I spent ten weeks as an intern at the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem), located at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. V-Dem is internationally renowned for its complex and methodologically robust measurement of democracy, which it achieves by processing large volumes of expert-coded data through its measurement model, resulting in the annually updated V-Dem dataset. The dataset offers fine-grained measures of various aspects of democracy for virtually every country in the world from as far back as 1789. In all this, the V-Dem Institute in Gothenburg serves as the backbone of the wider V-Dem project, made up of numerous affiliated researchers, methods experts, regional coordinators, and country experts all over the world.

I chose V-Dem for my internship due to my interest in research projects generally and my desire to improve my understanding of quantitative methods more specifically. In both aspects I was more than happy with what I learned at V-Dem. I had the opportunity to get to know both what I would call the “input side” of the project, so the creation of the dataset, the coding, the behind the scenes of putting it all together, and the “output side”, so working with the finished dataset, conducting analyses based on the numbers, and writing reports on findings from the data. The former was more of a new experience for me, and I learned quite a bit about how to work with quantitative data, how to approach coding tasks, or where to look for help when stuck. In contrast to that, the later was less new for me, having had some experience in academic writing and analysis from my studies as well as from previous jobs and internships. Hence, the focus here was less on learning entirely new things than on applying and sharpening preexisting skills. All in all, I enjoyed this mixture of on the one hand delving into new tasks and challenges (mainly coding) and on the other hand being able to use what I had already learned.

In terms of the colleagues and the work environment, V-Dem was welcoming, friendly, and relaxed. The other student that interned with me and I were always included, be it in the regular team meetings, team lunches, or the weekly fika (something we should establish in Germany as well). In addition, we were encouraged to attend the many seminars, talks, and events that the political science department had to offer. I personally really enjoyed sitting in on a colloquium where first-year PhD students at the department presented and discussed their work.

Apart from the internship, experiencing Gothenburg was the other highlight of my time in Sweden. It took me a week or two to warm up to the city (there is a lot of construction going on), but once I knew the right neighborhoods I really fell in love with it. There is lots of water and green spaces, various bars, cafes, and restaurants, and entire areas where you can see and feel the city changing and modernizing, going from old to new. Surrounding the city is, as you would expect, the most beautiful Swedish nature. I was fortunate enough to have brought my road bike, which allowed me to ride quite far outside of the city and see the forests, the many lakes and the pretty coastline. Also well worth it, albeit reachable only by ferry and not by bike, was the archipelago, a small group of islands directly off the coast from Gothenburg. I went for a few amazing hikes there.

Overall, I would definitely recommend an internship at V-Dem to students who are curious about the work of an academic research institute and who would like to experience life in Sweden. It might not be the most obvious choice to do an internship and just go to a different university, but if it you want to get to know academia from the “other side” and look behind the curtains of a leading international research institute, then V-Dem is a great place to go.

Tips for other interns

Preperation

No significant preparation was needed prior to the start of my internship. I had already familiarized myself quite a bit with the institute’s work, its methodology, and the structure of its dataset, which turned out not to be a requirement (but was certainly helpful still). The team at V-Dem did a really good job of a) introducing me to the institute’s work and b) tailoring tasks to me and my co-intern’s skill level and knowledge.

Visa application

As an EU-citizen I was not required to obtain a visa in order to carry out my internship in Sweden. So sadly, I am not able to offer any useful tips here.

Internship search

I did not really “search” for my internship, meaning I did not approach it as “I want to do an internship at a research institute in Sweden, let me look at which ones there are”. Rather, I came across V-Dem in one of my courses at FU, was interested in the institute’s work, checked out their website, saw they offered internships, applied, and was accepted. So my take-away from my internship “search” would really be to just go for it if you’re interested in an organization’s work. I find that genuine interest and curiosity can get you quite far.

Apartment search

Rent in Gothenburg is quite expensive, as you would expect from a city in Sweden. There is a private market for student flats and rooms, but most of it is on Facebook and can be a bit sketchy (it is certainly still possible to find a decent room on Facebook). In addition, I find it not ideal to rent a private room I have not been able to check out in person first. Hence, I chose to book a room through a company called Waterfront Cabins. They have a whole complex of different size apartments that they rent out either short-term, like a hotel, or long-term, for people staying multiple weeks or months. This was not the cheapest option, but I valued knowing what I was getting and doing business with an official company rather than a private individual. The apartment itself was quite tiny but otherwise nice and modern, including a private kitchen and bathroom. One final tip: should you wish to look on the private market, use the website Blocket Bostad. They help with rental contracts and act as an intermediary between you and the landlord, so they can help if any issues arise.

Insurance

Due to the duration of my internship and my existing insurance status in Germany, I did not need to get any additional insurance.

Formalities on site

Telephone/Internet connection

Due to me renting my apartment through Waterfront Cabins, WLAN was all taken care of (who still uses a landline?). Mobile data was no problem as well thanks to EU roaming regulations.

Bank/account opening

I used an online bank account from Wise, which lets you transfer money from EUR to SEK and lets you pay in SEK from your EUR balance for relatively small fees. The popular alternative with pretty much the same service would be Revolut. I also recently learned that Klarna (which is from Sweden) offers a credit card which lets you pay in foreign currencies without any fees at all. Should I go to Sweden again, I would use the Klarna card. Regardless of which credit card you get, you definitely need one. Cash is not really a thing in Sweden anymore and everything is paid for digitally.

Other

I found the 30-day tickets for Västtraffik (the local public transport) to be worth it. You can get quite far within zone A, even onto the archipelago (small islands out in the ocean close to Gothenburg) using public ferries. Alternatively, Gothenburg is quite nice to bike in, if you can stomach a up and down every now and then.

Going out options

Gothenburg is a beautiful city with tons of things to explore. It has a vibrant city culture with bars, breweries, museums etc. Also, the surrounding area is super pretty. My main recommendation would be to get out into nature, go to the shore, to the beach, to the islands, for a hike.