Eureka Traineeship Programme
Call for applications: Trainees in Operations (2)
Hybrid office/home - Brussels (Etterbeek), Belgium
In autumn 2022, the Eureka Secretariat launched its traineeship programme.
Our objective is to offer traineeships to university students or recent graduates and provide the opportunity to learn about the Eureka initiative and its activities. The trainees will put into practice the knowledge they acquired during their studies, while the Eureka Secretariat will benefit from their valuable support.
The traineeship programme will have two rounds annually - one starting in February and the other in September, recruiting four candidates each for a duration of 5 months.
What is Eureka?
Eureka is the world’s biggest public network for international cooperation in R&D and innovation, with more than 45 countries in Europe and beyond, in addition to the European Commission. They cooperate in organising and funding programmes where companies and other organisations can apply for funding and support for their international R&D projects.
What is unique about Eureka programmes is that the public funding is particularly focussed on projects involving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that collaborate beyond borders to produce innovative products, processes, or services and commercialise them, with resulting socio-economic benefit. Eureka collaborates very closely with the European Union. To this day, Eureka remains the only initiative of its kind committed to a ‘bottom-up’ principle, ensuring that any R&D project with an excellent business plan and civilian purpose can receive the support it deserves, regardless of its technological nature or the types of organisations involved.
The Eureka Secretariat in Brussels (Etterbeek) is the central support unit for the network. With a strong international team of around 35 staff members, the Eureka Secretariat centralises all Eureka project information and undertakes communications, data analysis, impact assessment and network development activities.
The Eureka Secretariat is responsible for the implementation of the Eurostars and Innowwide programmes, dedicated to highly innovative SMEs and co-funded by Eureka countries and the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe framework programme.
The Eureka Secretariat collects and distributes information on projects, manages the project database, develops and maintains a centralised programme management platform, assists the various constituent bodies in the evaluation and monitoring of projects and works jointly with national and regional authorities to raise the visibility of the network, its portfolio of programmes and the impact of its projects.
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Traineeships
The trainees will be part of one of the small and dedicated teams listed below, and will quickly progress under the guidance and support of colleagues. They will work on specific tasks and topics of relevance to the Eureka network and the Secretariat.
The Eurostars Team
Eurostars is the largest international funding programme for SMEs wishing to collaborate internationally on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation. The team running the programme counts eight staff members and they coordinate all stages of the programme. The trainee in this team will take part in the evaluation processes and the monitoring of a portfolio of R&D projects involving companies from across Europe and beyond.
The following qualifications and skills would be an advantage:
- Qualification in business studies, international relations, European studies, political science, project management or economics
- Analytical thinking with the ability to handle both qualitative and quantitative data
- Service minded and a team player
- Methodical with administrative work - well organised and able to multitask
The Global Programmes and Corporate Activities team
This team is behind the Network projects, Globalstars, Innowwide, Clusters and Investment Readiness programme. It is also responsible for running the Eureka expert database which is central to the evaluation of Eureka project applications.
Working in this team, you will contribute to the development and implementation of these programmes.
The role offers an introduction to public administration, research funding and international cooperation.
The following qualifications and skills would be an advantage:
- Qualification in business studies, international relations, European studies, political science, project management or economics.
- Analytical thinking with the ability to handle both qualitative and quantitative data.
- Being service-minded and a team player.
- Exceptional administration work - well organised and able to multitask.
In general, the trainee needs to demonstrate that they have a(n):
- Service-oriented attitude
- Reliable and organised approach to collaboration
- Sensitivity to cultural differences and ability to act with diplomacy
- Positive and flexible approach
- Highly motivated, team-player mindset, but also the ability to work independently and manage their own deadlines
- Excellent command of Office 365 software, particularly Excel and/or other data management tools
- Fluency in English, written and spoken, as the language of communication at Eureka
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ELIGIBILITY
Traineeships are open to anyone who is legally entitled to work in Belgium and has post-secondary education of at least three years, attested by a diploma. In exceptional cases, the traineeship may be open to students who are still currently enrolled.
WORK CONDITIONS
- Bachelor’s/Master’s graduates will be employed via a professional immersion agreement (Bruxelles Formation[1]/VDAB) and will receive an indemnity of 977.50 EUR gross/month (21 years and over) – index 2023.
- Students still enrolled will receive an indemnity depending on and via their university faculty’s agreement for students doing an internship as part of their curriculum.
- All trainees receive meal vouchers worth 8 EUR per worked day, a 148 EUR/month net homeworking allowance, and reimbursement for costs related to travel by public transport between home and the office
- All trainees can work on a hybrid basis, combining home and office work, as part of our flexible working policy.
APPLICATION AND CLOSING DATE
- Please apply for this post by sending your curriculum vitae and motivation letter and completing the application form via the online APPLY button.
- Clearly mention if:
- you apply for the September 2023 traineeship only
- you apply for the February 2024 traineeship only
- you are open to either period
- By sending an application, candidates give their consent to their diplomas and references being verified.
- Closing date: Monday 10 April 2023 17:00 Brussels time.
- Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
- Candidates shortlisted for interview will be contacted within one month of the application deadline. Only applicants selected for interview will be contacted.
[1] The file of the successful applicant will have to be submitted to Bruxelles Formation which will give its approval or not within a period of 10 days from the date of reception. The trainee may only start their traineeship after having received approval from Bruxelles Formation
