The German program has a robust internship initiative. Every year, it offers partial funding through the Max Kade Center for students to intern at German companies, startups, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions related to their majors and minors at Johns Hopkins. Over the past five years, students have gained invaluable international work experience at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Q3 Medical Devices, Multaka Project for Refugees, Euro Music Festival, and the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, among many other venues.
The program also has relationships with organizations that offer internship placements in Germany, such as ICE: International Cooperative Education, Cultural Vistas, IAESTE, and USA-Interns. In addition to Max Kade scholarships, Johns Hopkins students are eligible for several grants for study and work abroad. For more information, contact Heiko ter Haseborg.
Internship Funding Resources at JHU
- Max Kade Undergraduate Summer Travel Grant
- The Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity (URSCA) assists undergraduate students with creating, planning, and undertaking a hands-on research project. The Constance A.Morella International Scholarship specifically supports research abroad.
- Engineering majors can apply for the Vredenburg Travel Fund for internships around the world.
- The JHU Program in International Studies has links for internship opportunities as well as for grants to support summer internships.
- KSAS students can apply for Summer Internship Grants offered by the Second Decade Society.
- Homewood Student Affairs Fellowship Programs
- JHU Global Education Office has a list of scholarships available to JHU students.
External Funding Resources
- DAAD Rise (Research Internships in Science and Engineering)
- DAAD general information for funded study and research in Germany
Internship Placement Organizations
- ICE: International Cooperative Education
- Cultural Vistas
- IAESTE
- USA-Interns
Student Spotlights
Bridget Chen ’19 graduated Johns Hopkins with a double major in Neuroscience and German. She is now an MD/PhD student at Yale School of Medicine. Bridget interned in 2018 at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and learned how to perform a technique in neuroscientific research called in vitro patch clamp electrophysiology that proved crucial for her post-graduation plans. The internship also gave her the opportunity to merge her passion for the German language with her scientific pursuits.
Serena Wessely ‘20 completed a BA and MA in Biochemistry at Johns Hopkins. Her summer internship at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich in 2018 was both personally enriching and professionally rewarding and deepened her commitment to science education. She is currently working to connect science and art in early education. You can see her science-inspired art on her website.
Caroline West ’19 graduated from Johns Hopkins with a double major in Sociology and International Studies. She received an MPhil in American History at King’s College at the University of Cambridge and is now a PhD student in History at Princeton University. In 2018 Caroline undertook an independent research project in Berlin, interviewing recent Syrian and Iraqi refugees who are part of the Multaka Project which aims to diversify the museum experience. Caroline writes, “I continue to be grateful to the German department for providing the training and support that were crucial in facilitating my early forays into independent scholarly research.”