Internship | Unlock the potential of legal texts

Despite the extensive volume of court decisions, accessing useful information remains challenging due to specialized jargon and typing errors. Our vision is to automate this process, facilitating the creation of a comprehensive knowledge graph that interconnects textual data. Join us in innovating the automatic generation of knowledge graphs, empowering legal professionals with streamlined information extraction and analysis capabilities. Build experience working with societal challenges in an ambitious research environment.

Rechtspraak.nl publishes a small percentage of all court decisions every year. In 2020 for example, out of 1,37 million court decisions, 46,564 judicial texts were published online. These texts contain a lot of information, but this information is hard to process by computer algorithms because of the typical properties of the data (e.g., domain-specific jargon, spelling and typing errors, etc). We envision that one day we will be able to automatically extract information from various textual data sources, as well as the relations between them, to create a so-called ‘knowledge graph’. During this internship you will take the first few steps towards the automatic creation of such a knowledge graph. The availability of such tooling will make the extraction of information from court decisions much less time intensive, and the extracted graphs available for further information processing. We are particularly interested in the different entities that occur in the text, and how they relate to each other. However, we encourage you to bring forward your own ideas during the internship for automatically creating knowledge graphs from text. 

Your internship will take place within the department of Intelligence & Decision Support (IDS). We are a new team of +/- 30 professionals who are passionate about applied research that make the Netherlands more safe and secure. We develop innovative solutions in our expertise areas of intelligence and (AI-based) decision support for the Dutch armed forces and national security partners. We're excited to welcome you to our diverse team.

You enjoy developing innovative solutions to technically challenging problems and have the right mix of intellectual curiosity and pragmatism. You can show a great deal of autonomy and have a structured approach in your work. In addition to that, you can deal with uncertainties and a broad scope during the project. Furthermore:

• You are following a master in a relevant field, for example applied mathematics, operational analysis, artificial intelligence, data science, knowledge engineering, etc.
• You are interested in or have a basis in Natural Language Processing (NLP).
• You are comfortable with using/contributing to existing tooling by using Git and calling/exposing APIs.
• Good communication skills in English and/or Dutch.
• You have an affinity with the judicial domain.

You want an internship opportunity on the precursor of your career; an internship gives you an opportunity to take a good look at your prospective future employer. TNO goes a step further. It’s not just looking that interests us; you and your knowledge are essential to our innovation. That’s why we attach a great deal of value to your personal and professional development. You will, of course, be properly supervised during your work placement and be given the scope for you to get the best out of yourself. Furthermore, we provide:

• A highly professional, innovative internship environment, within a team of top experts.
• A suitable internship allowance (615 euro for wo- and hbo-students, 390 euro for mbo-students, for a full-time internship).
• Possibility of eight hours of free leave per internship month (for a full-time internship).
• A free membership of Jong TNO, where you can meet other TNO professionals and join several activities, such as sports activities, (work-related) courses or the yearly ski-trip.
• Use of a laptop.
• An allowance for travel expenses in case you don’t receive an OV-card.

At TNO, we innovate for a healthier, safer and more sustainable life. And for a strong economy. Since 1932, we have been making knowledge and technology available for the common good. We find each other in wonder and ingenuity. We are driven to push boundaries. There is all the space and support for your talent and ambition. You work with people who will challenge you: who inspire you and want to learn from you. Our state-of-the-art facilities are there to realize your vision. What you do at TNO matters: impact makes the difference. Because with every innovation you contribute to tomorrow’s world. Read more about TNO as an employer.

At TNO we encourage an inclusive work environment, where you can be yourself. Whatever your story and whatever unique qualities you bring to the table. It is by combining our unique strengths and perspectives that we are able to develop innovations that make a real difference in society. Want to know more? Read what steps we are taking in the area of diversity and inclusion.

After the first CV selection, the application process will be conducted by the concerning department. TNO will provide a suitable internship agreement. If you have any questions about this vacancy, you can contact the contact person mentioned below.

For this internship vacancy it is required that the AIVD issues a security clearance (VGB) after conducting a security screening. Take into account that this process may take about 8 weeks. If you have been abroad for more than 6 consecutive months, or if you do not have the Dutch nationality, it may take longer. Read more about security screening on the AIVD website.

Important to be aware of before applying:

• Before the start of the internship, the internship agreement from TNO needs to be signed. For students at a college or university based in the Netherlands, TNO uses the UNL-template (supplemented with a number of specific agreements from TNO). For students of foreign and MBO educational institutions, the TNO internship agreement applies. TNO does not sign any other internship agreements.
• Before the start of the internship, the educational institution will need to confirm in writing that:

1. you are enrolled at the educational institution during the internship, and;
2. the internship takes place as part of the programme of the study.

• The confirmation of educational institution takes place by signing the UNL template or forms prepared by TNO.
• Interns at TNO must be in possession of a Dutch residential address at the start of the internship. Performance of internship activities from abroad is not possible.