Background
Form of Employment: Full time
Starting Date: As soon as possible
Application Deadline:
* Please note that this position may be closed earlier than the deadline if a certain number of applications is received therefore early applications are encouraged.
Contract Duration: Six months, with the possibility of extension.
Location: Remotely
Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin with several country offices worldwide. DRI promotes political participation of citizens, accountability of state bodies, and the development of democratic institutions worldwide.
DRI’s Digital Democracy team works to protect and promote healthy democratic debate online. Through our offices and projects around the globe, we monitor the effects of social media and other evolving technologies on public discourse; engage with governments, experts, and tech companies for effective regulation; and train citizen groups on how to assess their local digital environment and debates. Our work touches on issues such as information manipulation, hate speech, coordinated sharing behaviour, platform design, and algorithms.
DRI is currently recruiting a
full-time research intern for its Headquarters in Berlin. In collaboration with, and under the overall supervision of the Digital Democracy Research Officer, you will shape DRI’s work on examining the impact of social media and AI-powered chatbots on online political discourse. In this role, you will collaborate with the Digital Democracy team as well as different teams in DRI HQ in Berlin and DRI Country Offices and beyond. You will contribute to projects and think-tank style research to gain insights and analyse the use of social media and technology for mis/disinformation, hate speech and other digital risks during elections and other salient political events.
Your tasks
- Support research projects assessing online disinformation, hate speech, and other phenomena of political discourse during elections (i.e., run analyses in Python, contribute to visualisations, written contributions to election briefs);
- Carry out desk research on existing search criteria and methodologies to inform future analyses;
- Contribute to the interpretation of findings and the identification of patterns in online discourse;
- Contribute to drafting DRI publications that present findings andrecommendations;
- Contribute to events, webinars and meetings disseminating the researchresults;
- Occasionallycontribute to designing and editing researchproposals;
- Perform other tasks as can be reasonably expected in therole;
Your skills and experience
Required:
- Academic background in social sciences, political science, datascience or related fields;
- Previous initial experience in social media research, digital democracy and election monitoring; either through previous internships,university projects, or personal projects and initiatives;
- Understandingofissues surrounding online disinformation, polarisation, online hate speech, foreign interference, information integrity, democratic debate and/or related topics;
- Knowledge of Python for data collection, processing, analysis, and visualisation;
- Strong written and oral communication skills in English;
- Ability to work as part of a diverse team;
- Working permit for Germany
Preferred:
- Knowledge of machine learning, NLP in particular
- Knowledge of additional languages (German, French) is a distinct asset.
What we offer
DRI offers you:
- Flexible working hours
- Hybrid work model (depending on the role/team)
- 30 days of annual leave
- Vocational training for every employee
- Regular team events (yearly retreat, BBQ, etc.)
- Opportunity to work in a diverse team in the heart of Berlin, where everybody is on first name terms with each other.
Application Instructions
If you are interested in this position, please submit your application (cover letter and CV) here. This position is subject to funding.
Closing date for applications: 13 April 2026. The position may be closed before the deadline has been reached, so early applications are encouraged.
In the interest of transparency, interns receive a compensation of 500 € per month, pro-rate for a 40-hour workweek.
DRI is committed to diversity and treats everybody equally, independent of gender identity, sex, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability, socio-economic status, political opinion (as long as respectful of democratic principles), or any other status protected by the laws in the locations where we operate.
