Internship and Fellowship Programs

The Project AROS Lab Research Intern program (PAL) is a Montclair State University (Montclair) collaboration with faculty researchers and a growing network of external and international partners, including the Green Climate Fund, Rotary International, and nonprofit and community organizations in Kenya, South Africa, and the United States, among others. The program offers rising Montclair undergraduate students practical experience in applied research: interns join a real project with a real client, learn how research is designed and carried out, and see their work put to use.

Each research intern is paired with a project lead, either a Project AROS Lab (PAL) faculty member or an external partner organization, working in one of the research areas outlined on the PAL research page. Projects vary by cycle and reflect what our partners need. Recent examples include feasibility studies and financial models for social enterprises in South Africa and Kenya; donor mapping and funding-opportunity analyses for education and women’s empowerment nonprofits; a community needs and asset assessment for tourism-linked economic development in upstate New York; a landscape review of HIPAA-compliant AI tools for a multi-state human services organization; literature reviews and social media research on child online safety; and archival and memory politics projects on the Cold War, transitional justice, and human rights. Research materials range from digitized archives, policy documents, and online databases to interviews, surveys, and social media data.

Throughout the semester, interns receive an ArcGIS license and structured training in three blocs (literature review, data collection, and data visualization), adapted to the needs of their project. Participants learn how to collect, organize (code), and analyze data, and then put those skills into practice by drafting research summaries and briefs, building datasets, producing interactive maps and ArcGIS StoryMaps, and presenting their findings to peers and partners. Depending on the project, deliverables also include donor profiles, matching matrices, implementation roadmaps, and go or no-go recommendations that partners act on.

The program is a virtual learning experience and offered during regular academic terms lasting one semester starting in the fall and spring. Students register for course INTD 499  and receive 3 academic credits for the experience. The experience is also open to John Martinson Honors EDGE students, who register for HONP 490 instead. The program experience is renewable. 

This experience is also open to John Martinson Honors EDGE students who will register for HONP 490.

Please Contact Project AROS Lab at pal@montclair.edu or Amanda Choo at chooa@montclair.edu if you have any questions.

The EDGE Junior Researcher and Leadership (E-Research) program is a John Martinson Honors EDGE initiative providing outstanding honors undergraduate students with an opportunity to conduct research and hone essential leadership skills. It is a year-long, academically focused research program embedded within Project AROS Lab (PAL) led by of Professor Arnaud Kurze.

Each cohort of EDGE Junior Researchers works around a specific annual research theme, defined in advance, that reflects ongoing scholarly projects within Project AROS and engages questions of justice, political transformation, governance, technology, human rights, and the arts.

EDGE Junior Researchers participate in sustained, mentored research and are expected to contribute meaningfully to the intellectual development of the annual theme. Depending on the project, research activities may include archival and documentary analysis, qualitative and mixed-methods research, digital humanities approaches, policy analysis, and the development of digital research outputs such as interactive maps, visualizations, or curated online collections. Emphasis is placed on methodological rigor, theoretical grounding, and analytical depth.

Over the course of the fellowship year, participants are expected to produce substantive academic outputs, which may include literature reviews, research memos, annotated archives or datasets, digital research exhibits, conference papers, or co-authored scholarly publications. EDGE Junior Researchers work closely with the Project AROS Lab research cohort, take part in regular research meetings, and receive individualized mentorship aimed at strengthening their academic writing, research design, and professional trajectory.

The fellowship is designed for students seeking intensive research experience and preparation for graduate study, academic careers, or analytically demanding roles in policy, advocacy, and cultural institutions.