The Center for International Studies is delighted to announce a new pledge agreement between MIT International Science & Technology Initiatives (MISTI) and the Netherland’s Ministry of Economics and Climate Policy. The agreement was signed on March 1 at a ceremony held at the MIT Museum. 

This new agreement of €530,000 over five years will help expand the MIT-Netherlands Program and will fund internships for MIT undergraduate and graduate students to work at innovative startups, research institutions and government agencies in the Netherlands.

“The Netherlands Innovation Network in Boston has been an invaluable partner to the MIT-Netherlands program over the past decade, helping to facilitate more than 100 internships for MIT students with industry, startups, and research labs. This new structural funding will help us expand the program with the goal of providing even more opportunities to our MIT students in one of the most innovative countries in the world, while also benefitting our host organizations” said Justin Leahey, the managing director of MIT-Germany, MIT-Netherlands and MIT-Switzerland programs at MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI).

Netherlands Innovation Network in Boston colleagues added that “this partnership has already facilitated numerous student placements towards our country and we got to hear from MIT-Netherlands alums about their time and experiences working in the Dutch economy, including: Jack King ’25 who worked at Owlin, Émilie Flamme, MCP Candidate, who worked at Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat and Nadia Khan '24 who worked at European Space Agency - ESA.” 

They went on to say that MISTI “internships abroad are powerful experiences, enabling students to experience the world, while leveraging their educations toward solving our world’s toughest challenges. We can't wait to see which future MIT students will soon call the Netherlands home for this pivotal period of their lives.” 

Special thanks were given to Consul General Ahmed Dadou, MIT MISTI Executive Director April Julich Perez, Innovation Attaché Kim Tran (& former Attaché — and current MIT student - Mart Duitemeijer!), Leslie Vijn (EZK), MIT-Netherlands Program Manager Justin Leahey and colleagues at Netherlands Point of Entry, Rutger de Graaf & Homeyra Abrishamkar for their unparalleled vision, commitment and support in the expansion of this program.