START Fall internships, application deadline is July 14th.

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) is a DHS Center of Excellence based at the University of Maryland.

START is currently recruiting for our Fall internship program.  The best source of information is our website, where applicants can also find more details on qualifications and how to apply: http://www.start.umd.edu/start/education/research_support/internships/fa/.

We are looking for interns with a wide array of skills and majors. Students from any institution may apply and we will consider current and recently graduated undergraduates and graduates. In addition to the experience gained during their internship, interns will also receive mentoring, training and be able to participate in a calendar or professional development activities. START is also willing to work with academic institutions to enable their students to undertake our internships for credit. Our internships are unpaid and students must be able to undertake their work hours at START at the University of Maryland College Park. The Fall internships start on August 29^th and end on December 13^th. 

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

Global Terrorism Database (GTD)

The GTD is an open source, unclassified database including information on terrorist attacks around the world since 1970 (currently updated through 2011). The database is maintained by researchers at START. The GTD includes systematic data on domestic as well as international terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period and now includes over 104,000 cases. 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 Outcome

·          GTD: Coding Intern At Large (Generalist)

Special Projects

The Special Projects Division consists of a number of intensive, shorter-term research projects concentrated on three research topics within the larger study of terrorism and politically violent non-state actors:

-           Unconventional Weapons and Technology

-           Extremist Origins and Trajectories

-           Threat Management and Influence

Based on the fluctuations in the tasking within Special Projects, selected interns will work on projects within a single focus area. All Special Projects interns are given the opportunity to participate in the Red Team Project. Intern positions are available in the following focus areas:

·         Special Projects: Advanced Research

·         Special Projects: Pinch Hitter

·         Special Projects: CBRN Terrorism Research

·         Special Projects: Nuclear Security and Smuggling

·         Special Projects: Open Source Intelligence -- Organized Crime and R/N Trafficking in Europe, North Africa and West Africa

·         Special Projects: Individual Radicalization

·         Special Projects: Terrorist Ideology

·          Special Projects: GIS Analytical

·          Special Projects: CBRN Non-State Adversaries

Naval Research Laboratory Adversarial Modeling and Exploitation Office

Four internships are available with AMX onsite at their offices in Washington DC. The AMX has a number of ongoing research projects related to counter-terrorism, behavior detection, law enforcement, crime analysis, and geospatial analysis. The use of information by law enforcement, often called data driven policing, is an ever evolving and expanding field Please note these internships take place onsite at the NRL in Washington DC.

•    Behavioral Indicators of Gun and Drug Carrying

•    Crime and Intelligence Analysis Systems

•    System Engineering Analysis & Support

•    Statistical Analysis & Modeling Support

For those particularly interested the NRL opportunities, we recommend attending our Monday July 8^th Career Profile Session with Dr. Nate Meehan from the NRL. The session starts at 3:30pm and will take place at START offices on Baltimore Avenue.

Communications and Research Transition Support

START communications and transition team are seeking interns to assist with communications, writing, copy editing and graphic design activities at the center.

Positions available:

·         Communications Interns

·         Copy Editors

·         Graphic Designer

Dataverse

START is continuing to develop the Terrorism Data Archive Dataverse. Interns for this project will learn about terrorism-related data through archiving datasets and reading over documentation. Interns will serve as Assistant Editors and would be responsible for preparing data for archiving onto the START Dataverse. Depending upon the dataset, there will also be opportunities to create Codebooks and add labels and values to the data. Interns will receive training in the archiving process.

Terrorism Propaganda Research Project

The nature of the project is analysis of several hundred transcripts of terrorist propaganda videos produced by Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda affiliate groups. One aspect of the project will be somewhat descriptive in that we hope to learn: 1) what the message of the video transcript is (e.g. to defend the prophet, to prevent future grievances, to promote jihad, etc.) as well as 2) how the message is conveyed including the type of persuasive attempt used (rational vs. emotional) and 3) who the target audience is. The coding manual taps into each of these contents. The next step of the project, which will occur after all of the transcripts are coded, will examine 4) if the target audience, the message, or the frequency of these tapes have a discernible pattern, and 5) if these patterns change over time. The final aspect of this project includes analyzing the rhetoric and persuasion techniques used in the transcripts and testing the same messages, both in the US and abroad.

Government Actions in Terror Environments (GATE)

What is the best way to reduce terrorist attacks? Recent research suggests that governments have a vast set of policy tools at their disposal vis-à-vis terrorist groups, and that pure reliance on repressive policies can be counterproductive. While policymakers increasingly recognize the importance of non-military counterterrorism tools in addition to military ones, it is not yet known which type of government actions are effective; and when carrots might be more effective than sticks in defeating terrorist groups. For example, in its fight against terrorism, would Pakistan’s government be better off focusing on capturing and killing jihadist fighters, or should it invest more resources into improving roads, education, and essential public services for those who reject terrorist violence? In order to address these questions, we need to collect data on what governments have been doing. Drs. Laura Dugan and Erica Chenoweth have been collecting GATE data from countries throughout the Middle East, South Asia, and Western Europe. In order to continue collection we need a team of research assistants to help collect and code thousands of government actions. This is a unique opportunity to better understand the terrorist conflict in specific regions of the world and to get a unique view of how governments deal with those conflicts.

Risk Communication & Community Resilience

Risk communication is an important element of threat assessment, information delivery and exchange, resource allocation, and community resilience. START’s risk communication and community resilience team seeks two interns to support several ongoing research projects as well as new projects that may be funded moving forward.

Project 1: Comprehensive Testing of Imminent Threat Messages for Mobile Devices

The purpose of the Mobile Devices Project (MDP) is to produce comprehensive and integrated social science-based evidence regarding the most effective content for public emergency messages from a public perception and response viewpoint. Phase 1 consisted of conducting background research, which culminated with a workshop of experts to provide input into our phase 2 research design: implementing experiments and focus groups to determine optimized content of imminent threat public messages for mobile devices. Phase 3 research will determine the actual effectiveness of imminent threat alerts and warning messages in a real-world event by conducting telephone survey research in a disaster affected area. Risk communication and community resilience interns will support MDP’s third phase of research.

Project 2: Training in Risk and Crisis Communication

The Training in Risk and Crisis Communication (TRACC) Program aims to develop, deliver, and evaluate an educational program on effective risk communication to local, state, and federal leaders in the United States. In June 2013, the TRACC team delivered its first pilot training program and in the fall will work with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to obtain FEMA accreditation for the program as well as make plans to continue delivering TRACC programs. Interns will support future iterations of the training and in seeking FEMA accreditation.

Project 3: Social Media Use during Disasters

Online activity increases during disasters, and the public frequently turns to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to relay and gather information. Given the growing importance of social media as a disaster communication tool, in summer 2013 START conducted a national sample field experiment to better understand adults’ information seeking and sharing behaviors during disasters. The experiment also explored communication behaviors during disasters, and ratings of disaster information source credibility. Interns will support efforts in seeking additional funding to extend this project, as well as work on any ongoing extensions.

START/State Department Terrorist Organizations Project Internship

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 on a large multi-year project.

·   Hone and develop a range of transferable skills.

·   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.

·   Internships can be undertaken for academic credit.

General requirements

Applicants for all internships must:

•          Have a good academic record.

•          Demonstrate an interest in the subject matter.

•          Complete and submit an application by the deadline.

•          Agree to attend orientation and training.

Projects may have specific requirements.

How to apply

Application Deadline Fall 2013:

Final Deadline Sunday July 14 (we are currently accepting applications for ALL internships listed).

Applicants must submit an application form and supporting documentation via email to education@start.umd.edu. 

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