Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Period: Year-round
Duration: Typically 6 months, but the duration may vary based on your university requirements and the availability of suitable topics
Applications open: Year-round, depending on topic availability
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.
Currently, we have no available topics. Applications for start dates between February and June 2026 will open in October.
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?
The Super Quant internship offers a unique chance to kickstart your career! Wilma de Groot
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You can apply for the internship here.
We are looking for master’s students who want to write their thesis at Robeco. 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.
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 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 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, may be 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 and EUR 2500 depending on the thesis grade.
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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