Founded in Brussels in 1983, CEPS, the 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 ten best think tanks. The Partnerships, Development and Intelligence Unit drives the strategic development of CEPS by identifying opportunities, building partnerships and securing funded research and advisory projects, combining funding intelligence, partner engagement and business development to connect CEPS's expertise with emerging policy priorities, funding programmes and strategic collaborative opportunities.
CEPS is recruiting for two positions, with an ideal starting date of mid-September 2026.
🤝 Main Tasks
As an intern in the Partnerships, Development and Intelligence Unit, you will contribute to a wide range of activities that support the organisation's partnership-building, funding intelligence and project development efforts:
🔍 Monitoring funding opportunities: 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: contribute to the preparation of competitive research proposals by assisting with administrative documentation and supporting the coordination of the submission process
🗂️ Supporting proposal coordination: assist with version control, internal deadlines, contributor follow-up and collection of inputs from researchers and operations teams
⚖️ Supporting legal, compliance and eligibility checks: support review of basic eligibility requirements, due diligence and reputational checks, consortium composition, page limits, templates, submission rules and mandatory annexes
📚 Tender documentation management: maintain reusable boilerplate, legal and admin documents, references, CVs, entity data and past performance material
🌐 Mapping and developing partnerships: assist in maintaining an overview of CEPS's partnerships and identifying opportunities to strengthen existing and develop new collaborations
📄 Supporting framework contract management and assisting in preparing, drafting and reviewing contractual agreements with partners and external experts
🧠 Conducting research and intelligence gathering on funding trends, institutional priorities and opportunities, and maintaining CEPS databases across Salesforce and SharePoint, contributing to data management and analysis
🕊️ A public affairs and communications placement elsewhere in Brussels: Internship in 🇧🇪 Belgium 🕊️ Public Affairs and Communications at a European Pro-Democracy Movement 📣 → https://youthworkshub.org/21057
✅ Your Background and Qualifications
🎓 You have finished, or are close to finishing, your tertiary education, with 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, and experience in supporting the preparation of research projects, grant proposals or tenders is an asset
💻 You have experience with database and information management systems, and 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, at C1 level, and 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 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, open to feedback and comfortable working in an international team
💶 A donor engagement placement at a humanitarian NGO in the same city: Internship in 🇧🇪 Belgium 📣 Communications and Events at a Renewable Energy Industry Alliance ⚡ → https://youthworkshub.org/20520
💶 What CEPS Can 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 1,200 EUR 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
📋 The Details
📍 Location: Place du Congrès 1, Brussels, Belgium
🏢 Unit: Partnerships, Development and Intelligence
📄 Duration: 6 months, full-time, two positions
📅 Start: mid-September 2026
📩 How to Apply
Complete and submit the recruitment form and send your CV in English, using the Europass template, to the applications email address, using the subject line "Intern 2026 – PDI", both by the deadline. Applications received after the deadline, incomplete applications, or applications that do not follow the instructions will not be considered. Further information about the position can be obtained from the tenders email address.
⏰ Deadline
16 August 2026, at 23:59 CET.
🔗 Links
📧 Applications: applications@ceps.eu
📧 Information: tenders@ceps.eu
