public Policy, or related interdisciplinary fields; (b) be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s degree or equivalent). Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work. experience. However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required. Applicants must be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PH.D. Programme. Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one and attach proof to the application. Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate at a later stage. Applicants should have advanced proficiency in Python, Streamlit, Altair, and data visualization tools. Applicants should have experience with CSS, Markdown, infrastructure-as-code (IaC), GitHub repo management, SQLMash, and data versioning. Applicants should have familiarity with data collection from institutional websites and portals. Applicants should have awareness of data diplomacy and open data practices, including sourcing data from national and regional institutions Applicants should have an understanding of development issues in the African continent LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the internship. Additional InformationNot available. Intern Specific textInterns are not financially remunerated by the United Nations. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken, may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work/employment authorization. Successful candidates should discuss their specific visa requirements before accepting the internship offer. No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.