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UCL Laws is a member of the prestigious Pan-European Seal Professional Traineeship Programme with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO).
UCL is one of only a few UK universities to be a member of the prestigious Pan-European Seal (PES) Professional Traineeship Programme – a partnership with Europe’s leading Intellectual Property (IP) organisations: the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). Under the Pan-European Seal, UCL students having a strong IP law profile, particularly those on the LLM in Intellectual Property Law programme, or those completing a PhD in an intellectual property law subject, may apply for a 12-months paid traineeships at the EUIPO or the EPO commencing in the autumn after they graduate. In addition to the PES traineeships, students and academics are also invited to participate in a number of special exclusive PES events throughout the year.
Under the PES Traineeship Programme, students can apply for a position based at the EPO headquarters in Munich, Germany or one based at the EUIPO headquarters in Alicante, Spain. Both provide recent graduates with invaluable professional work experience in a multi-cultural environment, thereby bridging the gap between university and the competitive professional world of work in the IP sector. Those graduates selected to take part in the scheme will follow a tailored development programme, with a monthly stipend (€1,200 for EUIPO and €2,200 for the EPO in 2024/205) while also gaining on-the-job training by office staff, and having access to other training and language courses.
We will update the information about the programme and how to apply in January each year, with a deadline for applications (Stage 1, see below) in early February. For futher information on the PES scheme, please contact Dr Alina Trapova, who is the PES point of contact for UCL. Dr Trapova is well-equipped to answer your questions, as she took part in the PES Programme herself at the EUIPO in 2015-2016.
- Who may apply for a PES traineeship?
Law students will meet the general eligibility criteria if they are:
(i) enrolled on the LLM programme or PhD programme and will have completed their course by the September of the year in which the traineeship begins; (ii) can demonstrate a strong knowledge and interest in the field of intellectual property law (e.g., study of IP modules and/or LLM/PhD research in this field); and (iii) can demonstrate personal motivation to work in an international IP environment.N.B. Applicants are responsible for making sure that they have the correct visa, where applicable, and that they obtain all the documentation required by the authorities of the country in which they will be based before commencing their traineeship.
To meet the EUIPO eligibility criteria, you will need to:- Be a national of one of the EU Member states (although a more limited number of trainees from the UK and other non-EU countries may be selected)
- Have at least a certified CEF level B1 in English, French, German, Italian, and/or Spanish
- Previous participation in international programmes, such as Erasmus+, is an advantage.
- Additional experience demonstrating skills such as communication, problem-solving, innovation, leadership, teamwork and flexibility, is an advantage.
To meet the EPO PES traineeship eligibility criteria, you will also need to:
- Be a national of one of the EPO member states
- Proficiency in at least one official EPO language (English, French or German).
- How to apply
The application process is in two stages. The first is an internal selection process by UCL Laws (Stage 1) to shortlist candidates for each office. Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to submit their application directly to the EUIPO or the EPO (Stage 2).
- Application: Stage 1
Students meeting the eligiblity requirements will be invited to submit an internal application to the UCL PES Coordinator. This will include a short, up-to-date CV (up to two pages), along with a covering one-page letter, explaining how the eligibility criteria (see above) are met and the motivation for pursuing a traineeship at the relevant institution(s). Applicants must specify whether they are interested in a placement at the EUIPO, the EPO or both.
All applications received will be reviewed, and a shortlist of candidates will be selected for each institution. While Stage 1 applications can be for both offices, a candidate can only be shortlisted for one of the institutions.
Please note that at Stage 1, CVs may be in any format, but those progressing to Stage 2, will be required to provide a CV in the Europass format. Therefore, applicants may prefer to use the Europass format for both stages.
- Application: Stage 2
Applicants who receive confirmation that they have been shortlisted by UCL at Stage 1 are then responsible for applying directly to the relevant office before the set deadline set by the Offices via the EUIPO online platform or the EPO online platform (as appropriate). Each institution requires separate application documents.
For EUIPO-shortlisted candidates: Up-to-date CV in Europass format; Letter of motivation in any of the 5 working languages of the EUIPO (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish); Degree certificate (a provisional declaration may be submitted pending the conferral of your degree);Certificate(s) of completion of at least one of the following EUIPO online courses: EUTM in a Nutshell and/or RCD in a Nutshell.
For EPO-shortlisted candidates: Up-to-date CV in Europass format; Letter of motivation; and Degree certificates (a provisional declaration may be submitted pending the conferral of your PG degree).
The Offices will evaluate all timely applications received from shortlisted applicants and will make the final decision on participation in the Pan-European Seal Programme. Successful applicants will be offered a traineeship agreement with either EUIPO or EPO for a duration of 12 months starting in September/October each year. (Applications received from students who have not been shortlised by UCL will be ignored.)
This is a highly competitive process, since the UCL applicants are considered alongside applications from around 130 universities from across Europe. Typically, each Office selects around 100 trainees from a variety of backgrounds, based on academic merit and personal motivation, as well as the current institutional needs of the offices. Unfortunately, therefore, candidates who are shortlisted by UCL Laws are by no means guaranteed to be offered a traineeship.
- More information
Before applying to take part in PES, please review the PES EPO website and the PES EUIPO website, and read the EPO FAQs and EUIPO FAQs carefully. There, you will find more detailed information including the traineeship profiles, which are different in the two Offices.