Student internships at the Parliamentary Institute

On the basis of an agreement on the provision of student internships in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic concluded between the Office of the Chamber of Deputies and the Political Science Department in the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, the Institute of International Studies and the Institute of Political Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, the Parliamentary Institute provides internships for students of these institutions.

In cooperation with academic institutions, the Parliamentary Institute is also involved in the organisation of courses under university degree programmes. Together with the Faculty of Law of Charles University, the Parliamentary Institute organises annually an optional course ‘Parliament of the Czech Republic – Theory and Practice’ for students of the Faculty. It co-organises the course „Parliamentary Practice“ with the Department of Political Science in the Faculty of Arts of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University. Both courses are combined with an internship at the Parliamentary Institute. At the Department of Political Science of the Institute of Political Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, PI participates in implementing the optional course ‘Parliament in the Czech Political System: theory and practice’.



Student internships with Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic organises internships for university students, focused on cooperation with individual Deputies. The aim of the programme is to provide students with the opportunity to combine the theoretical knowledge acquired during their studies with practical experience through direct cooperation with Deputies. Students will also have the opportunity to learn about the work of Deputies outside plenary sessions or committee meetings and to understand all aspects of the Deputy mandate. The interns work directly with Deputies and their assistants. In particular, they participate in the preparation of materials related to the work of a Deputy, search for, sort and analyse background material and independently prepare research and small studies on bills and other Chamber of Deputies Documents.

Conditions for participation in the programme:

  • studying political science, economics, law, sociology or related subjects;
  • completed Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent at minimum;
  • good knowledge of English, French or German; knowledge of other foreign languages is an advantage;
  • interest in political and public affairs;
  • successful completion of an initial interview.

The internship cannot be claimed and the student can only complete it once during his/her studies.
Interns work without remuneration.



Scholarship programme for internships from Germany

Since 2015, the Parliamentary Institute has been involved in a student internship programme for students from the Federal Republic of Germany, who undertake three-month internships in Deputies‘ offices regularly in the spring and in the autumn. A staff member of the Parliamentary Institute distributes information about the internship among German universities and political institutions. Subsequently, together with a Deputy and a representative of the Czech Embassy in Berlin (or another representative office), the staff member participates in the candidate selection procedure. During the internship in the Chamber of Deputies, the staff member co-manages the internship programme. The scholarship internship programme takes place under the auspices of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.



Rieger's Prize

The PI staff, together with other employees of the Office of the Chamber of Deputies, participate in the implementation of the student competition for the František Ladislav Rieger Prize, awarded by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies to students for the best degree paper in the field of parliamentary studies. The F. L. Rieger Prize contributes to the promotion of parliamentary issues and related issues among higher education institutions. The Prize is awarded annually by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies to the best theses on the proposal of an expert committee appointed by him/her. The committee selects the theses from the fields of social sciences, history and law, based on how well they contribute to the research of Czech parliamentarism. The authors of the selected works are then invited to a meeting of the committee in the Chamber of Deputies, where they present their theses. The Prize is accompanied by a financial reward. The theses are submitted to the competition directly by their authors. Along with the submitted thesis, the students must send a recommendation from the department where the thesis was defended. The competition is open to authors of bachelor’s and master’s degree theses from public and private higher education institutions. It is possible to submit works in Czech, Slovak, English and German. The competition is also open to foreigners – graduates of Czech universities.