Internship at PRIO

What tasks did you perform during your internship?

– During my internship I carried out a large number of activities, ranging from short-term and individual tasks to long-term and time-intensive activities. They were often directed at aiding with the running of PRIO’s Gender, Peace and Security (GPS) Centre, and as such focused on organizing, planning, and preparing events, seminars, and meetings for PRIO and its external partners. This has been the case for the Queering Research seminar hosted on April 26^th 2023, planned and arranged from scratch by Anna Marie Obermeier and I, as part of PRIO’s Diversity Initiative.

As part of my internship I was also entrusted with the GPS Centre’s social media presence, encompassing posting news and tweets about new and upcoming events or happenings surrounding the GPS Centre, as well as with investigating the impressions and follower trends of the @prioGPS Twitter account.

Finally, a large part of my time at PRIO has been aimed at researching varied topics surrounding gender and peace, searching for potential partnerships and collaborations, and most of all mapping existing research published on the topics of queerness and the joint discussion of Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and intersectionality. Such research mapping efforts have been particularly time consuming, but the resulting overview of hundreds of articles has been one of the highlights of my time at PRIO.

How did you use skills you have acquired from your education at the Faculty of Humanities?

– Having taken a course on Gender, Peace and Conflict during my first semester at UiO, I was able to not only understand the topics and research present at PRIO, but also positively and productively engage with them in a way that would not have been possible without it. In particular, the knowledge learned during such course allowed me to participate in PRIO meetings and contribute to academic discussions, acting as the solid foundation necessary in a research environment.

What do you think is or was the greatest benefit from your internship?

– By participating in a research environment such as PRIO I was able to improve and expand my academic and professional experience, gaining knowledge and competencies that ordinary studies might not have granted me.

The most valuable aspect of this internship for me ought to be the growing confidence in my academic and research perspectives and interpretations, as by participating in an engaging research environment like PRIO I was able to express my opinions and interpretations freely knowing they would be heard and taken into consideration. Such confidence will undoubtedly play a part in the writing process of my Master’s Thesis and any future path I will take.

Of course, the internship itself has further helped build my professional experience, both due to carrying out taxing yet necessary work and establishing professional relationships.

Anything else you would like to add?

–  I would definitely recommend future students to consider carrying out an internship such as the one I had, be it at PRIO or any other institute or organization, but with a note of caution regarding the amount of work that it entails. While this internship may substitute an elective course for your MA, you will be likely to go above and beyond to impress your superiors or to prove your ability or knowledge; be sure to take this into consideration when choosing if and where you would like to carry out an internship.

Also, if you choose to undertake this experience, be sure to start looking for and contacting potential internship organizations as early as possible, as bureaucracy and tight schedules often require plenty of time to establish and finalize projects like these.
Overall, it could be a great experience with considerable potential for professional and academic opportunities, as it has been for me, and I’m extremely glad to have taken part in it.

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