Volunteering at Mind & Life Europe
Donate your time!
If you want to support us with your time, we offer various opportunities regarding places, times and type of work.
Please check out the important details below (incl. the application process) to learn about:
Image: volunteers at the Contemplative Science Symposium 2019.
General information about MLE Volunteering
Why we seek to work with volunteers
At Mind & Life Europe (MLE), our mission is to alleviate suffering and promote human and societal flourishing by integrating science with contemplative practice and wisdom traditions. As a not-for-profit organization we are running on limited resources and are grateful for support of our volunteers. Each volunteer activity can support us in growing our community and increasing our impact.
Foundations for our work relationship
In order to build a stable relationship that allows MLE as an organization to develop and you as a volunteer to grow personally, we'd like to consider the following factors:
- Mutually beneficial work based on our MLE Values, which include "stimulate dialogue", "take care" and "radical candor".
- We seek volunteers for the duration of at least three months. After this period of time, we will check in how far there is an interest on both sides to continue or even further develop the volunteering position.
- We will have a (short) weekly check-in with volunteers to discuss current and upcoming tasks.
- A high proficiency of the English language is a must as we operate in an international environment.
Benefits
As a volunteer at Mind & Life Europe you can benefit from the following:
- Access to current state of research in the field of contemplative sciences through our various media (website, newsletter, social media), e.g. neuroscience, education, philosophy, psychology.
- Participation in selected talks or events, e.g. exclusive MLE Friends events.
- Written confirmation of your volunteering service to MLE.
Two types of MLE Volunteering
In general, we offer two kinds of volunteering positions at Mind & Life Europe, namely ongoing and project-based.
- Ongoing volunteering positions refer to work activities that are needed for MLE's activities on an ongoing basis. While your volunteering position would have a clear starting and end point, the task as such is part of our daily work. Ongoing volunteering positions allow you to experience the day-to-day (or week-to-week) work of current MLE activities and be involved in present initiatives and events. Examples are support for the development of social media graphics or content creation based on our 'Mind Matters' talks.
- Project-based volunteering positions refer to a clearly defined time and scope related to an MLE project. They have a clear starting point and end point. In between the work load can possibly go beyond the average of ten hours per months. Project-based positions allow to dive deep in a particular task and/or field of content. In particular cases, project-based volunteering can be linked to an individual internship or thesis. Examples are support for the organization of and technical support for our annual European Summer Research Institute (ESRI).
How to apply
If you are interested in one of the below positions, please send your application via email to Gábor Karsai (gabor.karsai(at)mindandlife-europe.org) indicating the respective position you are applying to.
Your application should include the following:
- Letter of motivation including an explanation of relevant skills and experiences for the respective position (max. 250 words).
- Your CV (maximum two pages).
- Written statement (feedback) as indicated in the description of the position (max. 250 words).
Thank you for your application in advance, we hope to see you in our team!