All Things Urban

Demos Helsinki is the leading Nordic think tank focusing on the innovative use of natural and human resources.

We make systemic change happen with open innovation and foresight. We publish and advise globally. Our partners include European Commission, Unilever, Nordic Innovation, Finnish Prime Minister's Office and many others in path to a smarter future.

People come to us looking for new ideas, new concepts, and strategic change when old solutions are no longer working. What makes our work stand out is our broad-based expertise in futures studies and our use of first-class research

Internship programme for us who can’t separate doing from thinking
Social scientists, economists, designers, philosophers, social psychologists, engineers… Demos Helsinki is a globally operating independent think tank bringing all these specialists from different fields together. We work with curious governments, cities, companies, universities, and other partners sharing a mission: to build a fair and sustainable next era. Research and consultancy operations, together with the Untitled initiative, form Demos Helsinki’s work.

Demos Helsinki is now recruiting interns for a 3-month-long paid internship beginning between January and June 2021. The application is open until Monday 2 November, 2020, 23:59 (EET).

Your study background can range from human sciences to business and from political sciences to engineering.

In our internship programme, you will learn about Demos Helsinki’s collaborative way of changing the world. Based on your background and goals, you will be able to take part in research and consulting projects, sales processes, communications, organising impactful events, and building partnerships.

– Contributing to client projects as an equal and active part of the team, e.g. research, analysis, background study, workshops, and participating in client meetings

– Assisting in sales processes, e.g., making client proposals

– Project management & internal development tasks

– Communications & digital marketing tasks

– Organising events & webinars

Working at Demos Helsinki is not only about brainstorming grand ideas but making them happen in the real world. In our internship programme, you will learn how to combine these two skills. We encourage and allow our interns to take responsibility. However, we always encourage each other and take part in creating a ‘culture of support’ at the office and when working remotely.

– You are interested in becoming an expert, management consultant, or researcher in your field, and you are ready to take your skills and expertise to the next level

– You are interested in the world around us and you have a drive for collaborative working

– You have experience in project and research methods and/or good project management skills

– You know how to showcase and utilise the skills you have attained in your field of studies

– You are an undergraduate or graduate student at a university or a university of applied sciences, either in Finland or abroad, during the entire internship. If you study at an international university or university of applied sciences where your study programme restricts you from taking on an internship position during your studies, you are eligible to apply if you have graduated during the current or previous school term. PhD students are not qualified to apply.

Your study background can range from human sciences to business and from political sciences to engineering. We prioritise interns’ proactivity, self-steering and problem-solving skills, and the capability to learn new things as well as thinking of the bigger picture. Experience from extracurricular activities is considered an advantage.

At Demos Helsinki, we work with a wide range of themes. Our team structures are fluid, making it possible for our people to flexibly move and cooperate within and across our projects. Among our integral themes are, for example: sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, continuous learning and the economy of wellbeing, people-first smart cities and urbanism, agile governance, foresight, and reimagination and experimentation. We are also involved with many research projects, for instance, international projects funded by the EU Framework Programmes and the Strategic Research Council’s projects in Finland.

The duration of the internship is three months. If you study outside Finland, the length, timing, and other details of the internship can be discussed to fit your studies. Depending on your availability, the internship may begin sometime between January and June 2021, and we hope that you will express all possible options for you to complete your internship in the application form.

Regarding the global COVID-19 situation, we are following the Finnish authorities’ guidelines and work remotely as a default; however, our offices in Helsinki are also currently open for work for a limited number of people. We have also successfully completed remote onboarding processes while making sure we offer as much support as we can during this time. Should the situation change for the better, we expect to begin working fully from our offices. For this reason, we kindly ask you to closely consider the period of time for your availability to partake in the internship programme, so as to make sure you are able to fully commit to it regardless of the internship taking place remotely or at the Helsinki offices. You can also express any specifics concerning your situation on the application form.

We will choose several interns in this application process. The compensation for the internship is 1,500 € per month. We have international interns working with us regularly, and based on this experience, we can help with practicalities related to potentially moving and working in Finland by sharing useful information and tips we have compiled throughout the years.

The call for interns is open until Monday 2 November, 2020, 23:59 (EET).

Demos Helsinki promotes equality in working life. We have an anonymous application process in the first phase of the intern selection. You apply for the internship by filling out the application form, but the details that are irrelevant for the preliminary selection (e.g., name, age, and city) are temporarily hidden when we go through the applications. The anonymous application process ensures that the preliminary selection is influenced only by information that is relevant to the process.

Our office and all workspaces are accessible.

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.