Researching Reality Internship
​at Centre for Civil Society

Location
 Delhi, with the option of working remotely if candidate is outside of Delhi

Duration
Summer Internship: 4 June - 15 July 2016
Background 
Centre for Civil Society (CCS) is one of India’s leading liberal think tanks, ranked 50 worldwide by the annual study conducted by the Think Tanks and Civil Society Program at the University of Pennsylvania runs the Researching Reality Internship. CCS advances social change through public policy. They work in education, livelihood, and policy training promotes choice and accountability across private and public sectors. To translate policy into practice, CCS engages with policy and opinion leaders through research, pilot projects and advocacy. 
Internship
Researching Reality Internship is for college students and researchers who wish to apply social and economic principles to real-life problems through in-depth research projects. It provides interns with valuable training in areas of research, analysis, writing, and above all critical thinking. Interns study various agencies, boards, corporations, departments, schemes and programs of the state governments and Municipal Corporations; evaluating existing systems to recommend sustainable and long-term policy improvements in the functioning of government structures. The objective of the internship is to further citizens’ understanding of the workings of the government and encourage greater independent fact-based qualitative and quantitative research so that the next time citizens demand better governance, they can back their claims.
Objectives
  • To create an understanding of the impact of public policy on citizens
  • To develop the ability to understand and critically evaluate public policy from a rational perspective.
  • To create an awareness of liberal approach to public policy.
  • To develop research orientation through:
              - Intellectual openness (pre-conceived bias, openness, willingness to contest beliefs);
              - Resourcefulness and perseverance (ingenuity, primary and secondary analysis ); and
              - Soundness of data (verifying authenticity of data sources).
  • To develop communication skills (writing and presentation).
  • To develop analytical skills.
  • To produce pieces of quality research and writing on issues pertaining to areas of interest to CCS.
Specifics
CCS emphasises collective learning and therefore this vibrant learning experience happens through creative and multiple mediums which include:
  • Orientation: A comprehensive orientation is conducted for interns to better understand the nature and scope of the research expected.
  • Assignments: Interns choose their research topics from a larger roster of prepared by CCS that are of mutual interest to interns and CCS. 
  • *Research guides: Individual guides in the area of the intern’s research project meets the intern on a weekly or fortnightly basis to discuss progress and provide inputs. However, an in-house internship coordinator is available for assistance to all interns throughout the program period.
  • Interactions: Department heads and senior staff members of CCS provide necessary guidance in their thematic areas.
  • Workshops: On writing, research methodology, and public policy are conducted to equip interns with skills necessary to execute their respective projects.
  • Documentary screenings: To bring to light critical public policy issues through the ever-growing medium of films.
  • Discussions: Each week of the internship interns explore seminal papers in social science and public policy or participate in talks by experts.
  • Field visits: To experience ground reality and decide on how a problem can be studied and solved.
*Research Guide: Research guides are professionals who act as subject matter mentors to interns. They meet periodically to share ideas, skills, experience and expertise with their respective interns. Guides assess the feasibility of research projects, review progress of the project, oversee mid-term and final presentations and research papers and assist interns to get their articles/op-eds published or presented in various media/public forums.
Prerequisites 
Application is open for all researchers, college going students, graduate and post graduate, recent graduates, and IB students in 11th and 12th standard. International as well as domestic applications are welcome.
Application Timeline
Application Deadline: Sunday, 1 May 2016
First list announcement: Monday, 9 May 2016
Interviews: Saturday-Sunday, 14-15 May 2016
Final list announcement: Monday, 16 May 2016
Internship dates: 4 June-15 July 2016
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