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July 25,  2016
OPPORTUNITIES
Internships at LLNL's Center for Global Security Research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The Center for Global Security Research's (CGSR) mission is to provide technology, analysis, and expertise to aid the US government in preventing the spread or use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and examining the policy implications of proliferation of WMD, as well as deterrence. CGSR has openings for continuing students (undergraduate and graduate) and Bachelors or Masters recent graduates within one year the opportunity to engage in practical research experience to further their educational goals. Opportunities may include nuclear engineering research, computational sciences, materials science and engineering, cyber security, interactive data mining, and research to support United States (US) policy and decision makers in developing strategies for national and international security.

     
Visit  here to learn more and apply.

Postdoctoral Research Scholar Program
Defense Threat Reduction Agency in Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Fall 2016

We are seeking a U.S. citizen to provide support of research activities to improve  methods for detection of nuclear threats . The selected candidate will be placed at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, or DTRA, located in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Candidates must be able to obtain a security clearance. T his program enables DTRA to utilize mission-critical expertise possessed by highly qualified graduate students (nearing completion of their degree) or others who hold doctoral degrees. Postdoctoral Fellows will be selected based upon their responsive ability to enhance DTRA's mission requirements.  At this time we are specifically looking for a candidate to fill a position focused on enhancement of detection concepts which includes long-term monitoring as well as rapid detection.
      
Applications are accepted online on a rolling basis at https://psu.jobs/job/64229  until the position is filled. Please email  jbm18@psu.edu  for more information.

Doreen and Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Challenge
The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and the Nonproliferation Review
Deadline: September 9th, 2016

The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and its journal, the Nonproliferation Review, want to spur new thinking, specific recommendations, and policy initiatives in the nonproliferation and disarmament field. We'll publish the most outstanding new ideas and proposals and award a grand prize of $10,000, as well as a $2,000 runner's up prize.
 
This year's contest is open to those enrolled in a master's or doctoral program, or who have received their graduate or PhD degree no more than five years prior to the contest deadline.

Visit here  to learn more and apply.

The UNSCR 1540 International Student Essay Contest
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Stimson Center
Deadline: August 5th, 2016

This year, the UN Security Council is reviewing the implementation of resolution 1540 over the past five years - and as part of that effort is reaching out to undergraduate and advanced degree students worldwide to bring the brightest minds to bear on the challenge of countering the global threat posed by WMDs. 

The first- and second-place winners will get a two-night stay in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, to present his/her ideas at a September 30, 2016 awards ceremony hosted at Harvard University to representatives of the U.N. Security Council and will receive awards of $2,000 and $1,000, respectively, from the Washington Foreign Law Society. These top two selected essay winners will also be invited to the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Conference in Brussels on November 3-4, 2016, and will be invited to present their views at the "Next Generation" workshop on November 2, 2016, courtesy of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. 

Contest Deadline: Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m Eastern Time on August 5, 2016.  Winners will be announced in early September. 

Visit here  to learn more and apply.
IRAN
Remarks at the UN Security Council Briefing on Iran Nonproliferation and the Implementation of Resolution 2231
Ambassador Samantha Power, United States Mission to the United Nations
July 18, 2016 

It has been one year since the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, and the EU concluded a deal with Iran to ensure that Iran's nuclear program is, and will remain, a peaceful one. Despite a long history of deep mistrust on both sides, commitments have been kept. Despite dire predictions to the contrary, the deal has held. That is a truly significant achievement.

      Read more

Iran Needs to Take America Seriously Again
Eric Edelman, Mike Makovsky and Jonathan Ruhe, USA Today
July 14, 2016 

The year since the  Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program was announced has been a strategic windfall for Iran and a disaster for the United States. Many of the deal's shortcomings were glaring from the beginning, yet they have been magnified by serial and gratuitous U.S. concessions to unilateral Iranian demands.

      Read more
ARMS CONTROL AND DETERRENCE
In An Age of 'Smart' Weapons, We Can Live Without Nukes
  Ward Wilson, United Press International
July 19, 2016 

Concern about the dangers of nuclear weapons is nothing new. But with the Republican National Convention in Cleveland about to nominate  Donald Trump  as its candidate for president, many people are feeling increasingly trapped - a feeling that was intensified this week when the  ghost writer for Trump's book  The Art of the Deal  said, "I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization." Regardless what you think about Trump, it is certainly true that the world is getting increasingly dangerous. 
        

A Novel Approach to a Longstanding Challenge in Nuclear Arms Control
Meg Murphy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
July 19, 2016 

Verifiably reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world will require more than international diplomacy; a scientific breakthrough is needed. To date, all nuclear arms control treaties have been limited in a peculiar way: Participants cannot determine that the warheads of other countries being counted are real.  Now researchers led by R. Scott Kemp in MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering say they have found an answer. 
        

How to Expose a Fake Nuke Without Revealing What's Inside
Emily Benson, New Scientist
July 18, 2016 

A new kind of scan could identify fake nuclear warheads, without revealing what's inside. The technique offers a way out of a tricky catch-22: to comply with nuclear arms reduction treaties, inspectors need to scrutinize nuclear warheads to verify that real missiles, not decoys, are being disarmed.  The US and Russia alone have thousands of nukes slated for dismantlement between them. But to protect state secrets, governments won't allow examinations that reveal a bomb's blueprint.
         

CTBTO Executive Secretary Meets with Future Leaders
Masako Toki, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
July 11, 2016 

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Executive Secretary Dr. Lassina Zerbo visited the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) on July 1 to meet with CNS summer undergraduate interns and Davis United World College  (UWC) fellows.
         

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