Ditchley Foundation (The

Practical Advice

Firstly, be prepared to learn on the job and not know everything initially (and that's ok!) - there

is a lot of information to take in. Secondly, I got the most out of the internship by also being

inquisitive about the work the team was doing. Be prepared to ask questions (obviously at appropriate times), or even ask to schedule in time with a team member to ask questions/go

through a task. This requires you to be pro-active. Thirdly, you must be able to manage your

tasks and deadlines as there will be multiple things going on at the same time. I would be happy

to give any future interns advice.

Ana-Diamond Aaba Atach, Balliol College, MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern

Studies, remote working

Work Projects

Ditchley Foundation offered three different tracks

for incoming interns. Interns, many of whom were

from Oxbridge and Russell group universities,

were then allocated to these three tracks, which

included 1) Networks, 2) Archives, and 3) Heritage.

Each track was different to the other, although at times there were some overlaps. I was

assigned to work in the Archives team, alongside four other interns.

My internship project entailed going through the extensive and historic Ditchley archives, all

the way from 1962, and reading through the Conference notes and Director's notes. I conducted an archival analysis of the dominant themes/issues brought up in these conferences,

such as climate change or the role of technology in our daily lives, and study the evolution of

thought and approach toward these themes at Ditchley. For example, Ditchley hosted many

conferences on the topic of Urban Development. However, their approach and priorities were

different in 1970s than they perhaps are now.The interns' duty was to review this change and

analyse how the problems were address, what solutions were offered, and what has been

different since then.

As a graduate student researching the Middle East, I chose

to focus on the topic of Modern Middle East. The Middle

East is unquestionably the most discussed region in the

history of the Ditchley conferences, with well over 100

discussions held since 1962 that either directly address

issues of the region or topics that broadly concern the

region. I reviewed over 20 conferences, many more

scholarly papers, did background research on all the

conference participants (many of whom are renowned

politicians, diplomats, business professionals and

academics), and then wrote a comprehensive report on my findings (5,000 word report). This

internship required the interns to be very independent and initiate their project within their

own timelines, interest, and ability. The support team, however, were always there if needed.

They were also very accommodating if you needed extra guidance or time, and our point of

contact was always available upon email or call.

Daily Life

This was a part-time role, which meant that I worked from 9 until 2pm from Mon-Thur. It

worked out well while I was still in Oxford, but during my travels this got a bit complicated. I

would occasionally work more than 20 hours per week, but the beauty of it was that I could

work at any time that was convenient for me.

Lasting Impressions

I enjoyed the experience very much, although I hope

there would have been more opportunities to meet

the other interns, our seniors, as well as the important

people that make Ditchley what it is - a global hub

where connections are made, problems are addressed,

ideas are born and solutions presented. One of the more memorable days of this internship

was when I was able to listen to Sir Tony Blair talk in person, and I briefly met diplomat Richard

Moore in passing. For someone at the beginning of their career in politics and diplomacy, this

was very exciting and motivating.

Practical Advice

This is an excellent internship if you are interested in history, archival research, and have an eye

for small details when going through vast number of dense documents. I certainly felt like the

internship improved my critical thinking and analytical skills, and it also kept me sharp during

the summer holiday with the intensive levels of reading and writing that was required.

Noah Hudson, Worcester College, BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Second

Year Undergraduate, remote working

Work Projects

My internship with The Ditchley Foundation consisted of two main streams of work. The first

was their 'Existing Networks' programme in which I was tasked with researching a range of

influential people who may be of interest when planning Ditchley's future conferences. This

area of work was all about formulating networks between people who may not otherwise

collaborate to tackle some of the world's most pressing issues. It consisted of open-source

research, gathering qualitative information about individual's careers, areas of expertise and

any relevant organisations they had worked for. Categorising these individuals into their areas

of expertise allowed us to formulate a database of the networks that are so fundamental to the

work that Ditchley does.

The second strand of work was the 'Quants' programme. This involved an evaluation of

Ditchley's current network database, attempting to highlight any areas for improvement and

exploring the ways in which the database could be utilised most effectively. A large proportion

of this work involved using Cypher code to investigate the database. Little experience with

coding was required and plenty of support and induction material was available in the first few

weeks whilst we became familiar with the system.

The two strands of work complimented each other nicely with a good balance of qualitative and

quantitative skills being applied to analyse, expand, and ultimately improve the networks that

Ditchley has created. There was also a blend of individual and group tasks as we were

responsible for our own research on the Networks programme but were often tasked with

presenting group findings in relation to the work on the Quants programme. I found this to

provide a nice variety of roles and responsibilities.

Daily Life

Given that the internship was completely

remote, I was slightly concerned before-hand

that I would struggle to feel fully immersed in

the experience and thought it might be hard to

get to know other interns on the programme.

However, shortly before the internship, we

were invited to Ditchley to have a look around

the grounds and this provided the perfect opportunity to meet those who we would be working

with for the next six weeks and get a feel for the organisation. This ensured an easy transition

into remote working as we were familiar with each other and didn't have to introduce ourselves

for the first time on zoom!

The internship was part-time so on the days I was working I would have 1-2 45-minute zoom

calls to attend where we would be presenting our research for the week, raising any concerns