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Traineeships at the ESPON Coordination Unit
Luxembourg
18 April 2011 - The ESPON Coordination Unit is looking for two trainees for a period of 5 months to join our international team.
We would like you to start as soon as possible, preferably in the beginning of August 2011.
The ESPON 2013 Programme
ESPON is a network providing European observation and evidence on territorial development and cohesion. The activities are implemented as a programme under the Structural Funds 2007-2013 and the objective of European territorial cooperation. The mission is to enhance European knowledge, data and indicators on territorial structures, trends, perspectives and impacts of sector policies which can meet policy demand related to EU Cohesion Policy and be useful for policy makers and practitioners around Europe.
The ESPON 2013 Programme is the second generation of ESPON. The budget of this programme amounts to around 47 million Euros in total. All 27 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are partners in the programme, which is managed by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructures, Department for Spatial Development of Luxembourg. The European Commission is playing an active advisory role during the programme implementation.
Applied research projects and targeted analyses, defined by stakeholders and based on ESPON results, will be carried through until the end of 2013 by contracting Transnational Project Groups composed of scientists and consultants. A scientific platform for European territorial research shall be further developed, including the ESPON Database, tools and territorial indicators. The awareness and capitalisation of comparable information on European regions shall be ensured through publications and events etc. at European and transnational level.
You can find more detailed information about the ESPON 2013 Programme and the existing ESPON achievements and results on www.espon.eu
The ESPON Coordination Unit
The ESPON CU will by mid 2011 include 14 permanent staff members and 2 trainees.
The CU is located in Esch-sur-Alzette, 15 km south-west of Luxembourg City. Access is easy by car or by train; the station is only 10 minutes walk away from the office. During the traineeship the CU is envisaged to move to Luxembourg city.
The job for the trainees
The ESPON CU offers a five-month period of training for young academics in the final stage of their university studies in spatial development and planning, geography, regional economics, European studies, political science and/or other fields related to territorial development.
The work in the CU is organised in three clusters each dealing with a key area of the implementation of the ESPON 2013 Programme: 1) Programme, Finance and Budget, 2) Project Development and Coordination and 3) Capitalisation, Publication and Analysis.
During the traineeship period one of the trainees will be involved mainly in tasks related to the cluster on Project Development and Coordination. The other trainee will mainly be involved in tasks of the cluster related to Programme, Finance and Budget. The trainee jobs will accordingly include a variety of tasks related to the ESPON 2013 Programme.
The work in the Project Development cluster will include, among others, to support the preparation of evaluation sessions of project proposals and basic research on specific themes for new ESPON projects. The trainee in this cluster will also be involved in the process of the creation of an overview on all ESPON 2013 projects on a meta-level and cluster’s input to update the ESPON website as well.
The work in the Programme, Finance and Budget cluster includes financial and administrative tasks. Both trainees might as well be involved in dissemination tasks related to the implementation of the communication plan, support the organization of events and preparation of meetings, seminars and workshops.
Please note that an allowance of 1.000 Euro per month will be available. It should be treated as an indemnity to support your living expenses while training at the ESPON CU.
Your profile
You are a student registered at a university during the entire period of the traineeship and carry a passport from Member States of the European Union or from Norway, Switzerland, Iceland or Liechtenstein (full partners in the ESPON programme).
Applicants should demonstrate:
- Interest and some knowledge in relation to European cooperation in the field of EU Structural Funds, regional policy and/or spatial development and planning, geography, regional economics, European studies, political science, public administration, communications and/or other fields related to territorial development.
- Motivation for learning and contributing to management, financial and administrative tasks, to content-related tasks related to project development and coordination as well as tasks related to communication and capitalisation on programme activities.
- An excellent understanding and fluency in spoken and written English and preferably good communication skills in other languages.
- Strong interpersonal skills, being keen team players, capable of taking direction and working on their own initiative, consulting if needed, open and capable of working in a complex multicultural environment, involvement in performing tasks and accuracy.
- Acquaintance with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel), ArcMap and Adobe Illustrator applications. Experience with Corel Draw and Adobe Acrobat would be considered an advantage.
Specifically for trainees interested in the Project Development and Coordination cluster post, particular assets would be some experience in desk research (i.e. finding relevant literature and synthesising it) as well as skills like attention to detail and accuracy in work, capability to meet pre-defined deadlines, ability to quickly grasp new tasks would be irreplaceable in order to fulfil her/his tasks and duties successfully.
For trainees interested in the post related to the Programme, Finance and Budget cluster specific attention will be devoted to candidates presenting administrative flair and motivation related to project management or financial management. For both trainees communication competences, and experience in reporting, preparing presentations and organizing events will be considered an advantage.
How to apply
Your application shall include the following:
- A motivation letter in English – not longer than 1 page. Your motivation letter may include the following: Why you would like to be a trainee at the ESPON CU? Which personal assets do you feel you can bring to the ESPON CU? Your expectations for the traineeship: what you hope to learn from it?
- Your Curriculum Vitae in English– not longer than 3 pages;
- A profile table duly filled-in (available below).
All the above mentioned documents are to be sent by e-mail to traineeship@espon.eu. Please specify in the subject of the e-mail the following information: “Your First Name and Last Name – Profile you are applying for* - ESPON TRAINEESHIP APPLICATION”.
*Profile A: Project Development and Coordination cluster.
Profile B: Programme, Finance and Budget cluster.
Deadline for submitting an application is 13 May 2011
You will be informed, latest by the end of June, about the outcome of the selection. Please be informed that copies of your relevant university certificates and diplomas as well a proof of being registered at your University will be necessary for the contracting, in case you are selected.
The ESPON Programme applies the principle of equal opportunities between men and women.
Further information
You can get further information about the job and the ESPON Coordination Unit by contacting:
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source: http://www.espon.eu
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