The University of Liège has released two separate internship tracks for the 2025-2026 academic year, and both are aimed at students who want real research exposure instead of classroom theory alone. One track sits inside the ArGenCo Department under Professor Benjamin Dewaels and focuses on flood risk, nature-based flood protection, and pollutant transport in rivers. The other track is supervised by Professor Shady Attia and centers on building energy modeling for a zero-energy senior house project in the Netherlands.
Neither internship charges a fee, both accept students from a defined set of academic backgrounds, and the timelines are flexible rather than fixed to a single strict date. If you study engineering, data science, or a related field, one of these four project topics might be exactly what your resume needs right now.
Understanding the Two Separate Tracks:
It helps to think of this opportunity as two different doors rather than one single program. The first door leads to four flood-related research topics under Professor Dewaels. The second door leads to a single but detailed energy modeling project under Professor Attia. You do not need to apply to both, and each has its own supervisor, contact email, and expected academic profile. Read through both carefully before deciding which one matches your interests and coursework.
Quick Facts You Should Know First:
- Host University: University of Liège (ULiège), Belgium
- Host Department: ArGenCo Department, Faculty of Applied Sciences
- Internship Type: unpaid research internship, not a scholarship with a stipend attached
- Application Fee: none required for either track
- Track One Duration: flexible, running anytime between September 2025 and September 2027
- Track Two Duration: 3 to 6 months, with a flexible start date based on the candidate’s availability
- Working Language: English
- Location: Liège, Belgium, with hybrid working possible for the energy modeling project
Track One: Flood Risk Research Under Professor Dewaels:
This track is built for students who are curious about how floods affect businesses, ecosystems, and infrastructure, and who want to use data and numerical modeling to find answers. There are four separate topics under this track, and applicants typically choose the one closest to their background and interest.
Topic 1: Business Sector Flood Damage:
This project looks at how floods disrupt businesses rather than homes, which is an area that has received far less research attention than residential flood damage. The research addresses which components of flood losses matter most in the business sector, what drives those losses across different regions, how accurate predictive modelling can be, and how businesses recover from and adapt to flood and drought risks, using data from catchments in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. If you enjoy working with real datasets and building predictive models, this is a strong fit.
Topic 2: Nature-Based Solutions Against River Flooding:
This project explores greener alternatives to traditional concrete flood barriers. The rise of nature-based solutions has drawn attention because they offer stronger resilience compared to grey infrastructure and bring extra benefits like social inclusion and ecosystem improvement. The Vesdre catchment will act as the testing ground, connecting big-picture spatial planning ideas with the practical sizing of flood protection measures.
Topic 3: Pollution Transport During Floods:
This topic dives into what happens to pollutants when rivers overflow their banks. The intern will help build modeling tools that track how contaminants move and spread through riverine and riparian systems during flood events, which directly supports better water quality management afterward.
Topic 4: Flood Storage as a Nature-Based Solution
This project focuses on temporary flood storage systems and how municipalities across Europe can adopt them more consistently. The intern will benchmark current approaches, build a shared typology of these storage systems, design new spatial analysis tools to locate good sites, and test how well these systems hold up under extreme flood conditions.
Who Should Apply for Track One:
- Data science or data science and engineering students
- Computer science or computer science and engineering students
- Physical engineering students
- Geology and mining engineering students
- Architectural engineering students
- Civil engineering students
Track Two: Zero-Energy Senior House Modeling Under Professor Attia:
This second track is a single, detailed project rather than a set of topic choices. The intern will help build a simulation model for a nearly zero-energy senior row house located in Gissenburg, the Netherlands. Instead of working purely with theory, the intern gets hands-on exposure to a real building that is already occupied and monitored.
What the Work Actually Involves:
- Collecting data from post-occupancy monitoring and on-site field surveys
- Running a simplified energy audit and comparing the results against public benchmarks
- Analyzing electricity consumption and calibrating the model using real monthly energy bills
- Assessing indoor environmental quality along with the real-world performance of a heat pump and solar PV system
The final model gets built using DesignBuilder software and follows the CEN 16798 and CEN 15316 European standards, which are widely recognized benchmarks in building performance engineering.
What You Actually Gain From This Internship:
Unlike a paid scholarship, the value here is not measured in stipends but in the skills and exposure you walk away with. Choosing Track Two specifically gives you the following.
- Practical training in building energy and performance modeling using industry-standard software
- Exposure to 3D modeling through photogrammetry techniques
- Direct experience running comfort monitoring and professional energy audits
- Real-world understanding of how heat pumps and PV systems perform outside of a lab setting
- Working knowledge of EU building energy simulation standards, which strengthens your resume for future engineering roles
- The flexibility of hybrid working, which can ease the transition if you are balancing other academic commitments
Track One offers a different but equally valuable kind of gain, since interns there work directly with cross-border datasets, contribute to academic research questions that remain unresolved, and get supervised experience in numerical or spatial modeling depending on their chosen topic.
Who Should Apply for Track Two:
- Final-year Bachelor’s or Master’s students in Mechanical Engineering
- Final-year Bachelor’s or Master’s students in Environmental Engineering
- Final-year Bachelor’s or Master’s students in Civil Engineering
- Final-year Bachelor’s or Master’s students in Architectural Engineering, particularly those with a focus on energy
Programs and Fields Covered Across Both Tracks:
- Data Science and Data Science and Engineering
- Computer Science and Computer Science and Engineering
- Physical Engineering
- Geology and Mining Engineering
- Architectural Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
How to Apply:
Applying to these internships does not involve a formal online portal. Instead, both supervisors ask for direct email applications.
- For Track One (flood research topics), send your CV and a motivation letter directly to Professor B. Dewaels at B.Dewals@uliege.be
- For Track Two (energy modeling project), send your CV and a motivation letter directly to Professor Shady Attia at shady.attia@uliege.be
- Clearly mention which topic you are interested in in your motivation letter if you are applying for Track One, since there are four separate project options
- Keep your motivation letter focused on why your academic background and interests connect to the specific topic you are choosing
Timeline Considerations:
One thing that makes this opportunity different from a typical scholarship is the lack of a single hard deadline. Track One accepts applications for internships starting anytime between September 2025 and September 2027, which gives students a long window to plan around their academic schedule. Track Two is even more flexible, with a start date that depends entirely on when the selected candidate is available. This works well for students who need to align an internship with their university’s academic calendar or thesis requirements.
Things to Keep in Mind Before You Apply:
Since this is a research internship rather than a funded scholarship, applicants should not expect a monthly stipend or travel coverage unless it is separately negotiated with the supervisor. Students planning to relocate to Liège for the internship should also check with their home university about credit transfer or thesis integration, since many of these projects are structured in a way that could also support a master’s thesis.
Frequently Asked Questions?:
Is this internship paid? No stipend or funding is mentioned in the official offer. This is a research internship focused on academic and professional development rather than financial compensation.
Is there an application fee? No, there is no fee required to apply to either track.
Can I apply to more than one topic under Track One? The listing does not restrict this, but it is best to clearly state your preferred topic in your motivation letter so the supervisor understands your specific interest.
Do I need to be a Master’s student to apply? Track Two is open to students in their final year of either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, while Track One is open to students with relevant academic expertise without a specific degree level stated.
Is the internship remote or in person? Track Two allows hybrid working, meaning a mix of remote and in-person work in Liège, Belgium. Track One does not specify a hybrid option.
What is the application deadline? There is no single fixed deadline. Track One accepts applications for start dates ranging from September 2025 to September 2027, and Track Two has a flexible start date based on candidate availability.
How do I apply? You apply directly by emailing your CV and motivation letter to the relevant supervisor, not through an online form.
