Citizenship Lab

Now recruiting Undergraduate Fellows!

The Citizenship Lab (CitLab) hosted by the University of California, Irvine, advances empirically driven research on citizenship and development around the world. Faculty and graduate students work with undergraduate students to advance knowledge and understanding of citizenship while providing training in professional research and the fundamentals of data science.

Political methodology is one of the least diverse areas of political science as a discipline. Methodological training, for example, has the lowest gender representation on syllabi: approximately ten percent of graduate-level syllabi readings are authored by women. This under-representation is driven by narrow pipelines, limited access to research opportunities, and poor retention of students from underrepresented backgrounds, problems in the field of political science broadly. Mentoring is known to increase personal efficacy, addressing some of these problems. But not all mentoring is effective and both students and young faculty are expected to know how to establish and manage effective mentoring networks with no training.

To address these issues, the Citizenship Lab at UCI will provide professional training and develop networks of peer, near-peer, and faculty mentorship through a Stewardship Model of research training. Graduate and Undergraduate Fellows receive training on mentorship, both designing one’s own supportive network and how to provide effective mentoring to others, research design, and data science. These practices provide the foundations for an inclusive research environment most likely to improve the recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Undergraduate Fellow Information

Lab dates: July 22-August 15, 2024

Application deadline May 20, 2024.

The Citizenship Lab (CitLab) hosted by the University of California, Irvine, is recruiting six Undergraduate Fellows for Summer 2024. The CitLab is designed to increase opportunities for professional research training for students from underrepresented backgrounds, including, but not limited to, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, students with disabilities, first-generation undergraduates, and students from economically disadvantaged communities.

Over the course of the four-week program, Undergraduate Fellows will attend (online) training in research design, the fundamentals of data science, and professional development and work as part of a research team to advance graduate student-led research projects related to citizenship and development.

 Benefits:

  • $1,000 stipend

  • Applied training in research design; quantitative data analysis (no previous experience necessary); and professional development

  • Experience working in a collaborative research team on exciting research projects

Eligibility:

  • We look for reliable students eager for practical research experience and interest in research-based careers (both academic and non-academic)

  • Successful candidates will have strong communication skills and will be eager to work collaboratively on a research project

Application Materials:

  • A cover letter that describes your career goals and explains your fit with the program’s goal to provide opportunities to those from underrepresented groups.

  • An unofficial transcript

  • A brief writing sample (less than 2,000 words)

Please email Professor Samantha Vortherms (s.vortherms@uci.edu) with any questions.

The Citizenship Lab is funded by the National Science Foundation Grant #2238897