Research Internship, Africa Growth Initiative
Overview
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Interns spend approximately 10 weeks working alongside leading experts in government and academia from all over the world. Brookings also offers students the opportunity to intern in departments such as communications, human resources and central operations management. The mission of the Internship Program is to provide students with a pre-professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work experience related to their field of study or career interest. Students engage in career exploration and development as well as learn new skills.
Interns will have the opportunity to attend internal meetings, local think tank events, professional development workshops, and public Brookings events. In addition, interns may participate on Brookings sports teams and network with other interns throughout the Institution.
This external sponsorship/academic focused internship, beginning in June 2020, is an opportunity for undergraduate students in their junior or senior year and graduate students with an interest in the political economy of Africa to apply principles and theory learned in the classroom in a professional environment. The internship is offered on the basis of academic credit and/or external financial support.
Applicants must be willing to commit to a minimum number of hours per week (no less than 20 hours per week, during regular business hours), with some flexibility around an academic course schedule.
Responsibilities
Learning Objectives
The intern will assist with supporting research focused on improving global economic cooperation and fighting poverty and sources of social stress, particularly in Africa. The intern will gain exposure to a broad set of policy topics while developing their analytical thinking and organizational and writing skills. Applicants should expect a range of work, broadly defined under the following categories:
General research and writing: The intern will assist with short-term research and other projects. Examples include researching current regional, functional, and country issues; extracting relevant information related to country, sector, and institution case studies; drafting annotated bibliographies and literature reviews; and assisting with the preparation of publications.
Project Support: Working with the center/project team, the intern will help with project-specific needs, such as communication with external stakeholders, planning and executing meetings, and identifying conference and blog opportunities.
Administrative: The intern should be prepared to help with general office support, assist with special projects, and perform other duties as assigned
Qualifications
Education/Knowledge/Skills:
Applicants must be current undergraduate students in their junior, or senior year, or graduate students who have studied or are studying a relevant field (i.e. economics, political science, statistics, international development, public policy, etc.).
Applicants should have an interest in Africa, political economy, economics, and international development. The intern will need a wide variety of research and other skills including being able to find, read and synthesize information thoroughly and efficiently; respond to tight deadlines; and to organize information with exceptional attention to detail.
Excellent organization and communication skills, both written and oral; the abilities to accomplish tasks efficiently without supervision, and to collaborate with others; and a willingness and enthusiasm to learn are required.
Proficiency in one or more of the following programs is also required: R, Stata, SPSS or Excel.