Robeco has one of the largest quantitative investment teams in the industry with over 50 dedicated portfolio managers, researchers, client portfolio managers and investment specialists. This allows us to simultaneously focus on cutting-edge research, manage portfolios and serve our clients from all corners of the world.
Robeco’s Super Quant Internship gives you the opportunity to work on the full lifecycle of quantitative model development, either as part of your master’s thesis or as a standalone research internship. This full-time internship typically lasts around six months, with flexibility depending on your university’s requirements and the scope of your research.
You’ll gain hands-on experience in data analysis, programming, interpreting results, and presenting your findings. Each project is supervised by an experienced researcher, many holding a PhD or CFA charter and affiliated with academic institutions, from one of our teams: Quantitative Research, Trading Research, or Investment Solutions.
In addition to thesis‑based projects, we offer a few topics that are not combined with writing an academic thesis. These non‑thesis internships are suitable for students whose programs do not require a thesis, who prefer a purely practical internship, or whose thesis is completed or unrelated to the internship topic.
Beyond research, the program includes engaging activities and gives you a behind‑the‑scenes look at life at Robeco and the broader asset management industry.
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Duration: Typically 6 months, but the duration may vary based on your university requirements and the availability of suitable topics.
Eligibility: You are a Master's student who is either about to begin your thesis at the start of the internship, with university approval to collaborate on a company-supervised thesis project within the themes mentioned above, or looking to undertake a non-thesis internship based on an applied research project. Both thesis and non-thesis applications are welcome.
Applications: 1 October to 31 October 2026
Feedback: Within the first two weeks of November 2026.
Feel free to reach out to our Super Quant Internship coordinators, Ewout Noort and Luca Giorgianni, by emailing sq@robeco.nl.
The internship projects that we offer cover the entire quant model development cycle: analyzing data, programming, analyzing the results, discussing results with researchers and portfolio managers, writing a research report and giving a presentation. All projects are supervised by an experienced empirical researcher from Robeco’s Quantitative Research department.
The internship projects are categorized under five research themes. A high level description of each area of research is given on the pages below, together with some research projects carried out in previous internships.
Factor investing entails allocating to systematic strategies that historically have shown to predict future returns. Most of the research on factor investing has been conducted on equity markets. The literature for other markets, such as the corporate bond and government bond markets, is still limited, but increasing.
Are you interested in expanding this literature?
Machine learning methods allow for more flexibility in capturing the relation between predictors and expected returns. Contrary to linear methods, ML can easily leverage on the non-linearities and interactions between predictors. On the other side, ML models are more prone to fit noise, especially in a low signal-to-noise environment which characterizes financial markets.
Are you prepared to navigate this challenge?
From an investment perspective, Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a very useful tool to extract information from unstructured textual data, such as news articles, company reports, earnings call transcripts, etc. Both in academic literature and practitioner research, NLP is getting more and more attention.
Are you able to quantify the qualitative?
Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising those of generations to come. It’s not just a tick-the-boxes activity for us: Robeco has been a global leader in sustainable investing since 1995. We believe that the one thing we cannot do is nothing.
Are you ready to act?
Robeco is an asset manager that manages a large suite of quantitative and fundamental investment strategies. The implementation of these strategies results in sizeable transactions, so understanding liquidity and transaction cost drivers is key for optimal implementation.
Are you curious to explore our transactions?
A solid data foundation is essential for quantitative research. Data engineering focuses on building reliable pipelines, providing the infrastructure that supports our investment processes, and maintaining data quality. From raw market data to research ready datasets, it’s about making data and models accessible and dependable.
Are you ready to power the data backbone of our research?
The Super Quant internship offers a unique chance to kickstart your career! Wilma de Groot
We are looking for master’s students who are either:
About to begin your thesis at the start of the internship, with university approval to collaborate on a company supervised thesis project within the themes described above; or
Looking for a non thesis internship, where you will work on an internship project without writing an academic thesis. A non thesis internship is well suited for students whose thesis is completed, being written separately, or unrelated to the internship topic.
We are seeking students that have affinity with quantitative research and investing, and have a strong financial/technical background , such as Econometrics, Quantitative Finance, Economics, Finance, Investments, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Engineering, Statistics, Mathematics or Computer Science, or other related disciplines.
Key requirements:
Programming skills: Proficiency in programming and working with large datasets are major prerequisites.
Analytical & Creative mindset: You should bring both creativity and strong analytical skills to successfully finish the project.
Social & Problem-Solving Skills: Strong interpersonal skills are crucial. You should be able to explain the economic intuition behind your results. You should be able to consult with different parties, and capable to translate their input into applicable solutions.
In the selection round we look at your grades, resume and cover letter. Your grades can help us to determine your skill level, while your resume and letter reveal more about your experience, personality and ambitions. The final selection will also depend on the topic chosen and the match with the supervisors. Different subjects require different backgrounds or experience. Some require strong programming skills while others are based more on in-depth financial knowledge and economic intuition. Lastly, each year we aim to recruit a diverse generation of Super Quants, in terms of gender, nationality, master’s program and personality.
All Super Quant internships are in our Quantitative Research department, which is in Robeco’s headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The duration of the internship is typically 6 months, but may vary based on your university requirements and the availability of suitable topics. Together with the other Super Quants, you will visit other departments, and participate in fun and social activities with the Quantitative Research department.
For the largest part, the internship takes place physically at the office. However, it’s possible to work from home 1 or 2 days a week. Interns have to be Netherlands-based, but are allowed to work remotely from a foreign country for a period of at most 1 month.
Yes. We offer a range of challenging research topics that combine practical relevance with sufficient academic depth for writing your thesis. Some topics are structured as thesis internships, while others are purely non‑thesis research projects. You can indicate in your application which type of internship you are looking for, and we will take this into account during the review process.
Our department has strong links with academia, several team members hold part‑time university positions, and many have completed PhDs. Because we take a scientific approach to investing, there is often substantial overlap between what is academically suitable for a thesis and what is valuable for Robeco.
You will be supervised by experienced researchers with a background in econometrics or mathematics, often also with a PhD or CFA charter. Besides direct supervision, one or more of the intended users of the research work, such as portfolio managers or risk managers, may be involved.
Robeco offers a market‑conform internship salary and an allowance to support relocation to Rotterdam for students who are not currently residing in the Netherlands. In addition, interns who write a thesis during their internship are eligible for a graduation bonus linked to the final thesis grade: the higher the grade, the higher the bonus. The bonus ranges from EUR 500 to EUR 2,500, depending on the thesis result.
Are you a real high flyer? If so, there is the possibility to start your career at Robeco. Many of our colleagues, both within Quant Research and in other parts of the business, started out as Super Quant interns.
All applicants who pass the CV/motivation/grades check and are invited for interviews receive the detailed topic descriptions before the interviews.
In principle not, we have an extensive list of topics ourselves which we believe are very relevant from both a practical and academic perspective. Nevertheless, we are always open to a suggestion!
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