Summer Workshop, Training, Internship, and Fellowship Opportunities for Doctoral Students in the U.S. (Social/Behavioral Sciences)

Updated on May 1st, 2023

This is the list of the workshops, training, research internships, and fellowship opportunities that doctoral students can apply for the summer activities. Most opportunities are open to people without US citizenship/permanent resident status. Deadlines range from November of the previous year to May, right before summer. Please note that some opportunities may not be offered every year. Many workshops/training offer student discounts or scholarships, but some can be very expensive, even with student discounts. Please check the details page.

Methodology Workshops

Summer Institutes in Computational Social Science @ Multiple Locations

• Application: Feb ~ Mar (varies by workshop)
• Workshop: Jul ~ Aug (2 weeks)
• The purpose of the Summer Institutes is to bring together graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and beginning faculty interested in computational social science. The Summer Institutes are for both social scientists (broadly conceived) and data scientists (broadly conceived).
• Since 2017, our Institutes have provided more than 700 young scholars with cutting-edge training in the field and the opportunity to develop new research collaborations that break down disciplinary barriers. There is no tuition required to attend the Summer Institutes, and many locations cover some or all travel, accommodation, and meal expenses.

Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program @ Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

• Workshop: June 1st – August 30th (3 months)
• The goal of the Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program is to enable discovery by bringing together data scientists and population scientists to work on focused, intensive and collaborative projects of broad societal relevance.

• For a period of 3 months, participating students will work in small teams, with support from experienced mentors, towards a common research goal. 
• Participating students will be exposed to best practices across social and data sciences while contributing to a hands-on project experience. All participants will also have access to lectures and participate in other scientific activities happening at MPIDR. 

Michigan Mixed Methods Workshop @ U Michigan

• The workshop targets researchers, faculty, staff, and students motivated to design a mixed methods research project using both qualitative and quantitative methods.
• The purpose of this workshop is for participants to learn about state-of-the-art mixed methods research design and to incorporate rigorous mixed methods components into their own dissertation/thesis project and writing.
• ​Participants at all stages of the dissertation/thesis process are encouraged to attend!

Harvard Catalyst Introduction to Designing & Conducting Mixed Methods Research @ Harvard University

• Introduction to Designing & Conducting Mixed Methods Research, a collaboration between Postgraduate Education and the Community Engagement program, is an online, eight-week course that offers an introduction to mixed methods research in the health sciences. During the course, formerly known as Introduction to Mixed Methods Research, participants will learn how qualitative and quantitative data can be integrated to capture the perspectives of patients, providers, communities, or healthcare organizations in order to answer complex research questions. The course will also cover formulating research questions, collecting and analyzing different types of data, choosing the appropriate mixed methods designs, and interpreting mixed method research results.

Future of Families Summer Data Workshop @ Columbia University

• The workshop is designed to familiarize participants with the data available in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national study following a birth cohort of (mostly) unmarried parents and their children, providing information about the capabilities, circumstances, and relationships of unwed parents, the wellbeing of their children, and the role of public policy in family and child wellbeing.
• The workshop is targeted toward early-career scholars from social science disciplines. We particularly encourage applications from junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students using the Future of Families data in their doctoral dissertations. Underrepresented scholars are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Travel and hotel costs will be covered for successful applicants. 

Social Network and Health Workshop @ Duke University

• The Social Networks and Health (SN&H) workshop offers comprehensive training in network methods for health scholars.
• It offers recordings for 2022 workshop: https://sites.duke.edu/dnac/training/

Annual Workshop on Formal Demography @ UC Berkeley

• The workshops are aimed both at those with prior demographic training and those who have not studied demography but already have quantitative skills in another area. Advanced graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and early career researchers and faculty are welcome to apply. We are interested in increasing the diversity of the field and encouraging applicants from all backgrounds.

ICPSR Summer Program @ U Michigan

• Since 1963, the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods has provided rigorous, comprehensible training in statistics, quantitative and qualitative methods, and data analysis. Our commitment to providing premier instruction in courses that are affordable and enjoyable has inspired generations of researchers to call the ICPSR Summer Program their home for learning statistics.
• Scholarships generally accept applications during January.

The Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) @ Syracuse University

• Participants in IQMR are either nominated by a member school or department or selected from an “open pool” (largely funded by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from the American Political Science Association).
• There are four separate open pool competitions to attend IQMR 2023: the general open pool; applications from researchers at African scholarly institutions; applications from researchers at Latin American scholarly institutions; and applications from scholars based in the Arab MENA region. You can find links to the separate application forms in the table below.
• Scholars admitted through the general track will have their participation at IQMR covered, receive a stipend to contribute towards cost of meals, as well as shared-accommodation for the duration of the program. General track attendees will be responsible for their own transportation costs to and from Syracuse University. Scholars admitted through the African, Latin American and MENA tracks will have participation at IQMR covered, meals, and shared-accommodation for the duration of the program, as well as roundtrip economy-class airfare.

EPI Summer @ Columbia

• Columbia University Department of Epidemiology offers condensed summer courses on a wide range of epidemiological topics for anyone interested in public health, including a line of asynchronous courses.

Qualitative Research Summer Intensive

• ResearchTalk, Inc. partners with qualitative researchers across industries and disciplines to complement their substantive insight with our qualitative methods expertise.

Intersectionality Research, Policy, & Practice Summer Intensive @ Philadelphia

• Each year, the Intersectionality Training Institute hosts an Intersectionality Research, Policy, & Practice Summer Intensive focused on building a community of intersectionality researchers, practitioners and policymakers through a week of workshops and collaborative learning. We welcome applicants from all career stages, disciplines, and who have varying degrees of knowledge and experience with intersectionality, and are focused on the application of intersectionality to health.

ICME Summer Workshops | Fundamentals of Data Science @ Stanford

• ICME’s annual Summer Workshop Series offers a variety of virtual data science and AI courses, taught live online by world-renowned Stanford faculty and Stanford-affiliated instructors. The series is open to the general public worldwide. Discounts are offered to students, staff, and faculty from all schools as well as to ICME industry partners. Attendees completing four or more workshops can earn a Stanford ICME Fundamentals of Data Science Summer Workshops Certificate of Completion.
• The series offers:
  • Intermediate workshops such as Data Privacy and Ethics, and Intermediate Topics in Machine Learning & Deep Learning.
  • Twelve workshops over three weeks during August.
  • Half-day workshops (from either 8-11 am or 1-4 pm Pacific time) spread over two days.

Center for Statistical Training by Curran-Bauer Analytics @ Virtual

• The Center for Statistical Training by Curran-Bauer Analytics, CenterStat, offers rigorous yet accessible training workshops in applied data analysis and research methodology that are explicitly targeted to empirical researchers in the social, behavioral and health sciences.
• Our workshops are available in two formats:
  • Upcoming Livestream Workshops with Replay Access
  • Self-Paced Access to Prior Workshops

Urban Health Summer Institute @ Drexel University

• The Drexel Urban Health Collaborative is hosting its seventh annual Summer Institute at the Dornsife School of Public Health. Twelve courses will be offered in-person at Drexel University or online with live instruction.

Digital IDEAS Summer Institute @ University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

• Digital IDEAS is the annual summer institute of the Digital Studies Institute at the University of Michigan. Drawing on the acronym Inclusion-Diversity-Equity-Access-Success, each year’s session will focus on a new pressing issue at the intersection of technology and social justice.

CSST Summer Research Institute

• The Summer Research Institute has been an activity of the Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems Research (CSST) since 2008. Topics and problem domains of focus in socio-technical systems research include (but are not limited to): personal health and well-being; eScience, and citizen science; co-production, open source/innovation, and new forms of work; cultural heritage and information access; social informatics; civic hacking, engagement and government; human-robot interaction; disaster response; cybersecurity, surveillance and privacy; education and learning; information systems; platforms. This is a wide area of coverage, so if your interests are in people/organizations/society together with tech/systems/data and you are (or hope to be) part of intellectual communities such as CSCW, HCI, social computing, organization studies, information visualization, social informatics, sociology, information systems, social media and society, medical informatics, computer science, ICT for development, education, learning science, journalism, and political science, then you fit well with this program and you should apply! And if we’ve missed your topic/community, please apply and tell us about it!

Other Workshops

RAND Summer Institute

• The RAND Summer Institute (RSI) consists of two annual conferences that address critical issues facing our aging population: The Mini-Medical School for Social Scientists, and the Demography, Economics, Psychology, and Epidemiology of Aging conference.
• Participants attend a series of master lectures given by expert clinicians and researchers, drawn from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. These lectures are intended to offer insights into both the science of aging and the interrelationship of health, economic status, and public policy on the aging field.
• The conferences are sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Scientists Research, and will convene at the RAND Corporation headquarters in Santa Monica, California.
• Qualified Institute applicants must hold a Ph.D. or have completed two years of a Ph.D. program and be actively working on a dissertation. Only applicants working in the field of aging – or actively considering this research field – will be considered.

LEAD Global Training Program @ Washington University in St. Louis

• The LEAD Global Training Program recruits and trains predoctoral students and postdoctoral trainees from diverse backgrounds across the United States, including groups underrepresented in biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social sciences research, interested in global mental health disparities research. This includes early career researchers and investigators within 5 years of their terminal degree.

• Targeted skills and knowledge-building didactic seminars, workshops, panels, courses, and discussions facilitated by faculty from multiple disciplines at Washington University in St. Louis and partner institutions in the US and across the globe.
• Mentored research with a research faculty member conducting global mental health disparities research in an African country. Ongoing meetings, professional development, and hands-on research experience (to the extent possible in a remote format).

Child, Intervention, Prevention, and Services (CHIPS) Training Institute

• CHIPS (Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services) is an interdisciplinary training consortium, created to enhance career development for early-career scientists pursuing research careers in the areas of intervention, prevention, and the provision of services for children and adolescents.  CHIPS is funded through the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research (DSIR), which supports two critical areas of research, intervention research to evaluate the effectiveness of preventive and treatment interventions and mental health services research.
• Each CHIPS fellow participates in a one-week training institute followed by a year or more of ongoing supervision by their assigned CHIPS mentor, and participation in CHIPS web seminars. 

McGill Summer Institutes in Global Health @ McGill University

• Started in 2015, the McGill Summer Institute brings the research and clinical strengths of McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre-Research Institute to the world in a short course format. Courses for 2023 are offered in a hybrid (concurrent online and in-person) and online-only formats. Course material will be recorded to accommodate asynchronous learners from all time zones. The course page and the FAQ section are available to answer any questions you have.’
• Participants are students and working professionals from universities, research institutes, governmental and non-profit organizations, and industry. Our courses are excellent sources of professional development or supplemental material for current students looking to learn more. The Summer Institute encourages applications from low and middle-income countries. In 2022, 59% of our attendees were from an LMIC country. A limited amount of scholarships are available to cover registration fees for participants currently living and working or studying in a low or middle-income country. Visit our scholarships section to learn more about scholarships before applying.

Research Internships

Please find the advice regarding summer internships written for economics Ph.D. students (by. Dr. Ricardo Perez-Trugila), but it may be useful for others.

RAND Summer Associate Research Internship for Doctoral Students

• RAND’s Summer Associate Program introduces outstanding graduate students to RAND, an institution that conducts research on a wide range of national security problems and domestic and international social policy issues.
• RAND is committed to striving for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Research and analysis is enriched by diversity of talents, experiences, and perspectives. We encourage students from different racial/ethnic and cultural backgrounds, abilities, ages, gender, gender identity/expression, and other underrepresented groups to apply.
• The program receives several hundred applications each year; approximately 35–45 students are placed in each cohort. The selection process matches potential Summer Associates with mentors and projects based on their skills, interests, and expertise. Summer Associates work on currently funded projects that have the capacity to support a Summer Associate’s work.
• The program runs in the summer months only. Summer Associates work at RAND full-time for a 12-week period. Our summer 2022 program will be remote/virtual. Positions will only be available for students residing in the U.S. (excluding U.S. territories) for the duration of the summer associate assignments. Students receive bi-weekly compensation and are given the opportunity to conduct research that can be completed during the summer they are at RAND. The summer earnings for 2022 will be approximately $14,000 (before taxes) for the 12 weeks of full-time research.

Mathematica Summer Fellowships: Pursuing Self-Directed, Issues-Oriented Research

• The Summer Fellowship Program at Mathematica welcomes doctoral students to spend 12 weeks at one of Mathematica’s office locations. Fellows will work on their own independent research project (typically their dissertation), which will intersect with one or more of Mathematica’s focus areas.
• Fellows will be mentored by senior staff, learn about Mathematica and its work, and have the opportunity to shadow Mathematica research projects and proposals. At the conclusion of the fellowship, fellows will present a seminar on their research project. Each fellow will receive a stipend of $10,000, plus $500 in project-related expenses. View some of the topics covered by prior visiting summer fellows.
• Eligibility
  • The fellowship is designed for full-time students who are within two years of completing their doctorate degree and will not graduate prior to beginning the fellowship.
  • Fellows should have a strong interest in learning more about working in a nonacademic environment.
  • During the fellowship period, fellows are required to work in a Mathematica office at least three days per week (and are encouraged to work in an office location for as many work days as possible).

Urban Institute Summer@Urban

• As an Urban intern, you’ll collaborate with experts across the organization to develop and deliver work that can make a real difference for families and communities throughout the US. Here are some highlights of what you can expect in Urban’s 10-week summer internship program:
• 10-week paid internship; full-time preferred but strong candidates will be considered for part-time positions
• Internship program designed to provide students interested in research, public policy issues and organizational operations with rewarding and substantive work assignments that contribute to Urban’s mission
• Intern Program Dates: June 5-August 11
• Participate in our New Intern “Welcome” Orientation
• Network with Operations Staff, Senior Professionals, and others who will support your professional growth and career interests
• Participate in intern-specific workshops and networking events designed to advance your professional development and build your soft skills
• Engage in team-building activities that forge new friendships with other Urban Interns
• Receive informal feedback and mentoring from your intern manager
• Present the value of your contribution and what you learned during our End of Summer Lightning Talks

Pew Research Center Summer Internship (Designed for Undergrads, but some offers for grad students)

• Our paid summer internship program is a learning and networking opportunity for undergraduate students. A goal of the program is to help interns develop as professionals and teach them how to enter and navigate the workplace. Our interns are “learners” who get to do real work by working collaboratively with our colleagues on a variety of projects. Summer interns will belong to a cohort and attend programs which will allow them to meet staff from across the Center, as well as expose them to a variety of careers such as: public opinion research, polling, methodology, computational social science/data science, economics, sociology, political science, communications, non-profit management, and data journalism. Candidates with interest in the Center’s mission and values, as well as a desire to learn more about careers in these fields are encouraged to apply, regardless of traditional experience in this type of work.
• Interns can expect substantial and challenging work. For example, an intern may learn or master statistical software, be a part of the research lifecycle, work on a report, or publish a blog post.
• Our interns make valuable contributions to our work, and as such, undergraduate interns are paid $17/hour. Interns are not eligible for benefits, including paid time off, but a relocation stipend is available to those who need them. Interns are responsible for finding their own housing.
  • Our summer internship program is designed for undergraduate students. We may post graduate internships on an as-needed basis throughout the year.

Migration Policy Institute Research Internship

• MPI provides analysis, development, and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at local, national, and international levels. It aims to meet the demand for pragmatic and thoughtful responses to the challenges and opportunities that large-scale migration, whether voluntary or forced, presents to communities and institutions in an increasingly integrated world. Research Interns work within one of MPI’s four program areas:
• MPI’s internship program has two goals: harnessing the valuable contributions of interns for MPI’s work and training the next generation of migration leaders. MPI is committed to recruiting and supporting interns who reflect the breadth of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives in the countries where it works. As such, the Institute is committed to making sure that interns and staff members of all backgrounds work in an inclusive environment with equity and access for all.
• Internships are available both in person and remotely, as well as to those residing outside the United States.
• General Internship Application Deadlines
  • November 1 – Spring Semester (January – April)
  • March 1 – Summer Semester (May – August)
  • July 1 – Fall Semester (September – December)

AIR’s Summer Internship Program

• AIR greatly values diversity, equity, and inclusion among its staff, and the Summer Internship Program helps AIR build a pipeline of diverse and skilled talent. AIR’s Summer Internship Program is a 10-12 week paid summer program for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students. The program gives interns an opportunity to work with professionals across AIR’s divisions, gain hands-on professional experience through project work, and provides networking opportunities to build lasting professional connections. This program is just one of the ways that AIR works to identify, attract, and build a diverse pipeline of skilled future talent.

MDRC Summer Doctoral Fellowship

• MDRC is offering the opportunities this summer for graduate students in its Gueron Scholars Program: up to two summer doctoral fellowships for Ph.D. candidates who are pursuing independent, self-directed research on economic and social problems affecting low-income Americans with low incomes.
• The fellowships are supported by the Gueron Scholars Program, which seeks to engage and encourage individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the education and social policy research communities.
• Doctoral fellowships: Recipients, who will receive a $10,000 stipend, will work on their doctoral dissertation—and will participate in the intellectual life of MDRC by attending seminars and project meetings and by working with MDRC research staff. The fellowship is expected to begin in the summer and last for approximately two months, though there is some flexibility in the timing.

Summer Internships in Biomedical Informatics & Data Science at the Institute for Informatics (BIDS@I2)

• BIDS@I2 is a funded, 11-week internship opportunity allowing undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds to explore the field of biomedical informatics.
• Undergraduates and graduates studying at a U.S. institution are eligible to apply. Every summer, approximately 20 trainees from a wide range of academic backgrounds work on research projects as part of the BIDS@I² program.
• The BIDS program trains students in biomedical informatics and data science core competencies. Under the guidance of faculty mentors & research scientists, BIDS interns focus on the support & elevation of biomedical informatics through research translation and practice.
• As a BIDS@I2 intern, you will:
  • Work within the lab of an I2 faculty member & participate actively in research in progress
  • Receive biomedical informatics & data science training
  • Participate in interdisciplinary, weekly lab meetings
  • Attend weekly seminars
  • Collaborate with fellow interns, faculty & staff on projects and research
  • Attend I2 retreat & present summer research
  • Create a scientific poster for a culminating event for the WUSM community
  • Experience a broad range of biomedical informatics & data science research methods, technology, and theories
• I² selects students based on background, experience, skills & interest in learning more about informatics. To promote interdisciplinary collaboration, I² recruits students from various disciplines, including, but not limited to: Health Science, Public Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, Medicine, Psychology, Mathematics, Data Science, Computer Science, Visual Arts, Engineering.

Fellowship

Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship @ Carnegie Mellon University

• Application: Jan
• Workshop: Jun ~ Aug (12 weeks)
• The Data Science for Social Good Fellowship is a full-time summer program to train aspiring data scientists to work on machine learning, data science, and AI projects with social impact in a fair and equitable manner. Working closely with governments and nonprofits, fellows take on real-world problems in education, health, criminal justice, sustainability, public safety, workforce development, human services, transportation, economic development, international development, and more.

• Participants will work in teams of 3-4 on data science projects in partnership with nonprofits and government agencies, to tackle data-intensive high impact problems in education, public health, public safety, transportation, criminal justice, environmental issues, city operations, and social services, learning from full-time experienced mentors and project managers.

Data Science for Social Good Fellowship @ University of Washington, Seattle

• Application: Jan
• Workshop: Jun ~ Aug (10 weeks)
• The Data Science for Social Good summer program brings together students, stakeholders, and data and domain researchers to work on focused, collaborative projects for societal benefit.

Othering & Belonging Institute Summer Fellowship @ UC Berkeley

• The Othering & Belonging Institute Summer Fellowship is a paid research experience for individuals seeking to develop their research skills by engaging with the Institute’s multidisciplinary research, analysis, policy, and strategic narrative work. The purpose of the fellowship is to build the capacity and network of the next generation of researchers and community leaders who are committed to social and racial justice by providing mentorship and hands-on experience with social science research. In addition to working directly with their staff supervisor on an individual research project,  fellows engage as a cohort in weekly meetings or workshops on Institute frameworks, research methodologies, and contemporary social justice issues throughout the summer.
• Applications open: December 5, 2022
• Applications close: January 22, 2023 8:00pm PST
• Fellowship period: May 16 to August 16, 2023
• Time Commitment: Part-time, 20 hours per week
• Location: The 2023 Summer Fellowship will be held remotely.
  • Working Hours: Fellowship programs and meetings will be held during the Institute’s working hours from 9am-6pm Pacific Time.
• Compensation: Each fellow’s hourly compensation rate is based on years of education completed, the University’s fixed pay scale and equity standards. Rates range from $23/hr to $30/hr depending on education level.

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College Dissertation Fellowship

• This sponsors the annual Dissertation Fellowship Program in the field of retirement or disability research.  The program is funded by the U.S. Social Security Administration and provides funding opportunities for doctoral candidates to pursue cutting-edge research on retirement or disability issues. Up to three $28,000 fellowships are awarded to doctoral candidates enrolled in an accredited program at a U.S. university.  Grant recipients may be required to present their work to the Social Security Administration in Washington, DC or Baltimore, MD. The deadline to apply is January 31, 2023. See the Center’s website to apply and find out more.

Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS) 

• Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS) is an NSF-funded initiative. Investigators propose survey experiments to be fielded using a nationally representative Internet platform. In an effort to enable early-stage scholars to field larger-scale studies than what TESS normally conducts, they are pleased to announce a Special Competition for Young Investigators. Winning projects will be allowed to field experiments that are about twice as large as a regular TESS study. This Special Competition is limited to investigators who are either graduate students or no more than 3 years post-PhD / post-residency for MDs. Proposals will begin to be accepted on November 30, 2022, and the deadline is January 31, 2023.  Full details are available here.