2025 Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech)
Host Organization: Tallinn University of Technology
Website: www.taltech.ee & www.finestcentre.eu
Organization Profile: Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) is the only flagship in engineering and IT science and education in Estonia, providing higher education at all levels in engineering and technology, information technology, economics, science, and maritime. TalTech’s mission is to be a promoter of science, technology, and innovation and a leading provider of engineering and economic education in Estonia. The Tallinn University of Technology is one of the most recognized and largest universities in Estonia with more than 2,000 employees, including 1,200 teachers and research staff. Taltech has students, lecturers, scientists and experts from all continents (from 100 different countries in total), and it has the highest number of foreign students and lecturers compared to other Estonian universities.
City: Tallinn, Estonia
Internship format: In-person
Internship Department: FinEst Centre for Smart Cities
Department Description: The FinEst Centre for Smart Cities (FinEst Centre) is an international research and development center, driven by passion to enhance the quality of life in urban areas. The FinEst Centre focuses on five research themes (Mobility, Energy, Built Environment, Data and Governance) aimed at developing cities to be more human-centric, supported by digital data and services. The FinEst Centre was founded in Dec 2019 by Finnish and Estonian partners and is mainly financed by the European Commission and Estonian government. The Finest Centre has approximately 40 employees, mainly based in Estonia, but some also in Finland, Latvia, Finland, Italy, Cyprus etc. In addition, the FinEst Centre hosts the research and innovation community around it with approximately 15 interdisciplinary research groups and around 100 researchers from different departments at Aalto University in Finland and TalTech in Estonia.
In 2024, the FinEst Centre hosted 2 interns from Stanford: Taylor James (https://finestcentre.eu/media-and-events/news/stanford-students-urban-studies-and-smart-cities) and Ishrita Pol (https://finestcentre.eu/media-and-events/news/meet-ishrita-stanford-undergrad-passionate-about-arts-outdoors-and-environmental-policy). In 2023, the Director of the FinEst Centre (Ralf-Martin Soe) visited Stanford as the Global Digital Governance Fellow (https://finestcentre.eu/et/media-and-events/news/inside-stanfords-network-of-smart-cities-movement).
Project description: The intern is expected to join the continuous process of matching long-term city challenges (e.g. urbanization, climate change) with ideas on how to solve them in the urban environment via research and innovation actions that we call pilots. If successful, those pilots aim to transform European cities of becoming climate-neutral and smart by 2030.
The FinEst Centre is conducting smart city pilots where each pilot project should involve one Estonian municipality and out foreign one (https://finestcentre.eu/innovation-with-cities/smart-city-challenge-2024). The FinEst Centre is also participating in several pan-European projects that conduct, for example, climate-neutral pilots in various European Cities (e.g. www.netzerocities.eu) and twin-city pilots on urban data integration (https://www.ds4sscc.eu). The total combined volume of those piloting programmes exceeds 100 million dollars.
This is a dynamic role having the potential tasks (depending on the interest/ availability):
- Assist in evaluation of cutting-edge pilot projects before they will be tested out in the urban environments – engage with experts with a goal to coordinate the evaluation process.
- Help in setting up international cross-sectoral teams of urban developers and researchers – e.g. facilitate meetings.
- Identify best practices to inspire and inform replication and scale-up in cities.
- Gather and analyze data – dependent on the skills and project needs, perform qualitative (e.g. setup interviews, analyze interview data) and/or quantitative data (statistical analyses).
The FinEst Centre has a flat and open working culture where the intern would be welcomed as an equal colleague.
Number of Opening(s): 1
Work Hours and Internship Start/End Dates: (Monday to Friday, June 24 –August 8, 2025): Five days approximately 37 hours a week. Flexible hours
Work Attire: Casual
Local language: Estonian
Local language level needed: Not required
Additional desired intern qualifications: As this is a research and innovation center with higher degree of freedom, a self-motivated and independent intern would be preferred.
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- Policies regarding travel (domestic or international) and international internships will be updated as University policies evolve. Visit International Affairs Health Advisories for the most current travel guidance and restrictions for international travel.
- Travel Reservations: All interns are strongly encouraged to utilize Stanford Travel, a centralized booking program, when booking airfare, hotels, or rental cars for their internship experiences. StudentUniverse is best for special student rates.
- Students must be enrolled at Stanford in the quarter when they apply for an internship opportunity (Winter), and will need to be enrolled in undergraduate study in the quarter when grant funding is disbursed (Spring). Applicants participating in off-campus Stanford programs are welcome to apply, but it is the responsibility of the applicant to compile, collate, and submit a complete application.
- Internship participants must certify that they are in good academic standing, and may not participate in the program or receive or retain internship stipends if they are on suspension.
- International students must consult with Bechtel about interning in the U.S. or traveling out of the U.S. in the summer.
- Each applicant can apply for a maximum of two program-arranged positions. If you apply for more than two positions, we will only consider the first two positions submitted. EXCEPTIONS: your application for program-arranged positions in Belgium, Estonia, and Latvia, are exempt from this restriction. Although you are allowed to apply to multiple positions in these countries and you might be selected for multiple positions, you can only be awarded with one internship.
- The Program is open to all undergraduate students. Seniors* or co-terms are eligible as long as they do not confer their undergraduate degrees until after they complete their internships to remain eligible. Coterm students must still have undergraduate status. Positions in South Asia and Iranian Studies are also open to Master's students in all majors. Positions in East Asia are open to MA students majoring in East Asian Studies. Note*: Only seniors who will be returning to co-term for all of next year, are eligible to apply for positions in Belgium and Estonia.
- Participants must be current Stanford students during the internship period. Seniors and graduating Master's students must postpone graduation paperwork until the internship ends, but may participate in commencement. For summer graduation requirements, including details regarding enrollment requirements and information about participation in the June commencement ceremonies, students should contact their major department's student services office and Registrar's Office for graduation quarter petition.
- Local language skills are based on the internship description requirements.
- Global Studies minors receive preference for the program.
- Preference will be given to students who have not had similar internship experiences in the same country or region i.e., students who haven’t already participated in an internship in this country or region.
- Students who have not been accepted into the Global Studies Internship Program should refrain from contacting any of the partner organizations listed in the internship list until they receive direction from Stanford Global Studies.
- Preferably, before beginning their internships, selected candidates should have taken at least one course regarding the internship region. The course can be taken in the quarter prior to the internship.
- Interns must commit to full-time work (a minimum of 35 hours per week) for at least 8 weeks.
- To be eligible for a stipend, students must maintain health insurance for the duration of their internship.
- Violations of Global Studies Internship Program policies are also violations of the Fundamental Standard and may be referred to the Office of Community Standards. Students who fail to abide by the policies set forth by the Global Studies Internship Program, Stanford Global Studies, and Stanford University, will have low priority or no longer be eligible for future Stanford Global Studies funding opportunities and programs. The Global Studies Internship Program reserves the right to rescind funding at any given point and time should they be apprised of any policy violations as outlined above.
For more information, please see Eligibility and Stipend.
For more internship positions provided by the Stanford Global Studies Internship Program, please see our internship listing.
If you have ANY questions, please email globalinternships@stanford.edu. Please also see the FAQ.
