The Research Group
for Biological Arms Control

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Internships

The Research Group for Biological Arms Control offers internships to students or recent graduates with an interest in disarmament and non-proliferation policy. Internships should last a minimum of six weeks. An intern will be assigned a project of his/her own and will be guided and assisted throughout the duration of the internship. We are committed to providing a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of biological arms control. The intern should expect to spend 75% of his/her time on the individual project and 25% on administrative duties.

To apply, please submit a CV, a very short project proposal (from the list below or of your own choice), your reason for choosing this project and available dates to info@biological-arms-control.org.

Possible internship projects include:

Analysis of CBM Form G: This project will assess the comprehensiveness and accuracy of CBM Form G submissions on vaccine production sites between 1992 and 2005. Submitted data will be compared with information found in open sources. This project contributes to the Research Group’s project on improving the confidence building measures under the BWC.

National laws and practices of using non-lethal weapons: The development of certain types of non-lethal weapons threatens to erode the prohibitions of the BWC and the CWC. Civil society organisations have yet to agree on a common position on chemical, biochemical and biological non-lethal weapons. This project will build on preliminary work already done at the Research Group, and focus on gathering information on current national laws and practices of using such weapons internally and externally.

Data on world wide biotech trade: Biotechnology is a 100 billion USD market. Tied directly into the Research Group’s project on trade monitoring of biological dual use items, this project will look at new ways to find information on the international flow of biological goods.

Comparison of chemical and biotech/pharma industries: One of the reasons for the failure of the BWC’s verification protocol in 2001 was claimed to be the unverifiability of the biotech sector. However, in the chemical field, a sector arguably similar to that of biotech/pharma, a verification instrument is in operation. This project focuses on the similarities and differences between these two industrial sectors and what makes verification in one possible but seemingly impossible in the other.

Positions of industry on biosecurity: Biosecurity is an increasingly important issue in the life sciences. Biotech industry can not avoid defining its own position on biosecurity. This project identifies and analyses the positions of different biotechnological industry associations towards biosecurity.

Codes of Conduct addressing biosecurity in German scientific societies: Codes of Conduct for life scientist are a tool for raising awareness about the security aspects of scientific work and encouraging life scientists to reflect on their activities. They are considered to be essential elements of a comprehensive biosecurity strategy. This project identifies and analyses existing codes of German scientific societies with a focus on biosecurity issues.