Frequently asked questions

Send the following items to SQ@robeco.nl:

• A cover letter stating why you would like to be considered for a Super Quant internship.

• Your preferred graduate internship themes from the following list: Machine Learning, Trading & Liquidity, Factor Investing and Natural Language Processing.

• Your resume.

• An overview of your bachelor and master grades.

• Your availability and preferred starting date.

We are looking for master’s students who would like to have the opportunity to write their thesis at Robeco. We are seeking students that have affinity with quantitative research and investing. This means your master’s degree should be in or related to Economics, Quantitative Finance, Finance, Investments, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Engineering, Econometrics, Statistics, Mathematics or Computer Science. Creativity supported by strong analytical skills are key elements in conducting research successfully.

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 internship takes six months, preferably fulltime from February-March to August-September during which time you will write your master’s thesis on a Robeco topic. You will also work together with other Super Quants on a group assignment, 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 provide challenging research subjects that combine practical relevance with sufficient academic content to allow you to write your thesis. Our department has strong links with academia, as some members have part-time positions at universities and many of us have obtained PhDs. We have a scientific approach to investing which means that there is often plenty of overlap between what is suitable for a thesis and what is useful 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, are also always involved.

Yes. Robeco offers a market conform internship salary and an allowance to facilitate relocation to Rotterdam for students currently not residing in the Netherlands. On top of this you will receive a bonus linked to your graduation grade: the higher your grade, the bigger the bonus. The bonus varies between EUR 500 for a final grade 8, EUR 1250 for a 9 to as much as EUR 2500 for a 10. One precondition for this bonus incentive is that your graduation supervisor at Robeco is on the committee that determines the grade for your thesis.

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!