Thank you for your interest in supporting our research!
We have several opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to gain experience in program coordination, research, and outreach.
Summer internship opportunities will be posted by March 1st.
If interested, send your resume, cover letter, and any additonal information here:

Social Work Students at RPCA Lab Boston College
The RPCA is seeking a PhD level RA to support Sugira Muryango, an expansion study (10,000 participants) of the Family Strengthening Intervention for ECD and violence reduction in Rwanda. The PhD RA will report to the RPCA Research Scientist and Data Analysis Manager.
Responsibilities May Include:
- Leading qualitative analysis of baseline and mid line data/interviews
- Coordinate with study team to effectively disseminate research findings
- Support data analysis manager and research scientists on implementation-science focused publications
Qualifications include:
- Current PhD Student in Social Work, Public Health, Measurement and Evaluation, Data Science, or Statistics required.
- 3+ years of relevant work experience
- Quantitative analysis experience, preferably with MAXQDA, STATA and R.
- Ability to work for no less than 6 months
Start Date: June 1, 2023
Hours per week: 15
This is a paid position for PhD students only.
The RPCA is seeking a PhD level RA to support our Longitudinal and Spillover study in Rwanda. The three year follow-up will examine long-term and sustained outcomes of the intervention. In particular, we will look at key indicators of long-term positive outcomes for children such as the transition to formal schooling and school readiness. This study will contribute greatly to the body of knowledge on the costs and benefits of investments in ECD and guide policymakers and government leaders on making impactful investments in children, leading to long-term benefits
Responsibilities May Include:
- Support the Research Scientist/co-PI in quantitative analysis in Stata and R, including descriptive statistics and constructing multilevel (aka hierarchical linear) models to link data from multiple waves of a longitudinal study
- Support the write-up and visualization of results
- Coordinate with research teams to effectively communicate results of data to contribute to program success
Qualifications include:
- Current PhD Student in Social Work, Public Health, Measurement and Evaluation, Data Science, or Statistics required.
- 2-3 years of relevant work experience
- Quantitative analysis experience, preferably with both Stata and R.
- Experience with multilevel/hierarchical linear models a plus.
- Ability to work for no less than 6 months
Start Date: April 3, 2023
Hours per week: 12-20
This is a paid position for PhD students only.
The RPCA is seeking a Student Tech Programmer who is eager to apply his/her computer science skills to promote social good and support our Family Strenghening Intervention for Refugees (FSI-R) digital application. The Tech Programmer would focus on assisting the current team with current app development and overseeing the software and hardware capabilities to improve content delivery and user interface of the new, digital FSI-R apps. The main focus of this role will be continued development of an existing Android application that has been culturally adapted for use with the Somali Bantu and Bhutanese communities.
Responsibilities include:
- Programming one Android apps using Adobe Illustrator and GitHub
- Advising on the use of technology to improve content delivery through the creation of graphics, videos, and other digital tools
- Designing graphics and imagery per creations of community co-design teams
- Work closely with team and attend weekly meetings on Thursdays at 1:00pm
Qualifications:
- Has experience in creating Android applications.
- Must have experience with Adobe Illustrator and GitHub
- Must know how to use React-Native
- Has proficiency in JavaScript and/or Java
- Is a self-starter who takes initiative
- Has graphic design skills (preferred, not required)
- Is culturally humble and has experience working with people from diverse cultures
- Responds to communication timely and professionally
Paid Opportunity ONLY for BC Students at the rate of $15.50/hour
10 hours a week
Dates of Employment: 27 February - 16 May 2023
The RPCA is seeking a motivated student to join our team and support the disseminiation of research findings at the RPCA. The Data Assistant will report to the Data Analysis Manager at RPCA.
Responsibilities:
- Communicate with RPCA members regarding data-related matters and requests.
- Provide cross-team support regarding organization and maintenance of research related documentation and files (IRB, research protocols, data bases, codebooks).
- Conduct literature reviews on the research methods and measurement instruments to support cross-cultural adaptation of measures.
- Support basic quantitative data analysis and measurement using STATA (recoding and renaming variables, missing data descriptions, merging data etc.)
- Support the development of quantitative and qualitative assessment instruments.
- Run basic statistical analysis in STATA (sample descriptive statistics, correlations, means comparisons)
Qualifications include:
- Must have 2 years of research experience
- Must have proficiency in STATA
- Ability to analyze, interpret, and summarize complex information
- Basic understanding of applied social/health sciences research processes
- Intermediate knowledge of applied statisics and psychometrics (distributions, measures of central tendency, levels of measurement, correlations, means comparisons)
- Ability to join the team for more than 6 months is preferred
- Strong interpersonal skills
- High level of written and oral communication
- Self Starter who takes initiative
- Culturally humble
Students with in-person ability will be preferred.
PhD Students Preferred.
Hours per week: 10-20
The RPCA is seeking a motivated Masters student to join our team and support our Intergenerational Study of War Affected Youth (ISWAY) in Sierra Leone, a 20-year longitudinal study investigating the mental health and biological outcomes of stress for former child soldiers and their offspring. The RA will work alongside our Program Manager, Research Scientist, and Administrative Manager.
Responsibilities:
- Supporting qualitative data analysis by cleaning transcripts and coding KII and FG interviews.
- Supporting project management and presentation development, or other dissemination focused activities.
- Assisting with data management team on quantitative data cleaning as needed.
Qualifications include:
- Currently enrolled in Masters in Social Work, Public Health, Mental Health Counseling, Psychology, or other related fields.
- 2+ years of previous research experience required
- Experience with qualitative coding required
- Ability to work independently
- Culturally humble
Start Date: June 12, 2023
Hours per week: 10-15
The RPCA is seeking a motivated Masters student to join our dynamic team and support our Refugee Projects focused on a multi collaboration of the Family Strengthening Intervention for Resettled Refugees. The RA will report to our Program Manager and Administrative Manager.
Responsibilities:
- Supporting literature reviews related to refugee work in the US.
- Work directly in the Boston community setting to assist in research by gathering data through free listing and key informant interviews with Afghan refugee families.
- Suporting slide preparation for training materials
- Developing materials to support state-level work with the RPCA Family Strengthening Intervention
- Cleaning pilot project data and exit interview data
- Developing codebooks
Qualifications include:
- Currently enrolled in Masters in Social Work, Public Health, Clinical Psychology, Mental Health Counseling, strongly preferred. Very qualified Undergrads will be considered.
- Basic quanitative/qualitative research experience required.
- 2+ years of relevant work experience
- Strong communication, both written and oral
Practicum/internship students preferred
Start Date: April 3, 2023
Hours per week: 10-15
The RPCA is seeking a motivated Research Assistant to assist our PI, Dr. Theresa Betancourt, Salem Professor in Global Practice, Director of the RPCA. Strong masters students will be considered. PhD preferred. The RA will report to Dr. Betancourt and the Administrative Manager.
Responsibilities:
- Reviewing qualitative interview transcripts to find relevant and meaningful quotes
- Validating/adding citations for published work
- Developing systems to ensure productivity of research outputs
- Creating and leading literature reviews for PI use
Qualifications include:
- Ability to work independently
- 1-year committment required
- Ability to read intensively
- Previous research experience required
The RPCA is seeking an Undergraduate RA to support our Mutual Learning/Capacity Building Efforts at or our partner institutions in Sierra Leone and Rwanda.
Responsibilities include
- Working alongside our Capacity Building Manager to support the dissemination of information to a mutual learning network of over 200 people
- Coordinating logistics for various seminars and events to support cross-site learning at the RPCA and University of Rwanda.
Requirements:
- Ability to work independently and communicate professionally and effectively.
- No previous research experience required.
Start Date: May 1, 2023.
Hours: 5-10