Internship at the QoG Institute

Internship testimonies

Hayden E. Buker, intern at the QoG Institute, Autumn 2022

During the second year of the Master’s programme in Political Science, I had the excellent opportunity to do an internship at the Quality of Government Institute. Having been interested in pursuing a PhD following the master’s programme, this internship provided an opportunity to experience an academic environment and work with the leading scholars in this field.

The internship itself has been a beyond-expectations experience, during which I was given a much clearer idea of what entails an academic career, including expanded career options such as research assistantships and data management.

During my time at QoG I was given many opportunities to work with current research projects that ranged from compiling relevant literature and research, to hands on work creating literature reviews for ongoing projects. Aside from the assigned tasks, as an intern at the QoG institute, there was the possibility to attend seminars and other events that provided the opportunity to both learn about current research being conducted at other universities and institutes, and to actively participate in discussion with prominent scholars in the field of research.

A valuable quality of the QoG institute is its breadth of study. QoG is so much more than studying corruption and as an intern you never feel pigeon-holed into a particular field of study – I have assisted on projects about gendered portrayals in the media, environmental policy acceptance, and international aid efforts. The institute’s internal structure further provides a wonderful experience as the working environment is very open and transparent and the input of the interns is always appreciated and valued. It is highly encouraged that the interns do not shy from expressing their thoughts in any open discussion. The institute puts in extra effort to facilitate this environment by organizing a QoG breakfast every second Monday, during which there is equal opportunity to discuss the ongoing projects at the institute, introduce the tasks to which you have been assigned, and receive insight from the other researchers.

Given the very positive time I have had at the institute, my plan is to pursue a research position in the field of corruption research, with additional plans to develop a concise PhD proposal in the future.

Any student who is considering an academic career and would like the chance to put their skills into practice should certainly apply for the internship at the Quality of Government institute.

Inken Schütt, intern at the QoG Institute, Spring 2022

In the spring of 2022, I had the chance to do a 5-months internship at the Quality of Government institute. Through the professors of my master’s program, I became interested in the institute and the possibility of doing an internship there. Especially the prospect of using my knowledge in working with data was a motivating thought when applying for the internship.

Coming into the internship, my supervisor, responsible for me during the internship, welcomed me on my first day. This person showed me around the institute, introducing me to several researchers and then discussing my expectations and possible requirements of my internship, as well as presenting me with a set of different tasks from which I could then pick. I could always contact my supervisor when I needed a new assignment or if I just wanted to give an update on my time as an intern. During the internship, I then worked on various tasks with different researchers, ranging from literature research to applying my knowledge on working with and handling data and coding. This scope of the assignments made this internship so unique, as it gave an excellent overview of how the academic world works and what a potential PhD can look like.

Moreover, not only the work itself but also the working environment was highly encouraging. As an intern, I was always motivated and encouraged to participate in various events organised by the QoG institute, such as seminars and discussions. This allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and listen to lectures and discussions on various topics in the political science field. But it also led me to connect and network with other scholars, get to know PhD students, talk about their experiences, and discuss topics and thoughts with researchers and professors. These encounters were always highly encouraging and constructive, challenging my views and opinions to grow and develop academically.

What started as a regular student internship quickly became a nutritious experience which motivated me to further read into the possibility of going into academic research and applying for a PhD position after graduation.

Ilya Lavrov, intern at the QoG Institute, Spring 2022

My name is Ilya Lavrov, I am a Master’s student of the Erasmus Mundus TISE programme and I was a summer intern at the Quality of Government Institute. I have a background in Political Science and I have always been interested in how political institutions of high quality are designed and what factors impact government effectiveness. Besides, I am keen on an academic career and would like to pursue a Ph.D. in Political Science, so this internship was a prime opportunity for me to take a look at how research institutes operate on the inside and gain practical experience in such an organisation.

During the internship, I was a member of the Data team. I have worked on modifying and improving the QoG Compilation Datasets. I have also updated the QoG data finder by adding more variables to it, proofreading, and adjusting variable definitions. Furthermore, I have helped several QoG professors with data collection. Overall, I had a great experience working with massive QoG datasets and I am glad that I was able to contribute to the QoG Data.

A large part of my internship was also educational. My mentor Natalia Alvarado Pachon taught me how to produce insightful and appealing visualisations in R and then I applied the acquired skills to make a series of tweets about E-governance around the world which was published on the QoG Twitter. Not only did I work with the dataset and create the plots and maps but I also created a content plan, conducted a literature review on the topic, and analysed various case studies. Overall, it was a valuable experience for me, during which I learned how to pitch my ideas and attract the readers’ attention with a limited amount of words, allowed by the platform.

All in all, I had a very positive experience during the internship. I expanded my knowledge on the impact of the quality of government on various policy areas. Moreover, I improved my quantitative research skills, related to managing, processing, analysing, and visualising data. The atmosphere in the team was always very supportive and I could freely choose which tasks to complete, based on my research interests. I am grateful to the entire QoG team and would love to collaborate with many of them in the future!

Palina Kolvani, intern at the QoG Institute, Autumn 2019

I did my internship at the Quality of Government Institute (QoG) in the second year of the Master’s programme in Political Science In Autumn 2019. Having taken the QoG course in the spring, I applied for the internship to improve my knowledge of QoG as a research area. I also knew that I would like to pursue a PhD after graduating, so an internship at QoG was an excellent opportunity to gain experience in an academic environment.

Thanks to my time at QoG, I realized that I find academic work really rewarding and would like to pursue an academic career after I finish my studies.

During my three months at QoG, I worked with several researchers on various tasks ranging from literature reviews to data collection and analyses. I also assisted with the annual update of the QoG dataset and improved my skills in using statistical software. As a part of my internship, I attended many events at the department, including biweekly QoG lunch seminars, which was a great opportunity to learn about ongoing research from scholars both from and outside the university, as well as practitioners. I found the working environment at QoG very collaborative and supportive where the interns’ assistance is really appreciated. The institute also organizes a QoG breakfast every Monday morning which is a great opportunity to learn more about the ongoing projects at the institute.

Thanks to my time at QoG, I realized that I find academic work really rewarding and would like to pursue an academic career after I finish my studies. The internship at QoG is well-suited for students who want to apply their skills and knowledge in practice and get a change to work with the leading scholars in the field.