START is looking for interns with a wide array of skills and majors (including
but not limited to: Criminology, Communications, Government, International
Relations, Public Policy, History, GIS, Geography, Economics, English,
Mathematics, Psychology, Languages and Statistics). Students from any institution
may apply and we will consider current and recently graduated undergraduates,
graduate students, and PhD candidates. In addition to the experience gained
during their internship, interns will also receive mentoring, training and the
opportunity to participate in many professional development activities. START
is very willing to work with academic institutions to enable students to
undertake our internships for credit. Our internships are unpaid and students
must be able to undertake their work hours on location at START Headquarters at
the University of Maryland College Park.
Please
visit our website for more information and to access the application form: https://www.start.umd.edu/careers/internships
The
fall internship program will begin with an orientation on August 25 and 26,
2016 and end on December 12, 2016. Below is a sampling of available
opportunities.
Global
Terrorism Database (GTD)
The
GTD is an open source, unclassified database including information on terrorist
attacks around the world since 1970. The database is maintained by START
researchers. The GTD includes systematic data on domestic as well as
international terrorist incidents and now includes over 125,000 cases. The GTD
intern team is organized into the following themes:
·
GTD: Incident Location and Geographic Identification (GEOINT)
·
GTD: Perpetrator Identification
·
GTD: Target Classification
·
GTD: Understanding the Patterns and Use of Weapons and Tactics
·
GTD: The Consequences of Terrorism – Casualties and Outcome
Unconventional
Weapons and Technology
The
Unconventional Weapons and Technology Division consists of a number of
intensive, shorter-term research projects concentrated on research topics
within the larger study of terrorism and politically violent non-state actors.
Intern positions are available in the following focus areas:
· Advanced
Research Internship (ARI)
· Aviation
Insider Threat Research
· Behavioral
Indicators of Insider Threats
· Project
Leviathan
· Project
Prometheus
· Terrorist
Ideology Project
Risk
Communication and Community Resilience
Government,
non-profits, and other organizations rely on public communication to deliver
important messages to various audiences. Professional communicators today use
social scientific research to improve this process, and START’s research teams have
several current and upcoming communication projects that address current
research questions. Risk communication is important for delivering messages
about impending storms, terrorist attacks, public health crises, and more.
Interns working on this team will support several ongoing research projects as
well as new projects.
Geographical
Information Systems (GIS)
Interns
will contribute to the construction of a global, multimodal transportation
network. Tasks will include analysis and aggregation of large-scale
datasets, database triangulation, manual vector editing, extensive open-source
research into traditional and illicit transportation methods, digital
cartography/mapmaking, and translation of START’s qualitative research into
geospatial format. Interest/experience in global security and/or
terrorism is beneficial.
Communications
START’s
Communications team is seeking interns to assist with START’s communication
activities and products. Intern responsibilities vary but may include: Writing
and editing press releases and featured stories, planning and attending events,
creating media kits, developing and tracking media lists and monitoring social
media.
Understanding Domestic Radicalization
This
internship is part of the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United
States (PIRUS) project, a three-year project which seeks to establish an
empirical basis to investigate the underlying mechanisms and processes for
individual radicalization in the United States. Previous intern teams
researched information on radicalized individuals and entered it into a
dataset; wrote case studies on radicalized individuals; performed
quality-control checks on the dataset; performed structured qualitative analysis;
and assisted project staff in conducting analysis on the quantitative data.
Developing Technology in Explosive Detection Dogs
Interns
for this project will assist in developing deployment strategies with explosive
detection dogs while utilizing new technology in the field. Interns will
be working closely with four K9 dogs and their handlers while training and
being deployed for Person Borne Improvised Explosive Device Detection.
Interns must have a flexible schedule and ability to be around dogs.
Interns will be required to pass a brief background check.
START/State
Department Terrorist Organizations Project
Students
will gather and analyze statistics on terrorist organizations over time.
Projects will include collecting the number and type of attacks over time,
looking at trends, and possibly even modeling group capacity out into the
future. Interns will also provide assistance in researching open source
information on the leadership of some groups for possible future designations.
Interns will be co-supervised by researchers at the University of Maryland and
by project leads at the State Department. The State Department leads will set
and give feedback on tasks. Interns will be based at START’s offices on the
University of Maryland campus.
Why
choose an internship at START?
Experience working with a large team of dynamic and experienced researchers.
Exposure to cutting edge theories and methods.
Deepen
your understanding of current issues in terrorism and homeland security.
Work on
projects of immediate interest to the practitioner and policy community.
Hone
and develop a range of transferable skills attractive to future employers.
Opportunity to work with and meet other students and researchers with similar
interests.
Enrichment activities offering wide opportunities for learning and professional
development.
Mentorship from START staff and researchers in a successful workplace
environment.
Internships can be undertaken for academic credit (depending on approval from
your institution and department).
General
requirements
Applicants
for all internships must:
Have a
good academic record.
Demonstrate an interest in the subject matter.
Be able
to complete their internship work hours on site at START.
Agree
to attend orientation and training.
Submit
an application by the deadline, all application packets must include:
o A complete application form
o One page resume
o Cover letter
o Writing sample
o Unofficial transcripts from most recent
institution
Each
project may have additional requirements, including minimum credit hours,
citizenship, preferred majors, and compulsory meeting times.
All questions should be sent to internships@start.umd.edu!
