Intern, Partnerships, Development and Intelligence Unit (2 positions)

About us

Founded in Brussels in 1983, CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) is a leading think tank and forum for debate on EU affairs, which has been consistently ranked among the world’s top 10 best think tanks. One of CEPS’ distinguishing features is its strong in-house research capacity and extensive international network of partner institutes. CEPS’ funding comes from a variety of sources, mainly research grants and service contracts, but also membership and conference fees.

The Partnership, Development and Intelligence (PDI) Unit drives the strategic development of CEPS by identifying opportunities, building partnerships, and securing funded research and advisory projects. The unit combines funding intelligence, partner engagement, and business development to connect CEPS ’ expertise with emerging policy priorities, funding programmes, and strategic collaborative opportunities.

This position presents an excellent opportunity to gain valuable insights into the processes behind securing and delivering impactful research initiatives while supporting CEPS’ operational excellence and strategic growth.

The ideal starting date for the internship is mid-September 2026. Please note that we are recruiting for two positions.

Main tasks

As an intern in the Partnerships, Development and Intelligence (PDI) Unit at CEPS, you will have the opportunity to contribute to a wide range of activities that support the organisation’s partnershipbuilding, funding intelligence, and project development efforts. Your responsibilities will include:

• Monitoring funding opportunities: You will help identify and track relevant funding opportunities from European institutions, foundations, and national and regional governments.
• Opportunity pipeline management: Maintain a live pipeline of upcoming calls, deadlines, lead partners, consortium status, and decision points.
• Supporting proposal development: You will contribute to the preparation of competitive research proposals by assisting with the preparation of administrative documentation and supporting the coordination of the submission process.
• Supporting proposal coordination: Assist with version control, internal deadlines, contributor followup, and collection of inputs from researchers and operations teams.
• Supporting legal, compliance and eligibility checks: Support review of basic eligibility requirements, due diligence/reputational checks, consortium composition, page limits, templates, submission rules, and mandatory annexes.
• Tender documentation management: Maintain reusable boilerplate, legal/admin documents, references, CVs, entity data, and past performance material.
• Mapping and developing partnerships: You will assist in maintaining an overview of CEPS’ partnerships and identifying opportunities to strengthen existing and develop new collaborations.
• Supporting framework contract management: You will assist in monitoring framework contracts, tracking requests, and maintaining relevant records and documentation.
• Assist in preparing contracts: You will assist in preparing, drafting and reviewing contractual agreements with partners and external experts (such as Service Agreements and Consortium Agreements).
• Conducting research and intelligence gathering: You will support the collection and analysis of information on funding trends, institutional priorities, and opportunities relevant to CEPS’ research activities.
• Maintaining CEPS databases: You will support the collection, organisation, and regular updating of information on CEPS research projects, staff expertise, and strategic partners across Salesforce and SharePoint.
• Data management and analysis: You will assist in ensuring the quality and consistency of the data maintained in CEPS databases and contribute to analysing trends, lessons learned, and insights from project evaluations and past activities to inform future initiatives.
• Supporting other relevant tasks, as and when required.

Your background and qualifications

• You have finished, or are close to finishing, your tertiary education, and have a university degree in European Studies, International Relations, Public Policy, Law, Management, or another relevant field in the social sciences or humanities.
• You have knowledge of the EU policy landscape, including the functioning of EU institutions, policy development processes, and relevant funding frameworks.
• You have a good understanding of tendering procedures and funding programmes. Experience in supporting the preparation of research projects, grant proposals, or tenders, is an asset.
• You have experience with database management and informaton management systems. Familiarity with tools such as Salesforce or SharePoint, is an asset.
• You have experience working with different stakeholders and supporting partnership-building activities in a research, policy, or institutional environment.
• You have an excellent command of English, both orally and in writing (C1 level).
• You have good knowledge of MS Office®.

Your profile

• You are detail-oriented and take pride in ensuring accuracy and quality in your work.
• You enjoy working in a team environment and collaborating with colleagues across different areas of expertise.
• You are comfortable with administrative work and appreciate the importance of structured information management and effective coordination.
• You are eager to learn, develop new skills, and gain practical experience in partnership development, research funding, and project coordination.
• You are flexible, adaptable, and able to manage changing priorities while meeting deadlines.
• You are open to feedback and enjoy contributing to a collaborative working environment.
• You are comfortable working in an international team, collaborating effectively with colleagues.
• You can work independently, taking ownership of tasks and delivering quality results.
• You have an inclusion-oriented mindset and absolute respect for diversity.
• You are enthusiastic about contributing to the success of the PDI Unit and to CEPS as a whole.

What CEPS can offer

We offer two full-time internship opportunities for a duration of six months, starting in mid-September 2026. The selected candidates will join under the CIP scheme and receive a CIP allowance of EUR 1,200 per month. The internship is based in Brussels and will take place in-person, but some teleworking might be possible for a limited period. Candidates must be legally entitled to undertake an internship in Belgium for the duration of the placement.

Career development prospects

This internship offers hands-on experience in key areas that support the development of essential skills for a successful career in the Brussels policy and research environment, including research project coordination, funding opportunities, partnership development, and institutional collaboration.

More information

Further information about the position can be obtained from [email protected].

Application and deadline

Applicants are requested to:

• Complete and submit this recruitment form by 16 August 2026, 23:59 CET;
• Send their CV (in English) to [email protected] by 16 August 2026, 23:59 CET. We kindly request that you use the following subject line for your email: 'Intern 2026 -PDI '. For the CV, please use the Europass template (<https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/>).

Applications received after the deadline, incomplete applications, or applications that do not follow the above instructions will not be considered.

Pre-selected candidates are invited to a short online interview in the week of 24 August 2026. Based on these first interviews, shortlisted candidates will be invited to an in-person or online interview in the week of 31 August 2026.