Class of 2024: Pavel Krepelka

Pavel Krepelka was keen to gain real hands-on work experience during his degree, and managed to secure two amazing placements which both exceeded his expectations.

His first placement was as an intern at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Brussels, where he got the opportunity to engage in a variety of diplomatic tasks alongside experienced diplomats.

The timing of the placement could not have been better as it coincided with the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU - probably the most important and intense six months for Czech diplomacy every 14 years.

His role was primarily focused on monitoring and analysing Belgian preferences towards EU policy and supporting the embassy's political and cultural agenda within the framework of the Presidency. This involved helping organise events and producing analyses and reports covering Belgian foreign and domestic policy, its economy and defence.

“I regularly attended briefings at the Belgian Foreign Ministry in relation to the Belgian position on the current EU agenda,” explained Pavel. “I was particularly passionate about briefings on EU development and cooperation policy and Belgian special parliamentary committee sessions dedicated to addressing Belgium's colonial past.”

Pavel, who studied BA International Relations, then did a six-month internship within the Research and Policy Unit at Metabolic Support UK, the world's leading not-for-profit organisation for inherited metabolic disorders (IMDs).

This led to a part-time Project Assistant role which he is still doing today.

“During the internship I had the opportunity to engage in all areas of the organisation’s work, allowing for an intensive and diverse learning experience about healthcare, rare diseases, and the pharmaceutical sector,” he explained.

Pavel, who is from the Czech Republic, chose to study at Essex because of its reputation, especially its Department of Government, which has been among the top UK universities for politics and international relations. He also liked the international community at Essex, its “beautiful campus” and the fact he could take language modules as part of his degree.

“As a student of international relations, I have enjoyed being part of a large international community. Class discussions with students from different countries and with varying opinions, ways of thinking and cultural backgrounds have been particularly interesting and valuable.”

His favourite lecturer was Dr Martin Steinwand, who taught his second-year undergraduate module International Economic Development.

“Despite this module being quite large in terms of enrolled students, he managed to make every class engaging and deliver the class material in a way that got me excited and passionate about the module,” added Pavel.