The WIPO Internship Program supports WIPO's mission to promote innovation and creativity for the economic, social and cultural development of all countries through a balanced and effective international intellectual property system, enabling interns to learn about the core values and initiatives of WIPO.

The WIPO Internship Program provides an opportunity for interns to complement their educational experience and to develop their professional skills and experience through participation in work in an international context. WIPO also benefits from the contributions of interns, who bring fresh perspectives and knowledge of the latest research in their specialist fields.

Categories, Duration and Stipend

Category I:

• Individuals pursuing a first-level university degree who are in their third or fourth year of study and/or need to complete an internship as part of their degree requirements; or
• Individuals who have obtained their first-level university degree less than two years from the date of the internship application; or
• Individuals pursuing an advanced university degree who have neither completed the coursework nor the final thesis.

The length of Category I internships shall be between 3 to 6 months. Interns in Category I shall receive a monthly
stipend of 1.645 Swiss Francs including local transportation allowance (as from May 1, 2023). The above is applicable to all interns assigned to WIPO Headquarters in Geneva.

Category II:

• Individuals pursuing their advanced university degree who have completed their coursework but not the final thesis; or
• Individuals who have obtained their most recent advanced university degree less than two years from the date of the internship application; or
• Individuals who obtained an advanced university degree more than two years ago, and are currently enrolled in subsequent post-graduate studies.

The length of Category II internships shall be between 3 and 12 months. This category of interns shall receive a monthly stipend of 2.170 Swiss Francs including local transportation allowance (as from May 1, 2023). The above is applicable to all interns assigned to WIPO Headquarters in Geneva.

This Roster notice applies also to all WIPO external offices (i.e., offices outside Geneva) which are responsible for engaging interns locally. For interns assigned to a WIPO external office, the amount of the stipend shall be determined taking into account local conditions and shall be paid in local currency.

Deadline: 01 July 2023, 11:59:00 PM

Duty station: Geneva, Switzerland

WIPO offers internships in the following fields:

• Law / IP Law
• Economics / Statistics
• Information Technology
• Technical Cooperation Services
• Project Administration
• Administration (Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, Program planning)
• Patent/Trademark examination
• Copyright
• Translation
• Other areas (Communications / Conference Services/Security...)

Education

• Individuals pursuing or having obtained a university degree;
• For individuals pursuing a first-level university degree, candidates must be in their third or fourth year of study and/or in a program that requires the completion of an internship as part of the degree requirements;
• Graduates will be eligible to apply for an internship no more than two years after completion of their most recent university degree or postgraduate studies.

Skills

Proficient computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other relevant IT programs/applications).
Good analytical skills.

Languages

Excellent knowledge of English.
For most internships, excellent drafting skills in English are required.
Knowledge of any of the following WIPO working languages would be an advantage: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Additional Information

Qualified candidates from unrepresented member states of WIPO and underrepresented geographical regions are encouraged to apply.
Candidates are required to add a cover letter / letter of motivation to their applications.
Interns are expected to work full time.
*Interns must meet all expenses for travel and subsistence and are responsible for arranging travel, visas and/or accommodation. Interns who are nationals of developing, least developed or transition countries and who are residing in their home country at the time of recruitment, may be eligible for reimbursement of travel expenses (round trip) on recruitment and on separation from WIPO, up to a maximum of 1.500 Swiss Francs.

An internship shall not be interpreted as a commitment to future employment with WIPO. Any employment with WIPO after an internship shall be subject to the applicable recruitment and selection procedures. Interns shall be considered as external candidates for any fixed-term vacancy for which they apply and fully meet the qualification and experience requirements.

WIPO Internships cannot be carried out remotely.

Overview of the selection process

Your profile will be reviewed against specific internship opportunities, as and when they arise throughout the year. If your profile is found to be a potential fit for one of our internship opportunities, you will be contacted and invited for an interview.
Interviews may be conducted by telephone, videoconference, or in person. The selection process may also include a written test. Once a candidate has been contacted for an opportunity, it normally takes several weeks to finalize the selection and inform all short-listed candidates of the outcome.
The timeline of the recruitment process is therefore directly linked to individual internship opportunities that may arise matching your profile. Unfortunately, due to the large number of applications we receive, we are only able to contact shortlisted candidates. If you are not contacted within 6 months of the closing date of this particular “Internship Roster”announcement, this means that your application has been unsuccessful for this specific roster or that there were no suitable opportunities matching your profile during this period.
We do however, encourage unsuccessful applicants to re-apply to the next internship roster should they still meet the eligibility criteria. This will confirm continued interest in the program and allow their profile to beconsidered/reconsidered for new opportunities.

Click HERE for all the detailed info and to apply.