Undergraduate Summer Fellowships 2026
Now Open
Applications for undergraduate summer research fellowship are now open. Applications are due April 24th, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET.
In partnership with gui2de, the Global Development Studies Minor at SFS is pleased to offer small stipends ($500–$1,500) for undergraduate students to conduct summer research with a Georgetown faculty member or advanced PhD student working on international development.
The summer research fellowship is fully remote, and selected students will work with sponsoring faculty to determine timelines and schedules. You can read more about previous projects here.
Applicants may be contacted by sponsoring faculty and gui2de staff to conduct an interview.
Available opportunities
Learn more about the sponsoring faculty and available opportunities below:
Bhumi Purohit (Assistant Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy)
Digital Voices: Can Citizen Media Capture Attention and Motivate Action?
This comparative project (India and Brazil) studies how citizen-generated digital media affects democratic participation and government accountability. The RA will assist with a survey experiment, including coding the instrument in Qualtrics, coordinating with a field RA in Mumbai, conducting validation interviews with environmental experts, and coding analysis in R.
Samhita Khuntia and Jenny Le (Advanced PhD Students, Department of Economics)
Seeking a student with interest in political economy, governance, and bureaucracy who is comfortable using Stata and/or Python for data management, cleaning, and quantitative analysis.
Jacobus Cilliers (Associate Teaching Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy)
From Early Literacy to Higher Education: Long-Term Impacts of a Foundational Reading Program.
This study follows up on a randomized evaluation of a structured literacy intervention implemented in South Africa (2015–2017), with the original cohort of students now approaching high school completion. The RA will support two workstreams: statistical analysis of the program’s long-term impacts on tertiary education transitions, and development of an app to help students navigate the application process for higher education institutions. Experience coding in any language is required.
Gerald Ipapa (gui2de Postdoctoral Fellow, McCourt School of Public Policy)
Groundless Claims: Property Rights When Land Ceases to Exist
This project investigates how property rights shape the welfare of households displaced by climate change, focusing on Kenya’s Rift Valley, where three lakes have permanently submerged over 100 km² of land since 2005, displacing tens of thousands of households. The RA will contribute to three workstreams: a literature review synthesizing work on tenure security, climate adaptation, and displacement economics; grant proposal development, including drafting budget narratives and theories of change; and household survey design for displaced and non-displaced populations. Seeking a student with coursework or interest in development economics, environmental policy, or political economy; strong writing skills; and comfort with data (Stata or R a plus but not required). No prior research experience is required.
Patricia Biermayr-Jenzano (Senior Academic Advisor, Global Development Minor)
Research focuses on food systems, gender, and rural development across geographic regions. Project areas include traditional strategies for food security, rural women’s contributions to agricultural economies, and gender policies supporting rural and non-binary farmers. Seeking a student with interest in food sovereignty, agrarian studies, or gender and development.
Shareen Joshi (Associate Professor, School of Foreign Service)
Research focuses on law and development in India, including the role of courts, civil society organizations, and women’s collectives in advancing social and economic rights. Seeking a student interested in legal institutions, governance, and comparative law. The student will assist with a new project on anti-superstition and witchcraft legislation, conducting a global comparative analysis of laws targeting superstition-based violence and discrimination.