Unconventional Weapons and Technology (UWT): Advanced Research Internship - Spring 2020
*PLEASE APPLY THROUGH START'S WEBSITE HERE, NOT THROUGH HANDSHAKE. IF YOU ONLY APPLY THROUGH HANDSHAKE YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.
Designed for highly motivated, high-performing students, Advanced Research Interns participate in high-level substantive research and analysis for a variety of projects within the broader unconventional weapons and technology portfolio. Past Advanced Research Interns were tasked with projects such as designing models of insider threats in the aviation system, conducting imagery analysis of nuclear facilities to determine vulnerabilities, and assessing sophisticated engineering capabilities of terrorist and criminal organizations. This internship provides an opportunity for extremely capable students to engage in research in a manner that is akin to a staff researcher at START and provides greater levels of responsibility and participation in real-world projects than many other internships. More advanced terrorism concepts and analytical skills are explored and developed in a collaborative, team-based environment. Advanced Research Interns may be involved in multiple projects simultaneously and have the opportunity to help transition projects into a variety of mediums and publications, including potential opportunities for co-publications.
Supervisor: Steve Sin (sinss@umd.edu)
Application deadline: Sunday, October 27th, 2019, 11:59pm
Required/minimum qualifications:
Passion and an inherent capacity to learn quickly are more important than existing knowledge / skills, but the following are the minimum requirements:
- Strong research background through coursework or internship/jobs
- Flexibility and ability to multitask
- Self-driven
- Superior writing skills
Preferred/ideal qualifications:
- Graduate students or extremely qualified undergraduates are strongly preferred
- Intermediate to advanced statistics or modeling skillset can be useful
- Background in studying terrorism, criminal organizations, or unconventional weapons
Tentative weekly team meeting day and time: Flexible, but tentative Tuesday AM
US citizenship requirement: No
General Information for all START Internships
Location:
START Headquarters is located in the Discovery District in College Park, MD. Our exact address will be provided upon being invited for an interview. All internship hours must be completed at this office unless otherwise specified. Working remotely is not permitted.
Schedule Requirements:
Orientation Date: Thursday, January 23rd, 2020. All interns are required to attend orientation. You may be required to attend an additional day of orientation on Friday, January 24th, 2020. Your supervisor will inform you if you are required to attend both days.
Internship Duration: Thursday, January 23rd, 2020 to Friday, May 8th, 2020. All interns must be able to commit to the duration of the whole program.
Work Hours: All interns must work at least 10 hours per week during the spring 2020 program. Work hours are scheduled from Monday to Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm. Interns may not work longer than 8-hour shifts.
Other Information:
- All internships are UNPAID and START is unable to provide travel stipends or housing arrangements.
- We strongly encourage and recommend that interns seek academic credit for their internship through their home institution or department, if possible.
- If undertaking the internship for credit, you must indicate this on your application form. Be sure to notify your internship supervisor if you need to work more than 10 hours per work for this reason.
- Applicants interested in applying for an internship for any semester other than or in addition to spring 2020, must submit a separate application for each semester with the correct application form for that semester.
How to Apply for START Internships:
START is currently accepting applications for the spring 2020 semester. Please make sure you check the dates for the projects you’re interested in to make sure they’re available during the semester you intend to apply. The spring application form will be open until 11:59pm on Sunday, November 10th, 2019. However, some projects for the spring semester require the application be submitted by the priority deadline (Sunday, October 27th at 11:59pm) so please be sure to note the deadlines in the project descriptions. Late, incomplete, or applications not submitted correctly will not be considered. To access the application: click here.
Notes:
- Applicants must pay close attention to the requirements of each internship they are applying for, including attendance to team meetings and minimum time commitment. Inability to attend compulsory meetings or work the minimum required hours will result in the revocation of any offer made.
- Address your cover letter to the internship supervisor of your first choice project.
- Failure to complete the application form in full, including the selection of 1-3 internship preferences could result in your application being rejected without further consideration.
- Failure to submit the proper materials according to the directions provided in the project description could result in your application being rejected without further consideration.
- Due to the high volume of applicants, only top candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
- Applicants may be asked to attend more than one interview.
- Any successful candidate will be asked to respond with a firm acceptance within 48 hours of the offer being made. Failure to respond could result in the vacancy passed to another candidate.
- Any questions regarding the specific requirements for the internship vacancy should be directed to the supervisor(s) listed for the project.
- Any questions regarding the application process should be directed to the START Education Team at internships-start@umd.edu.
Application Materials:
All internship applicants must submit all materials in one .pdf file using the file name format:
LastName, FirstName_InternCandidate.pdf or .doc.
The internship application packet should include the following documents in the following order:
- One page cover letter
- One page resume
- Official or unofficial transcript(s)
- Two-page writing sample (Communications applicants must submit two writing samples.)
Note for International Students:
START welcomes applications from international students for all of our internships where US citizenship is not a requirement (see the qualifications listed for each project for details).
It is, however, the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that their visa or immigration status permits them to undertake an unpaid internship. It is also the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all proper paperwork, like documented approval from your home institution, is available and processed in time for the start of the internship. Failure to comply with these stipulations, or provide the paperwork required to verify your status, will result in your internship offer being rescinded without further consideration. START is unable to sponsor visas for non-US Citizens due to the short timeline of our program and the lengthy processing time for visas. Unfortunately, this largely limits our ability to accept anything other than F-1 visas on regular, not OPT, status.