Internship Placements

• Broadening the knowledge gained at the university and developing practical skills to implement this knowledge 

• Acquainting students with the character of professional work 

• Developing professional skills specific to the work at the Placement Programme partner 

• Acquiring the data and information necessary to write an MA dissertation 

• Developing communication and interpersonal skills 

• Learning about the structure, functioning, principle of organisation and division of work and power, procedures and their oversight in the institution, organisation or company where the Placement Programme is carried out 

• Improving skills related to self-organisation of work, teamwork, effective time management, diligence and responsibility 

• Preparing the student for the independent performance of tasks 

• Developing negotiating skills 

• Improving communication skills in a foreign language  

• Learning about the principles of the functioning of the labour market and vocational activation of the student.

• During all third mobility periods, students are obliged to complete a placement. This placement is part of your academic programme at the third degree awarding partner university and will bear credit (5 or 6 ECTS). The third mobility university is responsible for allocating placements and for determining the nature of the assessment for placements. Before you start the placement, the third mobility university Coordinator in consultation with the internship partner determines the academic outcome of the placement to be completed (e.g. report, analysis, project). 

• All placements must be approved by the third mobility university and the Placement Officer. There are placement partners presented by each CEERES Partner (see list below). Students may use the opportunities for the placement presented by CEERES Placement Programme partners. If the student finds a placement outside of the list of partners provided by CEERES, they are obliged to have the approval from the third mobility Coordinator as well provide all the necessary documents to the CEERES Placement Officer. 

• Some of the Placement Programme partners may have a strict internship policy which is based on regular open calls. In this case, students who wish to be an intern at this institution are taking part in an open competition. Many of the organisations or companies involved in the Placement Programme accept students for specific projects, which may mean that their availability to provide placements may be limited in given time periods (for instance, some smaller organisations may not accept interns during the summer holidays). There are also organisations which are in need of interns constantly. 

• Students might be accepted for a specific project. The duties and obligations of a given internship have to be clearly stated before the placement begins and must be agreed upon by the student, the partner organisation, and the third mobility university Coordinator. 

• Students are required to follow the rules of the placement at each organisation. The partner might ask students to sign a Placement Agreement.

• Please notice that both Partner Universities and Placement Organization might require filling out internal forms and reports; however, only the documents provided in the Documents/Forms section of the CEERES programme webpage are valid for successful completion of the placement.

Step 1. Students are encouraged to carefully read the Placement Guide and identify potential placement options out of the organisations provided by CEERES universities. They are welcome to ask the CEERES Placement Officer as well as the Programme Coordinator at the third mobility university for advice on which organisation to choose. After having final approval of allocation in the third mobility university students should choose at least 3 institutions from the List of Placement Partners they are interested to do an internship in.  

In case when the chosen organization is out of the list, please state in the preference form whether you’ve already been in touch with them. 

Students should fill out online Placement Preference Form and upload  CV and 3 motivation letters by the end of May Year 1. 

Step 2. After receiving all the required documents, Programme Coordinators will get back to the students with the information from organisation about the approval of the placement.  

Step 3. Student should contact the placement organisation to agree on dates after they receive a positive reply from the Programme Coordinator. Student will follow up with appropriate documentation to be signed by the placement organisation (Acceptance Form). The signed Acceptance Form must be scanned or submitted to the CEERES Placement Officer. 

Step 4. The student, the placement organisation and the third-mobility university Programme Coordinator agree upon the academic output that the student needs to provide as a result of the internship (report, analysis, paper, project etc.). 

The academic output is the final product of students’ placement, and it needs to be a min. 3-5 pages document (in the form of a report, article, etc.) with academic references at the end of it in the form of a bibliography. The references don’t need to be solely academic; they can also refer to journalistic articles, political speeches, etc., but must be correctly cited. 

Step 5. When both formal and academic requirements are agreed upon, the student may begin their placement. 

Step 6. At the end of the placement, the CEERES Placement Officer collects: 

• the Placement Evaluation Report from the partner organisation (scan) 

• the Placement Report from the student (online)  

• the academic output prepared by the student (online) 

These documents are shared by the CEERES Placement Officer to the third-mobility university, which allows the university to grant the student credit for the placement.

General conditions:

• The internship should last a minimum of 20 full-time working days (8 hours per day), which is 160 hours. It might be extended in time, for example for 3 months, for an academic year, etc. This depends on the partner’s offer or the terms agreed between students, the partner organisation and CEERES Coordinator (third mobility university Coordinator). 

• The internship should be taken during the third mobility period, starting not earlier than September of Year 2, and ending not later than end of June of Year 2. If the 3rd Mobility University allows that, the placement might be completed during the summer before the start of the academic Year 2. 

• The student, the third mobility university Coordinator and the partner organisation must agree on the placement’s scope, duration and the final academic output (form of paper/project that will be the basis for granting credit for the placement). 

• Students are reminded that during their placement they represent the CEERES Consortium and that their performance and attitude might impact on future collaboration with the partner organisations. Therefore students are expected to demonstrate due diligence and responsibility in the tasks that they perform as part of the placement. 

NB! Special conditions: In case the third mobility doesn’t approve the chosen by student organization, they still can have internship there, but it won’t be credited in the framework of the CEERES placements. Students are allowed to organise their own internships and placements following the first year of studies. However, these activities will not be accepted for academic credit unless they are approved ahead of time. 

In exceptional cases, when student chooses a place of internship out with the list provided by the third mobility university, the student must cover the cost of insurance against accidents and injuries during the period of the placement.

It may be possible, and more convenient, to complete your placement in the fourth semester (by the end of May). Again, this is at the discretion of the third mobility partner. Likewise, where prior approval is given, students may complete their placement in the summer prior to their enrolment in the third mobility university. Remember, that it is a requirement, that the placement should always take place in the country of the third mobility university.  

Please be aware that some universities may have an internal requirement to complete so-called “research” internship as part of their curriculum. It is not related to IMCEERES placement and, accordingly, neither hours nor academic output from these internships can be counted for IMCEERES placement. Those are two separate things.

• When the internship is completed, the partner organisation will complete an evaluation form for the student. The placement organisation should send it directly to CEERES Placement Officer. 

• The student is required to complete the Placement Report when the placement is completed and send it to CEERES Placement Officer. 

• The student submits to the CEERES Placement Officer the academic output earlier agreed upon no later than 1 month after completion of the placement. The CEERES Placement Officer collects all the documents and sends them to the third mobility university Programme Coordinator. 

• All documents should be sent in digital form to Ms Svetlana Baranova, CEERES Placement Officer, at ceeres.placements@uj.edu.pl 

Placement Partners:

1. Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) (an entrance interview may be necessary)

2. Migration Research Institute

3. Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies 

4. Cold War History Research Center

5. Policy Solutions 

6. NPKI (Nation Policy Research)

7. HAS, Institute for Minority Studies/Centre for Social Sciences/Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre of Excellence

8. The Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS)

9. Századvég

10. Egyensúly/Equilibrium Institute

11. Nézőpont

12. HAS, Centre for Social Sciences/Institute for Political Science/Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre of Excellence

Placement Partners:

In Kraków:

1. The Kosciuszko Institute

2. New Eastern Europe

3. Legal Aid Centre. The Halina Nieć 

4. The Galicia Jewish Museum

5. Villa Decius

6. Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie

7. International Cultural Centre

8. The Multicultural Centre in Krakow

In Warsaw:

9. Centre for International Relations (the internship is conducted remotely)

Main Placement Partners*:

1. KIMEP China-Central Asian Studies Center

2. The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC)

3. UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty

4. Internews Kazakhstan

5. American Chamber of Commerce

6. LLP “Rakurs Consultimg Grup” (no web-page)

7. Alma University

*The additional placement partners’ list can be provided by the KIMEP University by request.

Placement Partners:

1. The Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development CIPDD – contact person: Marina Elbakidze, marina-elb@cipdd.org, info@cipdd.org

2. Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Rondeli Foundation), GFSIS – contact person: Eter Glurjidze – eglurjidze@gfsis.org, info@gfsis.org

3. JAMnews, Regional News Agency, https://jam-news.net – contact person: Maka Tsnobiladze, maka.tsnobiladze@gogroupmedia.net

4. Media Development Fund, MDF, http://www.mdfgeorgia.ge/eng/home – contact person: Tamar Kintsurashvili tamarmdf@gmail.com

5. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, FES, Georgia Office – contact details: https://southcaucasus.fes.de/

6. Social Justice Center, SJC, https://socialjustice.org.ge – contact person: tamta.mikeladze@socialjustice.org.ge

7. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information IDFI, https://idfi.ge/ge – contact persons: g.kldiashvili@idfi.ge, l.avalishvili@idfi.ge

Placement Partners:

1. Atlantic Initiative, Sarajevo, Majda Halilović, majdahalilovic7@gmail.com

2. Center for Security Studies, Sarajevo, Denis Hadžović, denis@css.ba

3. Foreign Policy Initiative, Sarajevo, Anida Šabanović, anida@vpi.na

4. Institute for Social Science Research, FPN, UNSA, Emir Vajzović, emir.vajzovic@fpn.unsa.ba

5. Center for Advanced Studies, Sarajevo, Asmir Aljić, aaljic@gmail.com

6. Why Not?, Sarajevo, Darko Brkan, darko.brkan@gmail.com

7. Post Conflict Research Center, Sarajevo, Velma Šarić, velmasaric@hotmail.com

8. Al Jazeera Balkans (regional)

9. N1 TV (regional)

10. Media Center