More than 30 students from across Northern Ireland are set to take part in international work placements this summer.
They’ve been selected for British Council’s IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience) programme, an exchange initiative which sees students from science, engineering, technology or applied arts subjects undertake paid industry placements in one of 80 countries.
Hailing from both Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, the 35 students will find themselves in countries including Ghana, Brazil and Macedonia working in fields such as medicine, engineering and computer science.
It is hoped that the skills they gain through IAESTE will significantly contribute to their future employment prospects when they return to Northern Ireland.
IAESTE is managed by British Council Northern Ireland on behalf of the Department for the Economy with over 4,000 traineeships exchanged each year. The programme works on a reciprocal basis, therefore for every placement offered to local students, international students are welcomed to Northern Ireland.
This year, 30 international students will spend their summer working with firms including civil engineering company, Taylor and Boyd; Co Antrim computer software firm Plotbox; and Smiley Monroe, the conveyor belt manufacturers.