International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience

Last updated
IAESTE
Formation1948
TypeNon-profit Organization
Legal status Association without lucrative purpose
PurposeTo operate a practical training exchange program that promotes an internationally-oriented development of technical and professional skills amongst students, academic institutions and employers.
Region served
Worldwide
Official language
English (as per internal communication)
Website iaeste.org
Letter from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. IAESTE letter.png
Letter from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience, commonly referred to as IAESTE (pronounced i-a-es-te or ai-es-te), is an international organization exchanging students for technical work experience abroad. Students gain relevant technical training lasting from 4 weeks to 52 weeks. IAESTE includes committees representing more than 80 countries, with the potential of accepting new countries into the organization every year. At the general conference 2005 held in Cartagena, Colombia, the statute and by-laws of IAESTE a.s.b.l. were established, making IAESTE a registered "associacion sans but lucratif" (non-profit organization), with the centre in Luxembourg. The current president is Thomas Faltner from Austria. IAESTE's motto is "Work, Experience, Discover". IAESTE's aims are to connect students with employers in foreign countries, provide university students with technical experience and culturally enrich students and their host communities.

Contents

History

IAESTE was founded in 1948 at Imperial College, London. The Imperial College Vacation Work Committee headed by Mr. James Newby initiated a meeting with national organizations from 10 European countries in a post war effort to promote better understanding between countries and cultures.

Since 1948, the association has grown to include more than 80 countries worldwide and has exchanged in excess of 300,000 students. IAESTE exchanges around 7000 students annually playing an important role in giving technical undergraduates and postgraduates practical work experience and a global perspective. [1]

Organization structure

International organization structure

The IAESTE Association is a confederation of National Committees representing academic, industrial and student interests. Coordinating the daily administration of the association is the responsibility of the president. The president is elected for two years and is responsible for the General Conference or the GC as it is called in IAESTE. The GC makes the formal decisions in IAESTE and is composed of one delegate (National Secretary) from each country. The GC meets every year in January and is a forum for discussion.

The Board is an elected body which prepares the work of the General Conference and advises the president. It is composed of four elected members and the president.

The GC is the most important event of IAESTE each year. Here every country brings job offers they have obtained in their own country. Every job is written on a standardized form stating where and when the job is, who is eligible for the job and which qualifications (language, skills, etc.) are required. The jobs are traded during the Exchange Sessions. During these sessions, countries meet and try to get the best possible jobs to bring back home. This is very hectic as countries try to get the best jobs. These jobs either have to fit pre-selected students or are open for applications from students back home.

One other notable event at the GC is the "International Party". At this party, every member country brings a national dish, drinks and clothes.

The international work is funded by member fees based on GDP per capita and the number of students sent abroad and is paid by the National Committees.

National organization structure

The National Committees represent the member countries and are composed of persons representing academic, industrial and student interests. Every full member of the IAESTE has one vote at the GC. The National Secretary is normally the person with the formal vote, even though the decisions are often made by the whole National Committee.

Each National Committee is responsible for the administration of the exchange in its own country. Membership is given after the establishment of a National Committee in accordance with the statutes of IAESTE, together with a responsible permanent secretariat. The type of secretariat which administers the exchange varies according to each country's national structure, educational system and funding policies. The essential requirement is that the national secretariat, whatever its organization and status, should have competent permanent staff.

Every country has its own way of organizing the work of IAESTE, but the National Committee can mainly be classified into four categories:

IAESTE varies a lot from country to country and even within countries, there can be a big difference from one city to another. Traineeships also vary a lot: some countries have extended programmes with students employed to help and organize events, [2] while in other places arriving trainees organize events themselves.

Annual Conference (AC)

IAESTE acceptance letter for a trainee (page 1) IAESTE Acceptance-1.jpg
IAESTE acceptance letter for a trainee (page 1)
IAESTE acceptance letter for a trainee (page 2) IAESTE Acceptance-2.jpg
IAESTE acceptance letter for a trainee (page 2)

The most important international event that connects IAESTE leaders from all over the world. The AC 2021 was turned into an online conference, due to the COVID-19 pandemic (coordinated by a small team in Vienna), while AC 2022 and AC 2023 were hybrid conferences.

YearCountryCity
2024Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia Cartagena
2023Flag of Poland.svg Poland Warsaw
2022Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna
2021Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna (online)
2020Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia Tatranská Lomnica
2019Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus Limassol
2018Flag of Germany.svg Germany Berlin
2017Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea Incheon
2016Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Prague
2015Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia Zagreb
2014Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador Quito
2013Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Belfast
2012Flag of North Macedonia.svg North Macedonia Skopje
2011Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand Bangkok
2010Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Zürich
2009Flag of Poland.svg Poland Warsaw
2008Flag of Jordan.svg Jordan Amman, Dead Sea
2007Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Lisbon
2006Flag of Malta.svg Malta Marsascala
2005Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia Cartagena
2004Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna
2003Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand Bangkok
2002Flag of Norway.svg Norway Trondheim
2001Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Durban
2000Flag of the United States.svg United States Washington, D.C.
1999Flag of Japan.svg Japan Tokyo
1998Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Cardiff
1997Flag of Spain.svg Spain Barcelona
1996Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark Copenhagen
1995Flag of Greece.svg Greece Athens
1994Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico Mexico City
1993Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland Cork
1992Flag of Germany.svg Germany Bonn
1991Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus Nicosia
1990Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil São Paulo
1989Flag of Austria.svg Austria Graz
1988Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Stockholm
1987Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Budapest
1986Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Lisbon
1985Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey Istanbul
1984Flag of France.svg France Montpellier
1983Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna
1982Flag of Japan.svg Japan Tokyo
1981Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Mürren
1980Flag of Norway.svg Norway Trondheim
1979Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland Dublin
1978Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Amsterdam
1977Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom London
1976Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Yugoslavia Dubrovnik
1975Flag of Austria.svg Austria Salzburg
1974Flag of Germany.svg West Germany West Berlin
1973Flag of Finland.svg Finland Helsinki MS Finlandia (ship)
1972Flag of Spain.svg Spain Barcelona
1971Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark Copenhagen
1970Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Lisbon
1969Flag of France.svg France Paris
1968Flag of Greece.svg Greece Athens
1967Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Lausanne
1966Flag of Poland.svg Poland Warsaw
1965Flag of Israel.svg Israel Haifa
1964Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Lucerne
1963Flag of Germany.svg Germany Munich
1962Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom London
1961Flag of Italy.svg Italy Rome
1960Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Yugoslavia Belgrade
1959Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey Istanbul
1958Flag of Spain.svg Spain Madrid
1957Flag of Germany.svg West Germany Bad Aachen
1956Flag of Norway.svg Norway Trondheim
1955Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna
1954Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Stockholm
1953Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Zürich
1952Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Delft
1951Flag of France.svg France Paris
1950Flag of Finland.svg Finland Helsinki
1949Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark Copenhagen
1948Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom London

The IAESTE Alumni Network (IAN)

The Friends of IAESTE Network (FoIN) was founded 1996 in Denmark as the official Alumni branch of IAESTE, with the goal of helping former IAESTE trainees and members keep in touch.

In 2010, FoIN was re-branded as the IAESTE Alumni Network (IAN) and an Alumni Relations Manager was appointed to oversee all activities. The current holder of this position is Bruce Wicks from the United Kingdom. In 2011, IAN launched a new, online network which currently has over 10,000 members.

IAESTE Day

In 2005, an international IAESTE Day was created, for the purpose of global promotion of the organization as well as the celebration of its aims and goals. Starting with 6 countries, IAESTE Day was celebrated in 28 of its member countries in 2007. IAESTE Day is held on 20 October every year.

JUMP

Join Us to Motivate People (JUMP) is the "Motivation and Training Seminar" of IAESTE. JUMP was founded in 1995 in Vienna, Austria on the initiative of Martin Klaus, former National Secretary of IAESTE Austria. Martin became co-ordinator of JUMP, later this role was taken over by Adrian Keller from IAESTE Switzerland and in 2009 by Tomasz (Tomek) Pawliszyn from IAESTE Poland. JUMP is aimed to young members of IAESTE who want to explore more the organisation and meet other members of IAESTE.

Primarily new members of IAESTE meet in a different European city each year during four days in September or October for training sessions and discussion groups. An important component is cultural exchange with corporate tours, cultural events and tours and social events incorporating local cuisine and customs. The theme song for the seminar is Jump (For My Love) by the Pointer Sisters.

Usually, 40 - 70 participants take part in the event. Each JUMP is combined of six workshop sessions, led by experienced members, that cover the essence of IAESTE activities:

Additionally, all participants visit various information boots on the topics of summer reception, career fairs, career websites, etc. All together combined with IAESTE related games, international evening, sightseeing trip and company presentation to show that IAESTE is much more than the exchange of job offers. One of the other highlights is motivation speeches by invited guests.

Because of the global pandemic, the 2020 IAESTE JUMP Conference was virtual, hosted by IAESTE United States August 26–28, 2020.

CEC

The Central European Convention is a group of several IAESTE member countries in the specific geographic region. Those are all "student-run" countries, so students are in the decision making positions (contrary to academic or professional-run countries).

Those countries agree to meet twice a year and hold working and discussion groups. At the same time, they get to know the culture of the hosting country.

Goals

History

The Central European Convention (CEC) was founded in May 1998 in Tuheljske Toplice, Croatia, on the initiative of Thomas Haim, former National Secretary IAESTE AUSTRIA and Mario Kauzlaric, former National Secretary IAESTE CROATIA. Because of the great success, the CEC is held 2 times a year.

Past CECs

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Europe</span> Region of Europe

Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern, Southern, Western and Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in this region also share historical and cultural similarities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czechoslovakia</span> Country in Europe from 1918 to 1992

Czechoslovakia was a landlocked state in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Nazi Germany, while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland. Between 1939 and 1945, the state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and Carpathian Ruthenia became part of Hungary, while the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed in the remainder of the Czech Lands. In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies.

AIESEC is an international "youth-run" and led, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization that provides young people with business development internships. The organization focuses on empowering young people to make a progressive social impact. The AIESEC network includes approximately 40,000 members in 120+ countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization</span> Standards organization

CENELEC is responsible for European standardization in the area of electrical engineering. Together with ETSI (telecommunications) and CEN, it forms the European system for technical standardization. Standards harmonised by these agencies are regularly adopted in many countries outside Europe which follow European technical standards. Although CENELEC works closely with the European Union, it is not an EU institution. Nevertheless, its standards are "EN" EU standards, thanks to EU Regulation 1025/2012.

Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia, is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central European Initiative</span> European forum of regional cooperation

The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, counting 18 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989. The body was developed on the basis of earlier experiences with The Alps-Adriatic Working Group. The CEI headquarters have been in Trieste, Italy, since 1996.

The Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI) is an annual informatics competition for secondary school students. Each of the participating central European countries (plus one or two guest countries, and a local team from the host area) sends a team of up to four contestants, a team leader and a deputy team leader. The contestants compete individually, i.e. a team score is not calculated. Competitors are selected through national competitive programming contests.

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Democrat Students</span>

European Democrat Students (EDS) is a pan-European centre-right student and youth political association, and the official student organisation of the European People's Party. Founded in Vienna by Scandinavian, German and Austrian students in 1961, it represents over 600,000 students and young people in 34 member organisations from 30 countries in Europe and Asia. Its stated goal is to promote a free, democratic and united Europe through a greater student mobility and comprehensive education policies across the continent.

South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. The organization aims to create a bridge between international media activities and the media developments in the region. It has headquarters and national committees in several countries. In total 33 member states or territories are included in SEEMO: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Cartographic Association</span> International organization

The International Cartographic Association (ICA) is an organization formed of national member organizations, to provide a forum for issues and techniques in cartography and geographic information science (GIScience). ICA was founded on June 9, 1959, in Bern, Switzerland. The first General Assembly was held in Paris in 1961. The mission of the International Cartographic Association is to promote the disciplines and professions of cartography and GIScience in an international context. To achieve these aims, the ICA works with national and international governmental and commercial bodies, and with other international scientific societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences</span>

The International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences (IAAS) is an international non-profit and non-governmental student society headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. It was founded in 1957 in Tunis by 8 countries. At the moment it is one of the world's biggest student organizations and one of the leading agricultural student associations. IAAS gathers students studying, majoring or researching in agriculture and related areas like environmental sciences, forestry, food science, landscape architecture etc. Its committees are spread in universities in over 50 countries worldwide.

The Salzburg Forum (SF) is a Central European security partnership of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Member states cooperate in areas of police cooperation, illegal immigration, witness protection, fight against drugs, traffic safety and other areas of internal security. They also focus on positions coordination and advancing common interests in the European Union in the area of Home Affairs. At least two conferences of interior ministers per year are held. As a rule, three SF ministerial meetings are held per year. One meeting takes place in the country holding the presidency and one further meeting is usually held in summer in Austria. In addition, ministers regularly meet in the margins of EU Council meetings.

East-Central Europe is the region between German-, Hungarian-, and West Slavic-speaking Europe and the East Slavic countries of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Those lands are described as situated "between two": "between two worlds, between two stages, between two futures".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European University Sports Association</span>

European University Sports Association (EUSA) is an umbrella non-governmental (NGO) non-profit organisation, working in the field of university sport in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Measurement Confederation</span>

The International Measurement Confederation is a non-governmental federation of metrological organizations. It was founded in 1958 in Budapest, Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Forest Genetic Resources Programme</span> International forest conservation network

European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) is an international network that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe as an integral part of sustainable forest management. It was established in 1994 as a result of a resolution adopted in 1990 by the first Ministerial Conference of the Forest Europe process.

References

  1. "IAESTE A.s.b.l."
  2. Example from Norway of the social part of being a trainee