OVERVIEW Position Number : 1ITSC PA130TP Grade : P-1 Parent Sector : Sciences Sector (SCS) Duty Station : Trieste Job Family : Natural Sciences Contract Type : Project Appointment Duration of contract : 1 year Recruitment open to : Internal and external candidates Application deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 14/10/2026 UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT Founded in **** by the late Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam and located in Trieste (Italy), the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) seeks to accomplish its mandate by providing scientists from developing countries with the continuing education and skills that they need to enjoy long and productive careers.
OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST Under the direct supervision of the Research Scientist (Head of the STI Unit), the incumbent will support project activities related to two extra-budgetary projects: the UNEP-ICTP project "TRACT", funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and – for 20% of his/her time – the UNESCO project "FRIEND-NILE", funded by the Flemish UNESCO Science Trust Fund (FUST).
Both projects aim to strengthen environmental and water-resources monitoring through low-cost weather stations and IoT/wireless technologies, with a strong focus on capacity building of local technical and scientific staff.
KEY ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES Contribute to TRACT (Maldives).
Support project Output 2 (Strengthened observations, monitoring, modelling and impact-based forecasting)



and Sub-activity 2.1.4 (IoT and wireless technologies) of the GCF-funded UNEP-ICTP project "TRACT – Toward Risk-Aware and Climate-resilient communities", deploying low-cost weather stations, terrestrial gateways and water-level sensors — including their photovoltaic powering, masts and civil works — across the Maldives.
Contribute to FRIEND-NILE (Nile Basin, 20% of time).
Support project Output 1 (in particular 1.1, 1.3 and 1.4) of the FUST-funded UNESCO project "FRIEND-NILE", deploying similar monitoring equipment across selected Nile Basin countries, managing datasets and services through IHP-WINS, and piloting a Digital Twin for at least one sub-basin in collaboration with the IHP AI Task Force.
Build local technical capacity.
Design and deliver training workshops on IoT and wireless technologies for environmental monitoring, building the capacity of local technical and scientific staff in the Maldives and in the Nile Basin countries.
Manage project activities.
Assist in managing project activities, including regular reporting and communication with stakeholders, and maintain contacts with UNEP, national partners and the UNESCO IHP AI Task Force.
Document deployments.
Document the technical details of all deployments and share the documentation with local stakeholders.
Conduct applied research.
Conduct research on the resilience and effectiveness of the deployed technical solutions, contributing to scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Long Description COMPETENCIES - Core (C)

📌 Associate Research Officer (Trieste)
🏢 Unesco
📍 Trieste