Terrorism Event Data (GTD & T2V), Paid Intern – Fall 2022
*Applications must be submitted through START's website here. Applications submitted via Handshake will NOT be considered.*
Interns recruited for these positions will be part of the data collection team responsible for START's flagship project--the Global Terrorism Database (GTD)--and the team's newest initiative focusing in more detail on terrorism and targeted violence in the United States (T2V). The GTD is the most comprehensive unclassified terrorism database in the world. Currently updated through 2019, the GTD details information on more than 200,000 terrorist attacks that have occurred since 1970. Data from the GTD have been featured by the BBC, CNN, The Daily Show, The Economist, The New York Times, Reuters, The Washington Post, and numerous other media outlets. The GTD is used by researchers, analysts, and policymakers in the private sector and federal, state, and local governments in the United States and around the world. For the new T2V project, the team will collect, analyze, and disseminate detailed information on the characteristics of targeted violence in the United States, building on the methods and tools developed for the GTD. Interns working on these projects gain valuable experience working on time-sensitive data collection efforts that are used by those responsible for shaping counterterrorism policy.
Supervisor(s):
Incident Location and Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT); Jake Loewner (jloewner@umd.edu)
Target Classification; Amy Iandiorio (aiandior@umd.edu)
Understanding the Patterns and Use of Weapons and Tactics; Ben Evans (benevans@umd.edu)
Application Deadline: Extended to Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 11:59pm ET
Citizenship Requirement: US citizenship is not required.
Team Meeting Times: Mondays, 2:00-3:00PM
Stipend amount: $2,250 for the 15 week fall term
Remote vs. In-person: In-person
Specific Project Descriptions:
We are currently seeking graduate students and exceptional undergraduate students with an interest in terrorism research and public policy to assist with identifying, classifying, analyzing, and recording information about current terrorist attacks.
Throughout the course of the internship, students will be exposed to tens of thousands of media articles from both global (Reuters, Associated Press, BBC, Al-Jazeera, etc.) and local (Nigeria Punch, Al-Mada Press, Plus News Pakistan, Yemen Fox, etc.) news sources that describe thousands of terrorist attacks and acts of targeted violence. The main task of the intern will be to systematically extract information about the location, perpetrators, targets, consequences, or weapons/tactics of these attacks from the news articles.
By joining this team, students will experience what it is like to be a member of a large, multi-year social science research project that has a real-world and real-time policy impact. Interns will also gain valuable data analysis and analytical skills and acquire in-depth knowledge about the patterns of global terrorist activity. With the start of the new T2V project, interns will have unique perspective on what goes into designing, developing, and implementing a new research initiative.
This internship is relevant for those planning to apply to graduate school in related social and behavioral science fields or anyone interested in gaining employment in the homeland security, defense, law enforcement, or intelligence communities.
While the main task of this internship generally consists of synthesizing and systematically recording detailed information about current terrorist incidents, the effort is organized into the following topical domains:
Topic: Incident Location and Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT)
Project Manager: Jake Loewner
This task focuses on identifying the vital information relevant to the location of terrorist incidents, which allows researchers to analyze the data spatially. Interns with regional geographic expertise are encouraged to apply. This project is recommended for students that are interested terrorism and geography. There are additional opportunities for interns to enhance their ArcGIS capabilities.
Topic: Target Classification
Project Manager: Amy Iandiorio
This task focuses on the people and entities targeted by terrorists and aims to classify them in ways that ease the identification of trends. This project is recommended for students interested in learning about targeting patterns and who is most at risk from terrorism.
Topic: Understanding the Patterns and Use of Weapons and Tactics
Project Manager: Ben Evans
This task focuses on how perpetrators carry out their attacks. Interns will specifically focus on which types of weapons were used in the attack as well as the tactics employed. This project is recommended for students that are interested in learning how terrorist groups utilize weapons and various tactics to their advantage in attacks.
Required Qualifications:
Applicants must
- Be able to attend relevant training and biweekly meetings;
- And be able to commit 10 hours per week of their time to the internship and to communicate frequently with their assigned project manager.
Preferred Qualifications:
Applicants should
- Have a minimum of 60 university credits completed;
- Be self-motivated and responsible;
- Have great attention to detail;
- Be able to balance working independently with knowing when to ask important questions;
- Have a strong interest in research;
- Have familiarity with Excel;
- Have a record of superior academic achievement;
- And be able to complete the internship for credit (approximately 135 hours, or a 3 credit internship).
- Additionally, any regional expertise, language skills, or prior research experience would be an asset.
General Information for all START Internships
Location:
START is headquartered at the University of Maryland, College Park, and will be offering its internship program in-person for the fall 2022 semester.
Schedule Requirements:
Orientation Date: Thursday, August 25, 2022. All interns are required to attend orientation. You may be required to attend an additional day of orientation on Friday, August 26, 2022. Your supervisor will inform you if you are required to attend both days.
Internship Duration: Thursday, August 25, 2022 to Friday, December 2, 2022. 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 fall 2022 program. Work hours are scheduled from Monday to Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm. Interns may not work longer than 8-hour or shorter than 2 hour shifts.
Other Information:
- All internships include a stipend of $2,250 for the fall and spring semesters, and $3,000 for the summer term.
- The University of Maryland has several opportunities for students to apply for other internship stipends. Please note that START is not involved in the application or review process for these stipends, with the exception of the Paul Gallo Memorial Scholarship for Non-Traditional Student Interns. Non-UMD students are encouraged to check with their home institutions for other stipend opportunities.
- The Ammerman Foundation Student Veteran Professional Development Fund: http://sagiving.umd.edu/ammermanvetsfund/index.html
- Paul Gallo Memorial Scholarship for Non-Traditional Student Interns: https://www.start.umd.edu/education/paul-gallo-memorial-scholarship-non-traditional-student-interns
- 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, please indicate this on your application form. Be sure to notify your internship supervisor if you need to work more than 10 hours per week for this reason.
- Applicants interested in applying for an internship for any semester other than or in addition to the fall 2022 semester, 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 fall 2022 semester. Please make sure you check the dates for the project you’re interested in to make sure they’re available during the semester you intend to apply. The fall 2022 application deadline has been extended to Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 11:59pm ET. Applications submitted after June 21, incomplete applications, or applications not submitted correctly will not be considered. To access the application: click here.
Notes:
- Due to the high volume of applications, only top candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.
- All internships include a stipend of $2,250 for the fall and spring semesters, and $3,000 for the summer term.
- Applicants must pay close attention to the requirement of the internship they are applying for, including attendance to team meetings and the minimum time commitment. Inability to attend compulsory meetings or work the minimum required hours will result in rescinding of offer.
- Applicants who identify two additional internship projects of interest may be considered for those projects if they are not selected for the project in which they are applying.
- Any successful applicant will be asked to respond with a firm acceptance within 24 hours of the offer being made. Failure to respond could result in your place being given to another applicant.
- Failure to complete this form in full or submit the proper materials according to the directions provided above could result in your application being rejected without further consideration.
- All interns must attend START Intern Orientation.
- All interns must be able to participate in the internship program for the duration of the program/semester dates.
- Questions about specific internships, their requirements or subject matter should be directed to the supervisor contact listed for each project on the START internship web page.
If you have difficulty submitting your application or have questions about your application status, please contact us at internships@start.umd.edu.
The University of Maryland is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive educational, working, and living environment for people of all abilities. The University of Maryland is also committed to the principle that no qualified individual with a disability shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of the University, or be subjected to discrimination. The University of Maryland provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals. Reasonable accommodations shall be made in a timely manner and on an individualized and flexible basis. If invited for an interview and you would like to request accommodations, please email escoll@umd.edu.
Discrimination against individuals on the grounds of disability is prohibited. The University also strictly prohibits retaliation against persons arising in connection with the assertion of rights under this Policy.
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.