About the Program
The Corioli Institute is a think-and-do tank dedicated to (re)building social cohesion and sustainable futures in communities affected by violence. We work alongside formerly armed actors and the communities receiving them to strengthen shared resources and the local commons, creating the conditions for trust to grow and social cohesion to take root.
And we’re looking for you to help drive this work and leave a lasting impact with us.
The Corioli Institute Summer Fellows Program will run for ten weeks, with start and end dates aligned to the applicant’s summer availability, and an expected work week of 35 hours. For the third year in a row, we welcome undergraduate and graduate students globally who are team players and motivated to apply their critical thinking, analytical skills, and creativity to advance our mission. The Summer Fellows Program is designed to support guided skill development and to give participants a strong footing in our line of work.
The Two Program Tracks
Track I – Project Research
Three groups of Summer Fellows will operate similarly to a graduate seminar, collaboratively working on the completion of our Social Cohesion Assessment and Policy Implementation Toolkit. The toolkit will operationalize social cohesion across violence-affected contexts globally, offering peacebuilding and reintegration practitioners a hands-on guide to identify, measure and understand it, and to adjust their programmatic interventions accordingly. You will work with initial analyses and Corioli Institute original data collected with violence, armed conflict and displacement-affected communities from three different field settings: Latin America, the Arab Region and Ukraine. The three groups will work on distinct components of the final framework, all covering the dimensions of intragroup cohesion, intergroup cohesion and vertical cohesion (institutions & governance):
State of the Field
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Contextualizing the social cohesion dimension with existing academic and practitioner insights.
International Case Studies
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Illustrating the real-world dynamics of the social cohesion dimension with curated empirical examples.
Indicator Development
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Building actionable indicators for cross-regional social cohesion assessment based on findings from our data.
The program combines expert mentorship with structured training, with a focus on building transferable skills for careers in the humanitarian, peacebuilding, nonprofit, and think-tank sectors. This track offers all Fellows the opportunity to be contributors to a research output with a lasting legacy in our field of action, strengthening their ability to convert ideas into policy impact.
Track II – Institute Communications
This track is dedicated to prospective Summer Fellows passionate about social media, graphic design, marketing, and strategic communications. As part of this team, you can use your creativity to develop original social media and website content for different audiences, and to help shape the Corioli Institute’s public-facing brand going forward. Fellows will contribute to creating the following:
Informative Content (image/video)
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Educating our audiences on topics relevant to Corioli’s core mission (e.g., “why formerly armed actor reintegration is crucial for international security,” “how environmental peacebuilding can benefit from Indigenous Knowledge Systems”) through infographics, carousel posts, explainer videos, and other formats. This content can be based on our original research and/or publicly available sources.
PR/Marketing Content
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Highlighting what we do and who we are. This includes promoting new publications in engaging ways, creating short image videos, producing recaps, showcasing accomplishments, and polishing our website—depending on your experience and skills. It will involve “talking directly” to different audiences (e.g., academia, private sector, defense) to effectively increase the reach of our think-and-do-tank.
Shaping Our Brand and Outreach
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Every fellow will be asked to submit reflections after 10 weeks of creating content, focusing on practical learning and, most importantly, takeaways on how they interpret Corioli’s brand identity and what makes it distinctive. These contributions will inform our communications approach and help us better understand what works and what drives engagement.
Under our mentorship and structured guidance, we greatly value your existing skills, ideas, and input, and will adapt tasks accordingly. You will learn how to convey a diversity of information in innovative and compelling ways across image, text, and audio — adhering to brand guidelines while realizing their full potential and supporting their evolution.
How to Apply
Eligibility
The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students inside and outside the United States. There is no minimum requirement for previous educational experience or work experience in related fields.
Location
& Schedule
Fellows can be physically located anywhere with a strong internet connection for conducting research and weekly or bi-weekly meetings with the group supervisor. The Fellows Program runs for ten weeks and is set to begin sometime in June.
We can accommodate your start date and schedule with some flexibility.
Application
Requirements
All applicants must complete their application form here and submit a
resume or curriculum vitae, a one-page cover letter, and a short essay
answer (maximum 800 words).
Financing
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer compensation for this opportunity.
However, we welcome applicants who are supported by scholarships or grants,
and we are happy to provide references/supporting documentation where helpful.