About the opportunity
The Quality of Government (QoG) Institute at the University of Gothenburg is recruiting highly motivated, self-driven master’s students for 2–3 internship positions (1–2 general research internships and 1 data internship) for the Spring 2027 semester. Interns experience academic work in an international environment, engaging with various research projects and researchers while participating in seminars and events hosted by the QoG Institute and the Department of Political Science. General research interns assist with research summaries, literature reviews, administrative tasks, and data analysis. Data interns focus on data wrangling, cleaning, validation using Python pipelines, codebook updates, and metadata documentation.
Funding and benefits
- Practical experience in daily academic research and data workflows within an international research institute
- Opportunity to earn academic credits toward an ongoing master's degree program
- Active participation in seminars, workshops, and scholarly events organized by the QoG Institute and the Department of Political Science
- Direct mentorship and collaboration with academic researchers on empirical quality-of-government projects
Who can apply?
- Current enrollment in a master's degree program that officially allows an internship and grants academic credits toward the degree
- Study field in Political Science, Global Studies, Data Science, Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics, IT, or a closely related discipline
- Good organizational, documentation, and communication skills, accompanied by strong attention to detail
- Strong command of spoken and written English (the working language of the QoG Institute)
- Familiarity with statistical software is considered an asset for research roles
- For Data Internship candidates: basic to intermediate Python programming skills (pandas and common data libraries), familiarity with structured formats (CSV, Excel, JSON), basic data validation experience, and knowledge of VS Code or Jupyter Notebooks (GitHub and Django are optional bonuses)
Required documents
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Cover letter
- English writing sample
When to apply
- Application deadline: October 31, 2026
- Internship period: Spring semester 2027
How to apply
- Review the specific requirements for either the General Research Internship or the Data Internship track
- Compile your CV, cover letter, and an English writing sample
- Complete and submit the official online application form before the October 31, 2026 deadline
- Direct any questions regarding the application process to infoqog@pol.gu.se
Additional information
- The internship is entirely unpaid; all decisions are at the discretion of the program coordinator and cannot be appealed
- A total of 2–3 internship spots are available for the Spring 2027 cycle across the general research and data tracks
- Daily tasks depend on the ongoing needs of active QoG research projects
Our Take on This Opportunity
This section reflects Open Opportunities’ own analysis of the opportunity from an applicant’s perspective.
You may be a strong fit if…
- Master's students in political science, social sciences, or data science who need a credit-bearing curricular internship and seek direct academic research experience
- Aspiring quantitative researchers who want to work directly with renowned governance datasets and improve their literature review and data analysis competencies
- Data-oriented students skilled in Python and pandas looking to apply technical data cleaning and pipeline management within a social science research institution
What should you think carefully about?
- The position is explicitly unpaid, requiring interns to independently cover their living, travel, and relocation expenses in Gothenburg, Sweden
- Mandatory institutional requirement: applicants must be currently enrolled in a master's program that grants formal academic credit for the placement
- Decisions made by the program coordinator are final and cannot be appealed
How could this fit your current goals and plans?
This internship serves as an effective stepping stone for master's students contemplating academic careers, doctoral studies, or analytical roles in policy think tanks and international organizations. It provides demonstrable experience with high-profile governance data and active research projects within the University of Gothenburg.
Our take
Strongly recommended for master's students whose degree curricula award credit for external internships and who possess external financial means or institutional mobility grants (such as Erasmus+) to support living in Gothenburg. It is unsuitable for graduates who have already completed their degrees or students seeking a paid role.
Ready to apply?
Review the opportunity on the official website before applying.
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