The 2026 Embedded Scholars Application is now open for UT students to apply for Summer 2026 internships in democratic and constitutional development in the Balkans, Central Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Applications are due by November 1, 2025.

The Embedded Scholars program is an innovative fellowship that trains students at UT in the spring then places them in summer internships abroad focused on democracy assistance and research. By combining applied work and research, the fellowship aims to launch students’ work in the field while advancing democratic development.

The program provides unparalleled opportunities for students to work with CID Gallup and International IDEA in Latin America and with International IDEA, the National Democratic Institute, Transparency International, and the United Nations Development Programme in the Balkans, Europe, and Central Asia. Students support a variety of ongoing democracy assistance programs and engage in original research.

The internship is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of any major at UT Austin. We invite you to learn more about the program and the application process.

Prior fellows’ blogs are also a great source of information on the variety of projects and experiences fellows have in the field.

Join us for an information session on September 24, 2025 (11:30am-12:30pm, RLP 1.302D). Program directors and prior fellows will share more about the program and fellows’ work in the field.

For more information, see the 2026 Embedded Scholars Balkans and Eurasia flyer and 2026 Embedded Scholars Latin America flyer. Contact program directors Zachary Elkins and Ashley Moran (copy both) if you have any questions. We look forward to talking with you!