Waste of money and lack of interests of the senior leadership (scam)
Pros
Highly motivated, ambitious and knowledgable colleagues. Everyone is in the same boat. It is also an advantage that you can write about topics you find interesting.
Cons
Given that the traineeship is not remunerated, you may expect something in return, but besides a place to publish, the traineeship virtually offers nothing. It does not offer access to otherwise inaccessible networks of knowledge, people, or events; all events I attended I could have gone to without this. Nor does Finabel offer unique opportunities to establish connections with military officials; I have asked about this on various occasions. Worse is the lack of interest from the two only paid (permanent) staff. I stayed in Brussels, an expensive city, for about four months, and they were unbothered to personally introduce themselves or engage with the staff doing unpaid work for them (except for periodic meeting with the research managers), despite the considerable costs involved in staying there. Moreover, there has often been radio silence for extended periods of time from the (paid) person who is supposed to run this organisation, who came to the office only four times during my stay (yet he is very adamant that everyone should be at the office between 9 and 4). I would describe his management style as controlling and heavy-handed, often relying on directives and showing no interest in engaging in dialogue with research staff (he simply has not). This is also not his full-time occupation, but appears to be a hobby in which he is increasingly losing interest. Aside from the question of whether their backgrounds are suitable for this type of organisation, I find the clear lack of interest profoundly disrespectful towards their unpaid staff. There is, moreover, absolutely no reason to be at the office, except for socialising with colleagues. It was only during several management changes (of unpaid managers) that we had some meetings with each other; before that, everyone just showed up to work on their own project. To my knowledge, there were no collaborative papers published during my time there. It should either be a remote traineeship or provide real reasons to come to the office. The office itself is anything but inspiring. It is an old military base with improper chairs and tables to work on for extensive periods of time, during the summer there is only a obnoxiously loud and old AC unit, and do not expect your coffee is free. There is a coffee machine in the office but during my time there we paid for our own beans and cups to drink from.
