Start your career at TNO
You're graduating or have already graduated and are just starting your career. You want to apply your knowledge and skills in practice. You want to contribute to the research and innovation of our time. This is your time to commit yourself to a more sustainable, healthier, and safer world. Kick-start your career at TNO with an internship, traineeship, or your first job.
Kick-start your career at TNO with an internship, traineeship, or your first job
At TNO, we conduct practice-oriented research, working on concrete solutions for today and tomorrow’s challenges. We innovate, explore, and push boundaries. We dare to dream about the future. We are creators and doers. And in the process, we offer plenty of opportunities for young talent.
The knowledge you recently gained in class is of great value in a world of rapid technological change. That’s why we give you the space to come up with innovative ideas, to contribute the latest insights, and to freely choose your own path.
Start as an intern at TNO
You’re still following lectures, doing research, and writing papers – and now you’d like to find out how best to apply all that knowledge and expertise in the workplace. As an intern at TNO, you’ll get the opportunity to make your mark on our time by working on major societal challenges. TNO is all about applied research, enabling you to put the knowledge you gained during your studies to its best use. It’s your time to shine as a TNO intern!
As an intern at TNO, you’ll immediately be given the chance to make a real contribution to a more sustainable, safer, healthier, or more digital world. At TNO, we work on practice-based research, translating the latest insights from science into applications that benefit society.
We make sure that internships are always valuable to ongoing projects. You can therefore rest assured that you’ll make an important contribution to the challenges of today and tomorrow. You will, for example, be given the freedom to come up with new ideas, to explore, and to innovate. Your knowledge and vision matter.
You’ll be working in an environment with state-of-the-art facilities, populated by colleagues with a strong drive to innovate. Naturally, you’ll have a dedicated internship supervisor who will join you in thinking about the content of your internship and assist you in your personal and professional development. On top of this, as an intern, you’ll automatically become a member of Young TNO, which organises many social and educational activities for young TNO employees.
TNO is always looking for young talents; young people with the courage to confront society’s greatest current challenges. People who can marvel, connect, and innovate.
Of course, an internship is the perfect way to get to know TNO. And if you enjoyed your internship so much that you’d like to start your career at TNO, your internship will have been the perfect preparation to do so, as well as give you an advantage over other applicants for graduate vacancies.
- As intern at TNO, you will receive appropriate guidance.
- Because our projects provide solutions to social issues, your internship will have a direct social impact.
- You will have a lot of freedom to make your own interpretation of your internship.
- As an intern, you will be granted a monthly gross allowance of €615.
Students from Team Polar are working on a self-driving vehicle
Team Polar, a group of students from Eindhoven University of Technology, is working on a self-driving vehicle, the Ice Cube research rover, to make research at the South Pole more sustainable, affordable, and efficient. TNO is helping them with this. Follow their journey in the video series: Road to Antarctica.
Start as a trainee at TNO
The TNO Trainee Programme gives you the opportunity to spend two years finding out where you belong. You’ll work in three different places, and you get to decide in which job role and on which theme. The traineeship is designed for graduates with a master's degree (MSc), who graduated no more than two years ago.
- You work in three different positions over two years. You arrange these positions yourself, choosing from more than 60 departments at TNO.
- You get to develop yourself both personally and professionally. We offer a programme that includes a coach, peer consulting and courses to help you discover where your talents and ambitions lie.
- You will be challenged with TNO-wide strategic projects. One half-day per week, you'll tackle complex issues together with other trainees and senior management.
- We offer you a full-time position with a good salary and excellent employment benefits.
The traineeship is designed for graduates with a master's degree (MSc), who graduated no more than two years ago.
We are looking for trainees who dare. Who do not shy away from challenges but embrace them. Who want to discover, learn and grow. We provide you with all the tools to do so through training sessions, workshops, peer consulting and a personal coach. Along the way, you are part of an enthusiastic group of about 30 trainees.
This traineeship is an opportunity to kickstart your career at an accelerated pace. Are you up for the challenge?
The next traineeship starts in February 2026. Read more about the traineeship.
Your first job at TNO
Ready for your first job? TNO offers opportunities and guidance for new starters to kick-start your career.
Participation in the Talent Development Programme is automatic for anyone in a graduate position at TNO; as such, it’s not a vacancy, but a bonus for you as a graduate, to help you find your way within TNO and boost your development.
Meet our interns and graduates, the time setters
'At TNO you work on things that don't exist anywhere else.'
'Are you looking for growth and a place where you can make a difference? Then start the TNO Traineeship.'
'I think it is important to contribute to a sustainable world, something that is bigger than just myself.'