GLD Fall 2025 Internship Opportunities
Do you want to experience being part of an international research team that values transparent research, rigorous methods, and collaboration among scholars, policymakers, and civil societies? Apply for an internship at GLD! Besides learning new skills, you'll gain valuable work experience from a research environment and enhance your employability by getting the chance to put your academic knowledge into practice. We are currently looking for highly motivated, flexible, and self-driven people who want to work in a fast-paced research environment. We are currently offering data science and research project internships.
Internship Information
This term, we are offering three internship tracks.
Data Science
Emerging Cities Project Internship
Survive, Thrive, or Deprive? Project Internship
You can read more about each track below. All three internship tracks are available for 10-or 20-week internships.
In order to be eligible to apply:
- You must be a student currently enrolled in a master’s program that offers the opportunity to do an internship.
- Your university must be willing to sponsor your internship.
- We ask that you hold at least a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Gender Studies, Global Studies, Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics, IT, or a related field.
Does this sound like you? If so, please apply below! The application window will close April 30. If you have any questions, please email contact@gld.gu.se.
Survive, Thrive, or Deprive? Drivers and Outcomes of Resilience during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Malawi
About the project
The Survive, Thrive, or Deprive (Resiliency) project examines why some individuals and communities respond better than others to crises, and the longer-term effects of crises on governance and welfare. Examining community governance in Malawi during the Covid pandemic, it aims to answer three questions:
- What explains when and how communities implement and enforce policies to mitigate the pandemic's negative effects? When/why does this impact poverty and inequality?
- How do community factors and individuals' characteristics affect how individuals manage crises?
- How has the pandemic altered community social ties and authority?
Read more about the Resiliency project here.
About the Internship
Having an internship with GLD means you get to be part of a dynamic and international organization. If you are interested in topics such as governance and development, you have come to the right place! In this particular project, you will work with Dr Dave Namusanya and the wider Resiliency team. Possible tasks include, but are not limited to: performing literature reviews, writing case specific background reports, finding relevant data sources and creating basic data reports, or assisting with qualitative data management and analysis. Note that the specific tasks to be completed will be determined based on the needs of the project and the skills and goals of the chosen applicant.
You will also have many chances to expand your professional network through weekly project meetings, GLD team and research meetings, and GLD’s Work-in-Progress seminar series.
Your Skills
- Great organizational skills
- Good knowledge of English (both written and verbal)
- Ability to multitask
- Experience with quantitative research methods and survey data analysis
- Demonstrable interest in Lower and Middle Income Countries (interest in Malawi will be an added advantage)
The following skills, while not mandatory, are beneficial:
- Experience with mixed methods research (a qualitative bias)
- Language skills in any of Malawi’s local languages
- Previous experience doing research in Southern Africa
You Want to
- Improve your research skills for future studies and work-life
- Get greater insight into international research cooperation
- Gain experience working on comparative research projects
- Gain hands on experience with the development and implementation of fieldwork, specifically surveys
How to Apply!
In order to apply, please complete this form, including a cover letter and max 2 page CV.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2025 at 1700 CEST.
Only those who are shortlisted will be contacted for interviews.
Data Science Internship
Work with GLD Data! Tasks are assigned on a case-by-case basis based on skillset and team needs. Possible tasks include data collecting, data cleaning, assisting with modelling and analysis, and creating figures and tables for reports, articles, and other publications.
Your Skills:
- At least an introductory knowledge of quantitative methodology and/or data handling
- Basic working knowledge of R or Stata
- Basic knowledge of data visualization
You Want to:
- Gain experience working with real/raw data
- Improve your skills in R or Stata
- Practice performing basic statistical analyses
- Improve/Practice your data visualization skills
- Gain additional skills such as: writing reports in LaTeX, making maps in QGIS, or creating dissemination materials in Prezi.
How to Apply!
In order to apply, please complete this form, including a cover letter and max 2 page CV.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2025 at 1700 CEST.
Only those who are shortlisted will be contacted for interviews.
Political Change and Local Governance in Emerging Cities
About the Emerging Cities Project
By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities, and the future of 7 billion people will depend on urban governance and development. Most of our knowledge about how cities work comes from the world’s largest and most established cities. Yet most people live in emerging cities: urban areas of less than one million people that are rapidly adding population, re-defining territorial boundaries, and shifting away from an agricultural economy. They are critical spaces to reduce poverty, as well as leverage public resources to support equitable growth and development at the local level. Within these cities, there are sites of intense conflict, but also examples of successful governance and equitable development. What explains these differences?
Emerging Cities develops a new and collaborative research environment to explain four outcomes:
- Inclusive decision-making
- Avenues of urban claim-making
- Peaceful co-existence between host populations and migrants
- Equitable development and service delivery
The project has three specific aims:
- Develop a comparative framework for the study of emerging cities across the world.
- Explain the variation in governance across and within emerging cities.
- Distinguish what is "urban" about emerging cities.
This project brings together researchers with diverse skillsets based at institutions in three continents to conduct multi-method field research in Brazil, Tunisia, and Ghana. Researchers will coordinate across teams, compare measures, integrate case selection, and synthesize results and publications. You can read more about the project here.
About the Internship
Having an internship with GLD means you get to be part of a dynamic and international organization. If you are interested in topics such as governance and development, you have come to the right place! In this particular project, you will assist Dr. Erica Ann Metheney and the larger Emerging Cities team. Possible tasks include, but are not limited to: performing literature reviews, writing case specific background reports, finding relevant data sources and creating basic data reports, or assisting with survey development. Note that the specific tasks to be completed will be determined based on the needs of the project and the skills and goals of the chosen applicant. For example, if you have a particular interest in one of the country contexts or outcome areas, your tasks can be tailored to those cases.
You will also have many chances to expand your professional network through weekly project meetings, GLD team and research meetings, and GLD’s Work-in-Progress seminar series.
Your Skills
- Great organizational skills
- Good knowledge of English (both written and verbal)
- Ability to multitask
- Demonstrable interest in one of the four outcome areas listed above
The following skills, while not mandatory, are beneficial:
- Experience with survey development
- Language skills in Arabic, Portuguese, or
- Previous experience doing research on Tunisia, Brazil, or Ghana
- Previous experience doing research on cities
You Want to
- Improve your research skills for future studies and work-life
- Get greater insight into international research cooperation
- Gain experience working on comparative research projects
- Gain hands on experience with the development and implementation of fieldwork, specifically surveys
How to Apply!
In order to apply, please complete this form, including a cover letter and max 2 page CV.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2025 at 1700 CEST.
Only those who are shortlisted will be contacted for interviews.