Science-Policy Visiting Fellow - Data Governance CSTD

About UN University (UNU)

The United Nations University (UNU) is a global think tank and postgraduate teaching organization within the United Nations System. UNU engages in policy-relevant research, capacity development, and knowledge dissemination in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The work of UNU contributes to solving pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations and its Member States.

For the past five decades, UNU has been a source of impartial research on sustainability, human security, and economic development. With hundreds of researchers working at institutes in 12 countries, UNU's expertise spans the full breadth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, generating policy-relevant knowledge to effect positive global change. UNU collaborates closely with other UN entities and leading research institutions across the globe.

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UNU‑CPR is one of 13 research and training Institutes that comprise the think tanks of the UNU system. UNU‑CPR headquarters are in New York.

The Centre prioritizes urgent policy needs requiring innovative, practical solutions oriented toward immediate implementation and sustainability over the long term.

In June 2022, UNU‑CPR established an office in Geneva with the generous support of the Government of Switzerland to help expand the Centre's support across the UN system, collaborate with the full range of policy actors in International Geneva, and help bridge the policy ecosystems in Geneva and New York. As the Research Lead for the Secretary‑General’s Scientific Advisory Board, UNU‑CPR collaborates with scientific leaders in the UN system and cutting‑edge scientists around the world.

More information about its work is available at /cpr

Only candidates from the Global South may apply.

This Science‑Policy Visiting Fellowship is part of a joint initiative between UNU‑CPR and the Geneva Science‑Policy Interface (GSPI) to strengthen the science‑policy interface in Geneva, connecting scientists, research institutions, and private sector actors to the diplomatic community.

The project was launched in 2025 and will run during 2026‑2027, offering opportunities for greater Global South engagement in the research and policy processes in International Geneva by hosting two Visiting Fellows from the Global South to work on research projects at the intersection of science and policy.

Two projects were identified in discussions with actors from the Geneva UN ecosystem. The present Fellowship will support one of these projects: "Data Governance for Development:
From Asymmetry to Equitable Stewardship," in collaboration with the secretariat of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD).

The CSTD is a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations focal point for science, technology and innovation (STI) for development, analysing how STI, including information and communications technologies (ICTs), serve as enablers of the 2030 Agenda. UN CTAD has hosted the secretariat of the commission since 1993.

For its 30th session, CSTD will address the priority theme "Data Governance for Development:
From Asymmetry to Equitable Stewardship." This theme examines how inequalities in data infrastructure, ownership, and governance capacity are creating new global disparities, with disproportionate impacts on developing nations (LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS). It also investigates how biases embedded in data collection processes systematically underrepresent marginalized groups, including women. The central question is how equitable, interoperable data governance frameworks can be designed to promote inclusive digital cooperation and ensure that data as a strategic resource contributes to shared prosperity and sustainable development.

This Fellowship will focus on producing policy‑relevant research on these issues, including contributing to the report introducing this theme at the commission's intersessional panel on November 6th in Geneva.

UNU‑CPR and GSPI value…