Deadline: ongoing
Open to: undergraduate and postgraduate European students with a good command of English
Benefits: gain confidence and self-esteem; gaining new skills, knowledge and experience; developing existing skills and knowledge; spending free time wisely; feel valued and part of a team; chance to socialize
Description
The European Student Think Tank is establishing a vast community of students who are contributing to a more elaborate insight into the European Union. The EST Network will consist of all those contributing to the content of their website, policy proposals, events and future projects.
They are working on facilitating an online network for their members; regular contributors will receive a ‘profile page’ on which their fields of knowledge, experience and interests are published. Members of the EST Network will be able to look into each other’s information in order to find previous projects of an author they find interesting or to work together on a piece.
The EST Network will become a vital part of the Think Tank as it is moving to more advanced projects of creating policy ideas. In each step of the Think Tank’s progress interdisciplinary cooperation between students will be necessary. The Network function of the website will help to moderate this process.
If you are excited about influencing and improving EU policy and want to be an active member of Europe’s civil society, please consider the following ways in which you could contribute becoming an ambassador, a board member, a treasurer or a writer.
Ambassador
In order to reach a larger amount of students and to increase the quality of our work, EST is looking for students who would like to represent them in their country as Ambassador. As EST Ambassador you are one of the key players in their network. You are the main contact for your country. You will be responsible for promoting EST in your country and building a network of student contributors. In short, you are the face of EST in your own country. As they are still a young organisation, there is also plenty of room for your own input, ideas and challenges.
EST is currently looking for Ambassadors that will represent them in: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Iceland and Serbia.
EST is looking for motivated, proactive candidates who have an excellent command of English and good written, verbal and social skills. In addition, ambassadors are required to live in the country they represent and be familiar with the country’s higher education system.
Ambassadors spend roughly 5 hours a week on participating in and promoting EST and its activities, building a national network of enthusiastic students and professors, and developing a plan for sustainable growth of and commitment to EST.
Being an EST Ambassador will allow you to acquire firsthand experience with working in an international think tank, be involved in the European policy-making process, organize events on today’s important political issues and enter into a network of like-minded peers.
If you are interested and would like to apply, please send an email with a motivation letter and a resume to International@studentthinktank.eu before March 3rd, 2014. They will contact you within a two-week period after the closing of the call. If you meet the requirements, EST will ask you to discuss your ideas with us via Skype.
Board Member
The EST’s seven board members serve one-year terms, meaning we need new board members every year. The board is split up in the Directive Board (President, Treasurer, Secretary) and the Executive Board (Event Manager, Press and Promotions Officer, International Officer, and Editor in Chief). Usually a Call for Board Members is published in March every year, which will outline the responsibilities and profiles of each position. After interviewing the best candidates, new board members will be selected in May, who will then go through a transition period during the summer.
All positions are open to undergraduate and postgraduate European students with a good command of English. For more information and applying, please send an email to secretary@studentthinktank.eu.
Treasurer
Do you have experience with finances? Do you have the skills to oversee an international organization? Then consider applying for the position of Treasurer! The European Student Think Tank’s Treasurer together with the President and Secretary forms the Directive Board that, together with the Executive Board, runs the EST and directs the organization’s activities. As Treasurer you will focus on the financial aspect of the organization as well as the overall functioning and structure.
A Treasurer should be organized and have some experience with finances. One of the main tasks is acquisition, so prior involvement in fundraising (especially EU funding) is preferred. In addition, as EST is an international organization, we are looking for internationally-minded students with good communication and English skills. The position will take up roughly 10 hours per week, depending on experience and work ethic, and is unpaid.
Being treasurer will allow you to:
- Acquire firsthand experience with working in an international think tank;
- Acquire fundraising skills and knowledge of EU funding schemes;
- Be involved in the European policy-making process;
- Enter into and expand a network of like-minded peers.
The period of employment will run until at least June 2014, but preference will be given to candidates who are able to stay longer. Residency in The Netherlands (but not Dutch nationality) is strongly preferred. Because the Directive Board has to be in close contact and attend biweekly board meetings in person, EST has been forced to limit eligibility to people who can be in the office in Amsterdam at least a long evening every two weeks and sometimes for longer periods. If this disqualifies you from the position but you would still like to contribute, please be in touch with us as well.
If you are interested in applying please send an email to secretary.est@gmail.com with your CV and a motivation letter before February 11th, 2014. Questions can be addressed to the same email as well.
Writer
Are you looking for a way to get engaged in an international platform where students share their thoughts about the European Union? Are you not afraid of sharing your opinion and being critical? Do you like writing, but you do not exactly know where to go with your articles? Then become a blogger for the European Student Think Tank. Currently, the EST is looking for young academics that are enthusiastic to contribute to our Think Tank by means of writing down their thoughts about the European Union.
You can decide for yourself whether you want to write once a week, once every two weeks or on a freelance basis, as well as your topic, as long as it is related to the European Union. If you are interested in becoming a blogger, please send an email to editorinchief.est@gmail.com in which you introduce yourself, together with a blog or article that you would like to see published on the website of the EST. They will contact you within two weeks to tell you whether you can become part of our team.
Submit a paper
Have you recently written a paper on a topic related to EU policy and would you like to see it published? The EST has an open submission policy, meaning you can always send in your paper for consideration. If it is deemed to be of value to the academic and policy community by our Editorial Team and the grammar and style are of a sufficient level, they are happy to publish your work. Take into account that the EST will not make any changes to your original text. All papers will be published in their original form. Every published paper will be available online and can be mentioned as a publication on your CV.
If you would like to submit a paper, please send a PDF copy to editorinchief.est@gmail.com.
Participate in an event
The EST and its partners organize events to inform students about and involve them in EU policy. These events range from more traditional lectures and panel discussions that are open to the public to selective policy-generating activities such as strategy groups and conferences. Some of these the EST organizes independently, and others in collaboration with partners and like-minded organizations. Besides, the EST actively participates in networking events of other organizations with a European focus. Sign up for the newsletter to stay up-to-date about the events they are organizing and events where you can meet EST representatives.
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