Internship Details
Interns will be trained on the use of EdgeTheory’s Narrative Analytics systems and the research methods that support their deployment for government and private-sector customers. All interns will learn how narrative analytics can be used by the industries in their chosen field of study, and be challenged to identify new ways these systems can benefit them.
Interns will help maintain and improve EdgeTheory’s narrative analytics systems in a number of ways, such as researching media sources and adding them to the systems, and using them to build AI-generated narrative intelligence briefs.
All interns will learn about artificial intelligence and how it’s applied to the art and science of narrative analysis. Some interns will help train our AI models so they get better and more accurate. Interns majoring in computer engineering, mathematics, and related fields will get to roll up their sleeves and learn about the inner workings of our AI systems, and get the chance to work on our databases, servers, and cloud infrastructure.
EdgeTheory maintains a blog where staffers and interns publish posts that use narrative intelligence briefs to illustrate trends and patterns across a wide range of topics, from international conflict to healthcare to politics and more. Interns interested in writing blog posts will review previous work and receive training on how to produce their own. These are great resume enhancers.
Interns are required to sign a work agreement that contains confidentiality and non-disclosure sections. These sections are intended to protect both the confidentiality of our clients and the work we do for them, as well as the intellectual property and other proprietary information specific to EdgeTheory.
Once the agreements are signed and an intern’s technical configurations are complete, we proceed to train them on our customer-facing products and the “back-end” administrative systems that power them. These training sessions are conducted by senior members of our staff, and usually take between six and eight hours. They are usually spread over two or three sessions during the intern's first week in the program.
In the second week of training, interns are trained on how to apply their knowledge of our systems to specific work tasks. By the end of this second week of training, most interns are comfortable enough with all of their new knowledge to begin working on specific assignments.
Assignments are created and managed in JIRA, which uses a “ticket” system to keep track of what’s required for the assignment, who it’s assigned to, and its progress status. JIRA supports extensive document-sharing, collaboration, and notification features.
EdgeTheory staff hold regular meetings with interns during which they explain assignments, provide any necessary supplemental training required to complete assigned tasks, answer any questions interns might have, and discuss ideas for future projects. Company staff are also available for one-on-one meetings, and are generally very responsive via email or Slack.
EdgeTheory maintains a physical facility at Insight Park on the campus of the University of Mississippi. For interns residing outside of the Oxford area, remote working arrangements can be accommodated.
