Thinking Canada Internships

Ten two-month internships will be offered to participants in the study tour. They will begin immediately following the end of the tour, and last for two months. Students accepted for internships will receive a grant of 750 EUR per month.

The following institutions, several of which have hosted "Thinking Canada" interns in previous years, have been approached with a request that they offer internships in 2013. A number have already agreed; internships at the others are still under negotiation.
Located in Vancouver, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (www.asiapacific.ca) is Canada's leading platform for research into the country's links with Asia.

The Canadian Labour Congress (www.canadianlabour.ca), with its headquarters in Ottawa, is the umbrella organization for dozens of affiliated Canadian and international unions, as well as provincial federations of labour and regional labour councils.

The role of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (www.civilization.ca), situated across the Ottawa River from Ottawa in the city of Gatineau, is to document  the history of Canada and its people.

The Canadian Museums Association (www.museums.ca), located in Ottawa, is the national organization for the advancement of the Canadian museum sector, representing Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internationally.

The city of Québec, the first permanent French settlement in the Americas, is the site of the Centre de la Francophonie des Ameriques (www.francophoniedesameriques.com), whose mission is to record and celebrate the “French fact” in the Americas in the past and the present, and to promote its future within a context of cultural diversity. NOTE: An excellent knowledge of French is required for this internship.

The internship centred at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto (www.torontokg.polemb.net) is designed to assist the office in a wide range of activities. NOTE: This internship is reserved for a Polish candidate.

The Delegation of the European Union to Canada (http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/canada/index_en.htm) in Ottawa serves as the European Union’s diplomatic mission to the country.

Health Canada (www.hc-sc.gc.ca) in Ottawa is the federal ministry dealing with all aspects of health and health care systems in Canada.

Founded in 1972, the Institute for Research on Public Policy (www.irpp.org) in Montréal is Canada’s oldest public policy think thank. NOTE: Applicants for this internship must be functionally bilingual.

British Columbia's Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octip), in Vancouver, was the first office of its kind in Canada. Its mission is to develop and deliver an integrated and permanent response to human trafficking in the province.


Portage (www.portage.ca) is an internationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to the social rehabilitation of substance abusers. Up to four internships are being offered, one at Portage’s site near Montréal at Lac Écho; in Ontario at its site near Elora; in New Brunswick at its Cassidy Lake site; and at Keremeos in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. All centres are located in beautiful natural settings in the Canadian countryside. NOTE: A good knowledge of French is important for the Lac Écho internship.

The Sierra Youth Coalition (www.syc-cjs.org) in Ottawa is the youth arm of Sierra Club Canada, one of Canada’s oldest NGOs in the area of the environment and sustainability.

It is important to understand that the selection procedure for the internships will only take place after participants in the study tour proper have been chosen. Some of these participants will be wanting to undertake an internship and others not. However, the number of individuals selected for the tour who wish to undertake an internship will undoubtedly exceed the number of internships being offered. For that reason, not all those selected for the tour and wishing to undertake an internship will be able to do so.  This being the case, students who are only willing to take part in the programme if they receive an internship are discouraged from applying.

Applications for internships form part of the on-line application form. For further information, see the "How to apply" page.

Decisions on internships will be made by the three-member EU-Canada Study Tour Selection Committee.
 

How to apply

Application for participation in the EU-Canada Study Tour and Internship Programme is done through an online procedure.

• The deadline by which students must fill in the online application form is midnight (Central European Time – summer time) on Tuesday 23 April 2013.
• The deadline by which academic sponsors must submit their recommendation(s) online is midnight (Central European Time – summer time) on Wednesday 24 April 2013.
• The deadline by which students must close their online application (see below, Step 7) is midnight (Central European Time – summer time) on Thursday 25 April 2013.

The selection of participants will be made by the three-member EU-Canada Study Tour Selection Committee, which will take into consideration geographical spread, range of disciplines and gender. This same committee will also be responsible for the selection of interns.

Application procedure

Before starting to fill in the online application form please read the information below very carefully. Note that you do not have to fill in the application form at one sitting, but can go back to it before completing and closing it.

The online application consists of seven steps. When proceeding through steps 1 to 6 you will not be able to return to an earlier step; however, once you reach step 7, you will be able to make any changes to any of the previous steps.

• Step 1: Personal information

In this step, you will fill in your basic personal information – name, citizenship, date of birth, gender, e-mail address.

• Step 2: Log in

By completing Step 1 of the application form, you will generate a message that will be sent to the e-mail address that you have filled in. This e-mail will contain the login data that will allow you to access your application form profile and continue filling in the application form.

• Step 3: Studies and internship

Here you will give details on your studies (university, level of studies, subject(s) of studies), and whether or not you also wish to apply for an internship.

If you do wish to apply for an internship, you must indicate three institutions (from the list of those offered) that would interest you, and rank them as your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices.

• Step 4: Curriculum vitae

In this step, you will be asked to fill in personal information that is important for us in the selection process (studies, work experience, personal skills and competences, and so on).

• 
  
• Step 5: Supporting documents

In this section you will be asked to upload a motivation statement – a convincing explanation as to why you wish to participate in the study tour, what particular contribution you feel you might make to the success of the tour, and what you anticipate will be the benefit of taking part in the tour. Mention should be made of particular areas of interest in (or experience of) Canadian Studies and/or topics dealt with in the proposed programme of the study tour as well as of any personal knowledge or experience of Canada.

If you wish to undertake an internship, as part of step 5 you will include a motivation statement for each of the institutions you indicated in step 3. This should indicate why you are interested in the institution in question, how you feel you could contribute to the work there, and what benefits you feel you would received from the intership, both personal and more broadly after your return home.

• Step 6: Academic sponsor

Here you will fill in details concerning your academic sponsor - a teacher at your home university who is in a position to be able to recommend you for the tour and will also be able to  explain how your participation in the study tour will be recognized at your home university after your return. Make sure the e-mail address you give is accurate, for when you complete this step, an e-mail will be generated automatically and sent to your academic sponsor explaining how s/he can log in to the application system and send us his/her recommendation.  If you have applied for an internship, your academic sponsor will also have to fill in separate comments on your suitability for these.

NOTE: It is essential that you speak with your academic sponsor before completing this step and explain what will be required of him/her. You should also stress to your sponsor the need to enter the recommendation in the on-line application form by midnight on Wednesday 24 April.

• 
  
• Step 7: Complete application

In this step, you will be able to take a final look at your application form as a whole. If you wish, you can return to individual parts and make adjustments/changes.

Please note that the application form cannot be closed until your academic sponsor sends his/her recommendation(s). Once that is done – you will receive an e-mail informing you of this – you must return to the on-line form and close the application. Before doing so, make sure that you are satisfied with all the data you entered: once you close the application form, you will not be able to make any changes to it.

Please note that even after closing your application form you will still be able to log in to your application profile and view the information there.

To access the online application form, click here.

 

More information: http://www.thinking-canada.eu/index.php/how-to-apply