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Friday, February 15, 2019

Summer 2019 Research Internships with START


Want to know more about START's Program? 
We will be providing three virtual information sessions via webex about START's Internship Program, available for interested applicants! The dates are scheduled for Thursday, February 28 at 3pm EST, Wednesday, March 6 at 2pm EST, and Monday, March 25 at 3pm EST. Please feel free to share this information with your students or colleagues who may be interested in learning more about our program! For more information and to sign up for the webinars, please see our website: 

If you're interested in setting up a separate webinar for your students or classroom, please let me know and we'd be happy to discuss that as well.


Below is a short summary of the opportunities available. Please visit our website for more information and to access the application form: https://www.start.umd.edu/careers/internships.


GIS: Data Collection & Cartography
This internship opportunity will provide cartographic assistance for a research project focusing on crime and conflict in West Africa. Interns will code and digitize geographic information that has been collected by field researchers through means of cognitive mapping interviews. Additional tasks may include conducting spatial analysis and/or spatial statistics to identify patterns within the data. The GIS team is seeking up to 3 interns to assist with this effort.

GIS: Transnational Illicit Trafficking (TransIT)
This internship opportunity will contribute to the expansion of START’s TransIT project. Tasks will include analysis and aggregation of large-scale datasets, manual vector editing, open-source research into global licit and illicit transportation methods, digital cartography, and translation of START’s qualitative research into geospatial formats. The GIS team is seeking up to 5 interns to assist with this effort.

Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Internships

The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is the most comprehensive unclassified terrorism database in the world. Currently updated through 2017, the GTD details information on more than 180,000 terrorist attacks that have occurred since 1970. Data from the GTD have been featured by the BBC, CNN, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Economist, The New York Times, Reuters, The Washington Post, and numerous other media outlets. The data are also used by the United States Department of State in its annual publication, Country Reports on Terrorism. GTD interns gain valuable experience working on a time-sensitive data collection effort that is used by those responsible for shaping United States counterterrorism policy. The GTD intern team is organized into the following themes:

  • GTD: Incident Location and Geographic Identification
  • GTD: Perpetrator Identification
  • GTD: Target Classification
  • GTD: Understanding the Patterns and Use of Weapons and Tactics
  • GTD: The Consequences of Terrorism – Casualties and Outcomes 


ICONS Project Internship
The International Communication and Negotiation Simulations Project (ICONS) is a unit of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, College Park. ICONS creates web-based computer simulations for policy analysis and forecasting to help public and private sector organizations solve complex problems. Our policy division creates bespoke simulations to support think tanks, cabinet-level agencies, and Department of Defense major commands as they tackle complex national security challenges. Our Education Division places high school and college students from around the globe in challenging online simulation and gaming exercises that allow them to role-play resolving contentious geo-political issues.

International Crisis Behavior Project
The International Crisis Behavior Project (ICB) has for over 40 years collected and analyzed data on all military security crises in the international system. Under the direction of its founders Michael Brecher and Jonathan Wilkenfeld, ICB focuses on crucial themes including crisis trigger, major response, crisis management techniques, third party intervention including mediation, and forms of crisis outcomes. Recently, ICB has collaborated with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on a long-term project focusing on cross-domain deterrence (CDD) in international crises. That is, the use of deterrence in one domain (for example economic sanctions) to counter an adversary’s behavior in another domain (armed attack). This joint University of Maryland/UCSD effort involves the merging of the CDD and ICB datasets prior to empirical analysis for both the academic and policy communities. Work on this project is funded by the Minerva Research Initiative, administered jointly by the Office of Basic Research and the Office of Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense.


Pathways to Violence: Understanding Hate Crime Offenders
This internship will support START researchers in identifying and assessing the individual pathways of hate crime offenders via the new BIAS (Bias Incidents and Actors Study) dataset. BIAS builds on the team’s PIRUS (Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States) dataset, which contains information on the pathways, mechanisms, and consequences of violent and non-violent extremism at the individual level. The BIAS dataset draws on an innovative combination of research in terrorism, criminology, sociology, psychology, and political science, with the goal of identifying the configurations of background characteristics, life-course events, and social relationships that condition and facilitate individuals’ involvement in hate crimes.  

START/State Department Terrorist Organizations Project Internship
START is excited to be able to offer a limited number of highly selective intern positions to students interested in working on projects for the U.S. State Department using START data (such as the GTD) and other open sources. Students will be tasked with developing materials that create a realistic scenario based on extensive research on history, geopolitical situations, and internal religious or ethnic cleavages in a region in support the Bureau of Counterterrorism training efforts. This internship will be co-supervised by START on-site staff at the University of Maryland and by project leads at the U.S. State Department. The U.S. State Department leads will set and give feedback on tasks. 


Unconventional Weapons and Technology (UWT): Advanced Research Internship
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. 



Unconventional Weapons and Technology (UWT): Next Generation WMD Threat Detection System
Are you interested in participating in cutting-edge research funded by DARPA, the U.S. Department of Defense agency responsible for developing the Internet, stealth aircraft, GPS, and AI robotics? STAT’s Unconventional Weapons and Technology (UWT) Division is seeking highly-motivated research interns to assist in helping DARPA develop a holistic platform to detect chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats in urban environments. Interns will utilize an array of research techniques including quantitative methods, adversary modeling, and computer simulations. 


Unconventional Weapons and Technology (UWT): Transnational Illicit Trafficking
Students joining this internship will be conducting open source research to profile transnational criminal organizations, as well as more loosely organized criminal networks. Interns will research specific groups, write summaries of their activities, isolate their areas of operation, and identify new or emerging patterns relevant to national security interests. Interns will have to code and geocode the data collected on the various organizations, and may also work to identify or verify through open sources research transportation networks in the regions of interest.


Understanding Extremist Networks
This internship will support START research focused on the processes of radicalization to violent in the United States. The core component of this research portfolio is the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset, the largest dataset of US-based cases of radicalization of its kind, which contains information on the trajectories, mechanisms, and consequences of violent and non-violent extremism at the individual level. PIRUS and its related projects have already generated significant attention among policymakers and scholars, and PIRUS researchers have published several reports and articles based on the data.


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 personal growth, schedule includes simulations, career presentations and research talks.
  • Mentorship from START staff and researchers in a successful professional 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:


Each project may have additional requirements, including minimum credit hours, preferred majors and compulsory meeting times. 
 
How to apply
Priority application deadline Summer 2019: Sunday, March 17, 2019; 11:59pm
Final application deadline Summer 2019: Sunday, March 31, 2019; 11:59pm

For more information about the projects, requirements and for the application form visit: http://www.start.umd.edu/careers/internships
 
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