How Do I Get an Intern?
The Research Program has the ability to bring paid interns on at DDOT through our contract with Howard University. There are two types of interns: research interns (funded through the Research Program) and general interns (funded from non-research sources). Find out more about the intern program here.
Research Interns
The Research Program funds 10 summer interns and 3-5 semester interns around the agency to work on a specific project or small set of projects under the supervision of a DDOT staff member with expertise in that area. All research intern projects must have a research component. Most projects begin during the summer, though there are sometimes openings during the semester.
- Define your research project. You should include a description of the project, the intern skills needed, and who will be overseeing the intern's work. See the most recent call for intern projects for more details at right.
- Send to Research - you can send anytime during the year, but the main call is done in the winter, usually in January or February.
- If your project is selected, you'll be contacted and recruitment will follow.
Note: funding is competitive and generally only one intern is provided per request or group. Interns are sometimes shared between groups if there are related topics.
Non-Research Interns
You can get an intern using your own program's funds. Average cost is up to $9,600 for the summer or $6,800 per semester using our standard stipends ($18/hour for undergrads, $20/hour for graduate students).
- Define your project and discuss your needs with the research staff (Katie, Stephanie, or Stefanie).
- Develop the scope of work on DDOT's header (see template at right). Send to one of the research staff.
- Research staff will send the scope to Howard University, who will provide a quote for the project. We will help with negotiations if needed.
- Enter a requisition for the amount in the quote and send the requisition number to the research staff.
- Research staff will work with OCP to get the task issued.
Recruitment of interns can start as soon as the project is defined and funding is assured. HUTRC handles recruitment and matching of interns. A project description is needed, similar to the one used for research - see the call for intern projects at right for more details.
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Intern Basics
- All interns must be current students; we generally recruit college juniors and seniors and graduate students.
- Students can come from any university – we bring in students from across the region during the school year and draw nationally during the summer.
- Students are allowed to work up to 40 hours/week during the summer and up to 20 hours/week during the school year.
- We pay graduate students up to $20/hour and undergraduates up to $18/hour.
- Summer internships run from June-August; semester internships can be fall, spring, or both and align to the student’s school year.