Economist Service Research Assistant Program

Economist Service Research Assistant Programme (ES Internship)

The Economist Service (ES) offers internships to students under the ES Research Assistant Programme. By joining us, you will participate in applied research, expand your professional network, and learn more about the ES. Interns typically work on an empirical research project with supervision from economists in the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) or other government agencies. The project is usually assigned by an ES officer, but we are open to considering project ideas that you may have. Over the course of the project, you will receive training and mentorship on how to conduct rigorous analyses, apply economic theories and principles to public policy issues, and develop clear policy recommendations. At the end of the internship, you will present your research findings to the Chief Economist and/or other senior ES officers.

All internship applicants should be Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents, with a strong interest in applying Economics to public policy. We accept applications from pre-university, undergraduate or graduate students. We are especially interested in applicants with a strong and demonstrable interest in Economics, and preferably prior experience in undertaking a quantitative/Economics-related research project. Candidates with the following skills will have an advantage: Familiarity with statistical/mathematical tools or general-purpose programming languages (e.g., Stata, R, Python); Familiarity with general techniques used for programme evaluation and causal inference (e.g., instrumental variables, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity designs); and Familiarity with basic data science techniques (e.g., machine learning) and/or web-scraping. As places are limited, priority will be given to penultimate-year university students. Although we typically offer internships during the summer cycle (May to September), applications for other start dates could also be considered. ES internships could be under the supervision of ES officers in MTI or other government agencies. We expect interns to commit at least ten weeks for the internship for a meaningful and enriching experience.