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Undergraduate Resources
Our CMIST undergraduates don't just learn, they experience. Our dedicated faculty and staff will guide you through a variety of programs that equip you with the skills and knowledge to succeed. With multiple opportunities to engage in experiential learning, actively conduct research, and practice the professional skills you need in the workplace, you will be well-prepared for the next step in your academic or career trajectory.
Undergraduate Research for Credit
Don't just learn from research, learn to conduct it!
In addition to research done in the regular course of their studies, the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology (CMIST) offers undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research under the guidance of our faculty members through CMIST’s Undergraduate Research for Credit course. Students enrolled in this course earn between 3-9 units.
Interested in doing research for credit? Please review the list of research topics with open positions, and contact the CMIST professor directly to discuss the opportunity that interests you. Once you and the faculty member agree to work together, you will complete the research for credit form, and the Deputy Director for Academic Affairs will register you for the course.
Identifying Agenda-Setting Power: An Embedding-Based Approach
with Prof. Hannah Bailey
Professor Bailey is seeking a research assistant for a project focused on formalizing a novel computational method using document embeddings to detect agenda setting at scale in political communication texts, specifically in the US House and Senate bill drafting process and Twitter posts by members of the 113th US Congress. This computational methodology project aims to develop a tool for agenda setting analysis applicable across various political contexts. This project is ideal for students interested in social science and computational methods, as this role will involve hands-on experience in creating, testing, and validating a new methodology. Responsibilities may include data preparation and labeling, assisting with testing a machine learning algorithm, drafting a literature review on political agenda setting, and assisting with data analysis and visualization. Python skills are helpful but not essential.
The State Cybersecurity Organizations and Policies (SCOP) Database
with Prof. Nadiya Kostyuk
The State Cybersecurity Organizations and Policies (SCOP) database is an ongoing effort aimed at documenting the evolution of state cybersecurity institutions. The beta version of this dataset has been completed, and Prof. Kostyuk is currently seeking research assistants (RAs) to assist in finalizing version 1.0. Responsibilities of RAs include: (1) verifying existing sources and adding new sources through online searches; (2) participating in interviews with government officials involved in cybersecurity; (3) performing (preliminary) data analysis and creating visualizations. This is an excellent opportunity for individuals interested in contributing to a significant project in the field of cybersecurity and gaining valuable research experience.
Assessing Strategies to Prevent Targeted Violence Linked to Group Hatred
with Prof. Mark Kamlet
Professor Kamlet is seeking two research assistants for research he is conducting dealing with targeted violence (e.g., mass shootings) that involves group hatred (e.g., antisemitism, Islamaphobia, etc.). One study is following thirty not-for-profit organizations which are running different pilot projects aimed at mitigating such targeted violence. We will be involved in (i) helping design the information each project should be collecting and (ii) beginning efforts to assess the effectiveness of the different projects. A second study is analyzing the results of two recent surveys of members of the nation's top professional group in the area of threat identification and response.
Examining Social Media Discourse Amid Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
with Prof. Daniel Silverman
Professor Dan Silverman is seeking a student at any level who is a native Russian speaker (or has functionally native fluency) to support an interdisciplinary research project examining social media discourse amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The RA would help a Russian-speaking faculty member read and code social media posts about the conflict, with their work then being fed into big-data text analysis efforts to measure and analyze public discourse during the war at scale. This is an opportunity to be part of an exciting interdisciplinary research project at the intersection of political science, conflict studies, and natural language processing/big data analytics.
Constitutional Role of Presidents
with Prof. Ignacio Arana
Professor Arana is conducting a comparative study on the constitutional role of presidents across all presidential systems. The project aims to define the formal range of presidential authority by analyzing what national constitutions say about the powers, responsibilities, and limitations of presidents. Assistance is welcome to extract and analyze relevant constitutional provisions. Students interested in constitutional law or comparative politics will gain hands-on experience with primary legal texts and enhance their analytical skills.
AI/Cybersecurity Data Exploration
with Prof. Justin Canfil
Join the Frontier of International AI and Cybersecurity Discussions! Dive into the dynamic realm of global diplomacy as we examine how nations and NGOs navigate the complex landscape of AI and cybersecurity within the United Nations and other multilateral platforms. As our Research Assistant, you'll uncover and analyze pivotal statements and debates that have shaped international policy since 1998. This role is crucial for piecing together historical shifts from digital automation to digital autonomy—charting the evolution from machines that execute commands to those that think independently. Your work will contribute to a groundbreaking analysis, offering a comprehensive view of how countries articulate and confront the challenges posed by AI and cyber technologies over the decades. Some data analytics/programming experience is a plus for this role, but not required.
Military Veterans and US Elections
with Prof. Nicole Kliewer
Recent US elections have ushered in a wave of congressional candidates with military backgrounds, raising questions about the role of military service in elections and implications for civil-military relations. Do these candidates discuss occupations at higher rates, are they more likely to win primaries, and are they able to solicit more donations earlier in their candidacies? Prof. Kliewer project aims to answer these questions and build a greater understanding of how military group membership and identity contribute to former service members’ political participation. Assistance is welcome in three areas: database expansion of US military candidates, comparison of campaign rhetoric based on military vs. non-military background, and collecting, consolidating, and, if interested, analyzing data on campaign contributions. There may also be opportunities regarding Congressional behavior and data visualizationupon inquiry.
Mapping Technological Controversies
with Prof. Justin Canfil
Trace the Legacy and Future of Technological Transformations! As we navigate through an age of rapid technological advancement, understanding the historical context of technological controversies becomes essential. This position offers a unique opportunity to explore a rich archive of declassified documents and scholarly articles that recount past societal and governmental responses to emerging technologies. You will investigate how historical perceptions of technology—fueled by science fiction and public discourse—have influenced regulatory actions and public policy. By examining these patterns, your research will shed light on current technological debates and help predict future trajectories. Join us to explore the interplay between innovation, fear, and regulation through the decades, drawing lessons for today's policy makers.
The Digital Front of Modern Conflicts
with Prof. Nadiya Kostyuk
Prof. Kostyuk is working on the project aimed at understanding the digital front of modern conflict. Using the cases of Ukraine and Israel, Dr. Kostyuk seeks to elucidate the activities occurring in the digital realm and their impact on battlefield dynamics and effectiveness. This research leverages data from published news reports and technical indicators. Responsibilities of research assistants include a variety of tasks: (1) conducting literature reviews or case studies; (2) scrapping texts from online sources and extracting necessary variables (for students with a background in machine learning); and (3) performing (preliminary) data analysis and creating visualizations. This is an excellent opportunity for individuals interested in cyber conflict.
Coups D'etat: Post-WWII Plots, Pre-WWII Attempts, and Great Power Support
with Prof. John Chin
Professor Chin is seeking research assistants for three projects related to coups d'etat: (1) Investigate the sordid post-World War II history of coup plots (conspiracies to depose leaders that are not actually attempted, perhaps because the regime discovered and thwarted them); (2) Research and writing historical narratives of bonafide coup attempts before World War II; (3) Research and code data on great power support (or opposition) to successful coups since 1990. Other projects related to security force defections in nonviolent revolutions or coding data on U.S. joint military exercises or military power around the world may be available upon inquiry.
Presidents of the Americas since Independence
with Prof. Ignacio Arana
Professor Arana is working on expanding his Presidential Database of the Americas to include detailed biographical information about all the American and Latin American national leaders who have governed since independence. Assistance is welcome to extract biographical information about presidents, especially for those who governed during the 1800-1945 period. Assistants will gain experience in complex data collection and learning about political leadership since independence.
China’s Visual International Propaganda
with Prof. Hannah Bailey
Professor Bailey is seeking a research assistant to work on a project analyzing China's use of images in international propaganda aimed at global audiences on Facebook. This study develops a novel machine learning method to identify image topics at scale in an unsupervised manner and applies this method to examine how China uses images to influence international audiences. This project is primarily focused on developing a new computational method for image analysis at scale, and then as a secondary focus applies these techniques to the case study of China's international propaganda. The research assistant will assist in data preparation and processing, including manually labeling images for validation, ensuring the alignment of propaganda images with associated text, and conducting a literature review on visual propaganda. Coding skills in Python are beneficial but not required. This role will offer the student assistant exposure to machine learning applications in social science research, the development of a social science methods paper, and insights into the use of visual propaganda by authoritarian states.
Ambiguity in International Politics
with Prof. Justin Canfil
Explore the Strategic Puzzles of Global Politics! International politics is filled with deliberate vagueness and strategic ambiguity. Consider the ongoing debates about U.S. policies towards defending allies—should these strategies be clear-cut or intentionally ambiguous? As part of our research team, you will delve into the academic discussions surrounding these questions. Your role involves conducting a thorough review of leading political science journals to identify and analyze how ambiguity influences state behavior across various international issues. By compiling and contrasting scholarly insights, you will help illuminate when states benefit from being enigmatic and when clarity prevails. This project offers a chance to critically engage with the subtleties that drive international relations and policy-making.
Additional Student Research
Dietrich College Senior Honors Program
Through the Dietrich College Senior Honors Program students complete an honors thesis and graduate with College Honors. For more information contact Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Joseph Devine.
Meeting of the Minds
An annual undergraduate research symposium organized by the Undergraduate Research Office each spring. All students engaged in undergraduate research are encouraged to apply.
Research Training for Undergraduates
Through this academic course, qualified first- and second-year students have the opportunity to work directly with a Dietrich faculty member on an ongoing research project. For more information contact Deputy Director Emily Half.
SURA
The Summer Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship (SURA) course awards tuition-free elective credit to first-year and sophomore undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon for existing faculty projects focused on undergraduate research or creative inquiry under the direction of a Carnegie Mellon faculty member.
SURG, SURF, ISURG
Small Undergraduate Research Grants (SURG), Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF), and International Small Undergraduate Research Grants (ISURG) are offered by Carnegie Mellon University's Undergraduate Research Office, these grants and fellowships provide funding for undergraduate students to pursue research in any discipline.
Undergraduate Summer Research (99-409)
This 1-unit tuition-free course allows undergraduate students from all fields to participate in research under the direction of a CMU faculty member. Prior to enrolling, students should have previously participated in summer research via the Summer Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship and/or the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. For more information visit the Office of the Vice Provost for Education website.
Coursework & Workshops
CMIST goes beyond textbooks to prepare students for the working world. In addition to ongoing advising support, CMIST students have access to mini courses designed to foster professional development and facilitate professional growth. Offered by Haleigh Bartos, associate professor of the practice, these courses cover specific, in-demand skills such as briefing as well as how to successfully navigate everything from the application process and to handling challenges that arise on the job. Additionally, CMIST faculty host workshops that complement students' academic studies, equipping them with the skills they need to succeed.
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Tomorrow’s Professionals
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Mapping the Future
This seniors-only seminar is tailored to graduating CMIST students, helping them identify job opportunities, increase their marketability, and take the next steps toward their professional goals in careers related to international relations, government, politics, and policy.
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Briefing in the Policy World
Briefing is a critical skill as it is the most direct and formal means of communication with the policy and or decision maker. One successful brief can fast-track a career, identify you as a subject-matter-expert, and open dialogue with customers—helping build important relationships in the policy world.
Pi Sigma Alpha
The National Political Science Honor Society
Pi Sigma Alpha is classified by the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS) as an “upper division, specialized” honor society. Membership in Pi Sigma Alpha is open to students currently taking courses in government, political science, international relations, public administration, or a related interdisciplinary area and enrolled in institutions where chapters are located.
Established in 1919, Pi Sigma Alpha hosts chapters on more than 850 campuses and has inducted more than 300,000 members. Its rolls feature national, state, and local political leaders including one president, three Supreme Court justices, and dozens of members of Congress. Through these 100 years there have been many changes but neither the mission of the organization or the quality of the individuals inducted has changed. Each year those who have achieved academic excellence are inducted and display the same passion for politics and policy. Like those who first joined, today’s student strives to uphold the purpose of Pi Sigma Alpha first described in 1919: “to encourage the scientific and practical study of problems of government, to foster reforms in our governmental machinery, and to aid in the education of the electorate in problems of government.”
Alpha Nu Alpha Chapter
Carnegie Mellon University established the Alpha Nu Alpha chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha during the 2024-2025 academic year. Its charter members will be initiated during spring 2025.
Member Benefits
Pi Sigma Alpha offers many benefits to its members including scholarships for graduate school and internships in Washington, DC, best paper and thesis awards, as well as chapter activity grants. Members are eligible for entrance at the GS-7 level in numerous professional and technical occupations in the Federal service. Pi Sigma Alpha undergraduate student members have access to join the American Political Science Association (APSA) at a discounted rate and access to professional development resources. Lifetime membership also entitles members to wear distinguished graduation regalia at CMU Commencement Ceremonies.
Eligibility
Undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon University must meet the following criteria:
- Complete at least 180 units at CMU;
- Complete at least 30 units at CMU of work in political science, government, or international relations with an average grade of B or higher in those courses;
- Have a declared major or additional major in CMIST;
- Achieve an overall QPA placing them in the top one-third of their whole class. Since CMU does not have class rank, students should have a cumulative QPA of 3.75 (Dean’s List with High Honors) or higher.
Carnegie Mellon University Washington Semester Program
The Carnegie Mellon University Washington Semester Program (CMU/WSP) provides undergraduate students from any major the opportunity to gain real-world experience by spending a full semester in Washington, DC. Students complete an internship while taking classes on public policy, American politics, governance, institutions, and law with CMU faculty.
In addition to developing professional and networking skills while applying what they learn in class to their internship experience, students who complete CMU/WSP are well-positioned to earn the minor in politics and public policy and are eligible to apply for the accelerated version of the Master of Science in Security, Technology, and International Relations (MS STAIR-AMP), a unique opportunity for current CMU students to complete both an undergraduate and graduate degree within five years.
Learn More
Internship Resources
Internships provide real-world experiences that help students explore their career interests, build up their networks, and gain the skills they need to both launch and successfully navigate their careers post graduation. From deciding where to apply to intentionally reflecting on how they have grown over the course of the internship, CMIST staff and faculty support CMIST students at every stage of the process, ensuring successful placements whether a student’s interests and skillset take them to Capitol Hill, a nonprofit organization, or the private sector.
For those seeking internships in Washington, D.C, CMIST offers specialized assistance including the opportunity to meet with the Washington Program Manager to develop a search strategy, set up a mock interview, or to discuss D.C.-specific internship funding opportunities.
All CMIST undergraduate students receive a handpicked collection of internship and entry-level job openings through the weekly “Internship & Entry-Level Position Roundup” newsletter (biweekly in the summer). A collaborative effort between our CMIST offices in Pittsburgh and Washington, DC, this newsletter also features scholarship opportunities and professional development resources.
As students of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), CMIST undergraduate students also gain access to several resources to help them find internships tailored to their interests and network with CMU alumni.
Graduate Resources
Our CMIST graduate students are professionally-oriented with an eye towards strategically shaping their future job prospects. Our masters degrees are professional programs, and we focus on career preparation for the duration of the program, beginning at orientation. With the help of our dedicated faculty and staff, you will have access to a variety of supportive programming motivated towards helping you find success after graduation and beyond.
MITS Capstone
During the Master of Information Technology Strategy (MITS) capstone project, students synthesize and test workable solutions for a particular organization's specific needs over a period of 14 weeks. To support students completing these projects, CMIST offers a workshop that meets once a week during the capstone period and culminates in a final presentation in which they share their recommended solutions. Facilitated by the graduate program manager and open only to those students who have been accepted into the MITS program, this workshop provides students with a laboratory space to apply concepts from their core courses, articulate lessons learned, and strategize the next steps in their career trajectory.
Graduate Workshops
Internship Resources
Internships provide real-world experiences that help students apply their classroom learning to current challenges, build-up their networks, sharpen the in-demand skills that employers need, and gain experience that will help them plan the next steps in their careers post-graduation.
From identifying opportunities aligned with their coursework and career goals to reflecting on their curricular experiences and integrating lessons learned, CMIST staff and faculty support CMIST students throughout the internship process.
In addition to the professional development opportunities listed above, CMIST graduate students also get a curated list of internship openings delivered straight to their inbox. Put together in collaboration between our Pittsburgh and DC CMIST offices, this internship and entry-level position roundup is program-specific and sent on a weekly or biweekly basis. As students of Carnegie Mellon University, CMIST graduate students also gain access to the following:
