My internship at the Institute for Politics and Society was a great benefit to me but perhaps somewhat different from the other interns because it took place during the coronavirus outbreak. As a student of political science, who unfortunately had to return from Erasmus in France, I immediately began looking for another way to deepen my practical knowledge in the field. Fortunately, I came across IPPS, where I was very friendly welcomed, and they immediately found work for me that I did for them through the home office. Basically, since the online interview, I felt included and part of the team, which motivated me daily to help at the institute.

I cooperated the most with the director Prát, who treated me like an equal colleague. My tasks were mainly to help with the processing of papers in both English and Czech and to work with data and their collection. As a bachelor’s student, this work pushed me a lot because I finally worked on research and papers that were not just “another homework” like at the university. Among other things, I also enjoyed working on a paper about women in politics, where I helped Ms. Konrádová with the research and improved needed tables. I generally enjoy the topic of gender equality and, what is more, I was treated during this project as an equal colleague with my own opinion which was very nice and refreshing. As a bonus, I dusted off my Czech for these two months, because after years of studying in a foreign language, I needed to practice my academic vocabulary a bit.

An internship at IPPS helped me to look into the work of the largest Czech think-tank, which is crucial for a political science student. In the future, I am heading for a similar direction, so I am glad that I had the opportunity to try it right here. Although unfortunately, I did not experience the institute in a “normal” mode, I still think that working through a home-office is becoming more and more popular. Therefore, I had, so to speak, an exclusive opportunity to look into the possible future of work arrangements.