In a multilingual environment, interns are given the opportunity to gain work and research experience at one of the Max Weber Foundation 's eleven humanities institutes abroad. The internship serves to deepen academic interests and knowledge, as well as to further develop organisational and social skills.

The internship programme is open to enrolled students on Bachelor's or Master's degree programmes.

The Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB) offers two fields of activity for internships:

     a) In the library of the OIB

The Orient Institute Beirut particularly promotes young librarians by offering specialised internships in the OIB's academic library.

These internships are aimed in particular at students in library and information science or students of Middle Eastern studies subjects.

Basic knowledge of of the transliteration rules for cataloguing holdings in Arabic script (RAK-ISL or RDA) and of original script cataloguing will be an asset. Basic knowledge of the Arabic language and literature is required. Please provide evidence of such knowledge in your application.

     b) In the area of research/publications/events

The OIB also offers internships for students of all disciplines listed in our mission statement - including research work for ongoing research projects at the OIB; proofreading scholarly papers; editorial assistance for our Annual Report, or curating and regularly updating the news & analysis and blog sections on our website, as well as editorial support for the OIB's publication series and administrative tasks for special publications. Interns can also gain experience in preparing and organising conferences, workshops, seminars and flyers, posters in addition to information material and communication on social media.

     c) In the Cairo Office

The internship would include a diverse range of responsibilities that vary according to the time of the year. They will not all happen at the same time, as the workload varies, but would include assistance in the day to day running of the office including correspondence with cooperation partners , replying to queries on email and on the phone, emails in preparation for the OIB/COSIMENA Research Colloquium, working closely with the COSIMENA team before and on days of the lectures, also proofreading scholarly articles in preparation of Cairo Office publications, editorial assistance for the book manuscripts and at the end of the year with the Annual Report. Interns can also gain experience in preparing and organising conferences, workshops and seminars, sending out invitations, preparing the program and other details regarding the conferences and workshops such as hotel reservations, transport organization etc.
 

The OIB supports mandatory and voluntary internships:

1) Mandatory internships: only for students enrolled at German universities

Applications from students at German universities who are required to complete an internship as part of their degree programme will be prioritised by the OIB in the selection process. The content of the internship, the duration and weekly working hours may be subject to the regulations of the individual university. Please include these details in your application.

2) Voluntary internships: open to students enrolled in German and international universities

Voluntary internships are offered for a period of at least 4 weeks. The maximum duration is 3 months. This applies to all internships at the Max Weber Foundation and its affiliated institutes. If possible, internships should start on the first day of the month.

To apply for an internship, you must be enrolled at your university for the entire duration of the internship. Good knowledge of English and Arabic (at least 3 semesters of Arabic) is essential for the internship.

The internship is supervised by the vice-director or head librarian of the OIB. If you are interested in working on a research project by one of our OIB research associates, you should also contact the person directly.

General information on remuneration and accommodation:

In accordance with the Max Weber Foundation's principles for the employment of interns, an expense allowance of 450 euros per month is paid for voluntary and compulsory internships.

It is possible to take up a guest room at the institute. In this case, the rent of approximately 282 euros per month will be deducted from this sum.

For students not enrolled in Germany, only voluntary internships can be offered.

We encourage all applicants to apply for a DAAD short-term scholarship (link)

Suspended till further notice

Application procedure and process:

Please apply before the two-yearly deadlines of 15 October (if you would like to come between January and April) and 15 January (if you would like to come between May and September). Please, note that the Institute will be closed between Christmas and New Year; the library will remain open during the summer but no events will take place between mid-July and early-September.

To apply, please send a filled form with a all the necessary documents listed in the form to Hussein Hussein copying Dr. Alya Karame.

We will contact you with our decision within one month.

A short-term scholarship for internships can be applied for from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for students enrolled in Germany. The short-term scholarship consists of two elements: a grant towards living costs and a travel allowance. The amount varies, but can be found on the DAAD scholarship page. (link)

Further information on this can be found at the Max Weber Foundation at: http://www.maxweberstiftung.de/foerderung/praktika.html