Internships, Fellowships & Careers
Internships, Research Internships, and Grants for Students of German
To get an internship, research internship, or grant using your German, follow this simple process. First read through the opportunities below. Then meet with Dr. Windham. We’ll discuss options and introduce you personally to appropriate staff in the Student Professional Development Center, the faculty representative for academic grants, or other appropriate personnel.
For all majors
Baden-Württemberg-Stipendium (grant to study abroad in Germany)
The Baden-Württemberg Stiftung enables some 1,200 students a year from all over the world to study abroad for three to eleven months. The objective is to promote the international exchange of highly qualified German and foreign students. The scholarships are divided equally between applicants from Baden-Württemberg and from abroad.
Learn more about the Baden-Württemberg-Stipendium
IJGD Service Learning
For young people between 16 and 26. Groups live together and work about 25 hours a week in non-profit projects. These three-week projects take place in cooperation with cities, local authorities and independent associations, initiatives, and organizations. Groups work in environmental protection, construction, renovation, social and pedagogical fields, or on cultural projects.
Learn more about IJGD Service Learning
Going Global
Country-specific career information. Search for job openings and internship opportunities in countries around the world.
Learn more about job and internship opportunities around the world
German Chancellor Fellowship
Prospective leaders in politics, economics, the media, administration and culture spend a year in Germany working on a project of their own design. Monthly stipend and mentoring support.
Learn more about the German Chancellor Fellowship
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange
The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX) is funded by the German Bundestag and U.S. Congress. It provides 75 American and 75 German young professionals the opportunity to spend one year in each other’s countries, studying, interning, and living with hosts on a cultural immersion program. The program is open to candidates in all career fields who are interested in a year of cultural exchange.
Learn more about the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange
Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program
This transatlantic initiative offers fifteen Americans the opportunity to complete a comprehensive professional development program in Germany. The Bosch Fellowship is comprised of three main components: customized work placements, professional seminars, and German language training.
Learn more about the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program
Cultural Vistas – Internship Program in Germany
Internship placements are available in a variety of fields, including, but not limited to business, engineering, finance, tourism, IT, media/communications, international relations, the nonprofit sector, German studies and economics.
Most internships are 3-to-12 months in length, are paid, and start dates are flexible. A limited number of language course stipends are also available for those who qualify.
Learn more about Cultural Vistas Internship Programs in Germany
Fulbright U.S. Student Program – Germany
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program currently awards approximately 1,900 grants annually in all fields of study, and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.
Grant Period: 10 months (beginning in August/September). BA/BS as a minimum at the start of the grant.
DAAD Undergraduate Scholarship
Highly qualified undergraduate students are invited to apply for scholarships funding study, senior thesis research and/or internships in Germany. The goal of this program is to support study abroad in Germany and at German universities. Preference will be given to students whose projects or programs are based at and organized by a German university. Scholarships are available either as part of an organized study abroad program or as part of an individual, student-designed study abroad semester or year. Grants are for a 4-10 month period in Germany during the German academic year.
Learn more about the DAAD Undergraduate Scholarship
DAAD University Summer Course Grant
This program provides scholarships to attend a broad range of three- to four-week summer courses at German universities which focus mainly on German language and literary, cultural, political and economic aspects of modern and contemporary Germany. Extensive extracurricular programs complement and reinforce the core material.
A number of the University Summer Course Grants are made possible by the DAAD Alumni Association of the US, including one that is specially earmarked for an applicant in the fine arts.
Learn more about the DAAD University Summer Course Grant
DAAD Young Ambassadors
Young Ambassadors are undergraduate students from North America who have recently studied in Germany and are interested in promoting study in Germany at their home universities and colleges. Young Ambassadors help inspire their fellow students to study in Germany by working at their universities’ study abroad offices, volunteering at study abroad fairs, answering questions from students, and organizing their own events on campus.
Learn more about the DAAD Young Ambassadors
RWTH Aachen – UROP International
RWTH Aachen University offers a wide range of research internships. Open to students from all fields of study.
UAS7 scholarships and internship opportunities
Since 2006, the Study and Internship Program (SIP) has enabled highly qualified undergraduates from U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities to experience hands-on education at a member of UAS7, a consortium of Germany’s top universities of applied sciences. SIP students spend a semester studying at a UAS7 campus and a semester interning. Universities of Applied Sciences include such fields as Economics and the social sciences in addition to the laboratory sciences.
Learn more about UAS7 scholarships and internships
European Study Center Internship Placements
The European Study Center staff custom arranges internship placements for individual students in companies or institutions which fit your personal interests, academic goals and background as closely as possible. Housing assistance, language preparation and cultural immersion courses are also arranged for each internship placement.
Learn more about the European Study Center
Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant
Fifty grants of $1000 to support study abroad.
Learn more about the Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant
The German-American Chamber of Commerce (GACC)
Internships are provided through participating host companies, American and international, who mentor selected participants for the paid summer positions. Host companies/internship availabilities are located in cities throughout Germany.
Learn more about the German-American Chamber of Commerce
Elon Department of World Languages and Cultures Scholarships
The Department of World Languages and Cultures provides travel grants and professional development grants to students in all languages.
Learn more about the Elon Department of World Languages and Cultures Scholarships
EU List of Scholarships to Study in Europe
Information on scholarships, costs, choosing a program, and applying.
Learn more about the EU List of Scholarships
Washington Internship Institute
Summer and semester-long internships in Washington DC with companies, government, NGOs, and others. For all majors. Housing provided. Options for students of German, e.g. with embassies & corporations.
Learn more about the Washington Internship Institute
AATG Internship Program
Internships in a wide variety of fields, including social services, agriculture, computer science, medicine, finance, chemistry, childcare, and engineering.
Learn more about the AATG Internship Program
For majors in the lab sciences and Engineering
RISE: Research Internships in Science and Engineering
RISE is a summer internship program for undergraduate students in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences and engineering. 2 to 3 months during the summer. RISE interns are matched with doctoral students who serve as their mentors. The working language will be English. All scholarship holders receive stipends from the DAAD to help cover living expenses, while partner universities & research institutes provide housing assistance.
UAS7 – Sciences
UAS7 is a strategic alliance of seven leading German Universities of Applied Sciences committed to excellence in teaching and research. Since 2006, the Study and Internship Program (SIP) has enabled highly qualified undergraduates from U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities to experience hands-on education at a member of UAS7, a consortium of Germany’s top universities of applied sciences. SIP students spend a semester studying at a UAS7 campus and a semester interning.
Learn more about Science Programs at UAS7
For majors in Business, Marketing, Economics, and Entrepreneurship
Research Internships at UAS7
Research at UAS7 member campuses is application-oriented and typically geared towards the needs of regional business and industry. These hands-on research opportunities are available in laboratories and research institutes run by faculty on our campuses. UAS7 faculty all bring extensive experience in their respective fields, and their research as faculty members often sustains these connections. Altogether, UAS7 members maintain cooperative relationships with over 1000 companies, from multinational firms to the “hidden champions” that are often global leaders in their market niches.
Learn more about Research Internships at UAS7
The German-American Chamber of Commerce (GACC)
The German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern United States (GACC South) is a private, non-profit organization which serves as the official representative of German industry and trade in the southeastern United States. Their main mission is to promote and support bilateral trade between Germany and the US. Their primary purpose includes providing services to small and medium-sized German companies so that they may enter the US market successfully. They are also a membership organization, serving the German-American business community in the southeast US. Their organization is part of an international network composed of 120 German foreign chambers of commerce and government offices in 80 countries.
Learn more about the German-American Chamber of Commerce
For majors in Communications
Freie Universität Berlin – International Center for Journalism
The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and the Freie Universität Berlin (named in 2007 as one of the nine “universities of excellence”) have developed this unique program to provide outstanding young journalism students – who may themselves come to have a significant influence on international opinion-shaping – with an opportunity to immerse themselves in the society, culture, values and political attitudes in Germany.
Deutsche Welle Fellowship Program for Young Journalists from the United States
Deutsche Welle, Germany´s international broadcaster, runs a fellowship program for journalists from the United States. The program provides young journalists with the opportunity to work at Deutsche Welle’s Bonn broadcasting center for six months.
For majors in the social sciences (International Studies, History, Political Science, etc.)
Émigré Memorial German Internship Program–German State Parliaments (EMGIP)
The Émigré Memorial German Internship Program–German State Parliaments (EMGIP) is a fellowship program that provides U.S. and Canadian students with internships at a German state parliament (Landtag). Internships afford students an excellent opportunity to gain government work experience, improve their advanced German language skills, and learn about German culture firsthand. This professional opportunity overseas is ideal for students planning on pursuing careers at a regional level of government in the United States or Canada, or who have an interest in a specific policy issue such as the environment, education, or healthcare.
Learn more about the Émigré Memorial German Internship Program
US Department of Education – Foreign Language and Area Studies
The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships program provides allocations of academic year and summer fellowships to institutions of higher education or consortia of institutions of higher education to assist meritorious undergraduate students and graduate students undergoing training in modern foreign languages and related area or international studies. Eligible students apply for fellowships directly to an institution that has received an allocation of fellowships from the U.S. Department of Education.
Learn more about the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships program
Other internship, research internship, and grant sites
Elon University Student Professional Development Center
The SPDC provides full-service consultation on internships and careers.