The Embedded Scholars program provides internships for graduate and undergraduate students from UT-Austin to work in democratic and constitutional development abroad. Current opportunities allow 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 (UNDP) in Europe and Central Asia. Students support a variety of ongoing democracy programs and engage in original research.
Scope of Work
Interns work in one or more areas of our international partners’ mandates. This includes work on specific democracy projects, primarily through research, data collection and analysis, writing, and reports.
CID Gallup’s current work with national and multilateral government institutions includes a range of methodologies to support policymaking processes including: ethnographies, evaluation of public policies, face-to-face interviews, focus group sessions, in-depth interviews, online surveys, and telephone interviews.
International IDEA’s current mandate includes democracy assistance in the following areas: electoral processes; constitution building and the rule of law; democracy assessment; political participation and representation; climate change and democracy; digitalization and democracy; gender and inclusion; and money in politics.
NDI’s current mandate includes democracy assistance in the following areas: citizen participation; debates; democracy and technology; democratic governance; elections; environmental governance and resilience; gender, women, and democracy; monitoring, evaluation, and learning; peace, climate, and democratic resilience; political inclusion of marginalized groups; political parties; and youth.
Transparency International’s current work fights corruption through: research on the causes and consequences of corruption, advocacy on national legislation and global initiatives, projects developing innovative solutions to tackle corruption, and programs on issues ranging from political integrity and dirty money to corruption in the judiciary, defense sector, and public financing.
UNDP’s provides democratic governance assistance in the following areas: civic engagement, constitutional assistance, corruption prevention, electoral assistance, government functions, human rights, local governance, parliamentary development, people-centered security, rule of law, women’s political participation, and youth empowerment.
Location
Fellows are based at CID Gallup and International IDEA offices in Latin America, at International IDEA’s headquarters in Sweden, at NDI offices in Eurasia and Central and Eastern Europe, at Transparency International offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and at UNDP offices in Europe and Central Asia. The specific locations are determined based on the international partners’ current projects and fellows’ experience each year. The large number of partner offices in each region provides flexibility to ensure students are placed in countries that are not on UT’s restricted regions list.
Dates
The 2026 internship dates in country will be 8 weeks in Summer 2026. Interns may be able to stay longer in country or continue their work remotely after their time in country, depending on their availability and specific projects with the international partner.
Eligibility
This fellowship is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of any major at UT-Austin. Students must have a GPA of at least 3.5 and a demonstrated interest in democracy and/or the region for which they are applying. Students must be able to take a 3-hour course in Spring 2026 to prepare for their fieldwork.
Students applying for internships in Latin America must be proficient in Spanish, as the working language of CID Gallup and International IDEA in Latin America is Spanish. Students applying for internships in the Balkans, Europe, and Central must be proficient in English, as the working language of hosting organizations in these regions is English.
Spring Course
Students are required to take, and complete in good standing, a 3-hour Spring 2026 course on Democratic Constitutional Development to prepare for their work and research in the field. The course covers current democratic and constitutional trends, goals and tools of democracy assistance, and applicable research methods.
Summer Credit
Students remain enrolled at UT during the summer by enrolling either in Independent Study and Research or in another class. This program is credit-eligible and can be connected to an internship course for credit at UT. For questions about receiving credit, reach out to the Texas Global program coordinator Cat McGovern.
Funding
Students with demonstrated/documented need will be eligible for a scholarship to defray the travel and living expenses associated with the internship. This depends on each student’s circumstances, but it usually ranges from $2,000 to $3,000.
Students can obtain additional funding by applying to other institutional or national scholarships. For key funding opportunities at UT, see Funding for Internships Abroad, Funding Resources, Career Success Scholarships, Clements Center Professional Development Fund, CREEES Scholarships and Funding, LBJ Student Fellowships, LLILAS Funding Opportunities, and Longhorn Awards and Student Scholarship Opportunities.
Housing and Flight
Students are responsible for securing their own housing and flight but will receive guidance from program staff.
Supervision
Fellows will be supervised by the UT Austin program directors and by international partner staff. Fellows and their supervisors will complete a learning agreement that will state the expectations and objectives of the internship. This agreement will be submitted to the Embedded Scholars program directors and the Texas Global program coordinator. They will provide guidance and support for students throughout the process.
More Information
Prior fellows’ blogs are a great source of information on the variety of projects and experiences fellows have in the field.
For more information on program details, see the application page and the 2026 Embedded Scholars Balkans and Eurasia flyer and 2026 Embedded Scholars Latin America flyer. Feel free to contact the program directors Zachary Elkins and Ashley Moran with any questions.