Summer Experience
In the Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) program, hands-on experience is key.
Our required international development summer experience immerses you in real-world communities, turning classroom knowledge into practical skills to prepare you to design and lead development efforts.
Summer experience overview
Every MIDP student completes a required summer placement after their first year. You’ll spend approximately 10 weeks working with a leading development organization — typically one focused on evidence-based impact in developing countries.
The financial support provided by the McCourt School enables you to pursue the placement that best advances your professional development. Past students have worked with organizations ranging from international research organizations (e.g., J-PAL, IPA) to multilateral institutions (e.g., DIME and DECRG at the World Bank), NGOs and government agencies. You’ll gain direct experience in policy analysis, program evaluation and development practice.
Finding your placement
Without worrying about costs, you can work in an unpaid internship or create a new placement position at organizations worldwide, turning your vision for meaningful work into reality. Every year, most MIDP students essentially design their own placement by connecting with development professionals who are eager to add a well-qualified McCourt School student to their team.
With years of experience in the field, our faculty have connections throughout the development world. Students are responsible for directing their own search process, but the MIDP program director and individual faculty mentors provide valuable support and guidance to each and every student as they explore opportunities related to their interests in a wide range of sectors, including health, education, labor, gender and environmental policy.
University funding covers international travel costs and provides a living stipend
Placements are aligned with MIDP program methods and your career goals
Recent summer placements
Our students travel all over the world for their summer placements. A few recent examples include:
- The African Gender Innovation Lab (World Bank, Nigeria)
- Jameel Poverty Action Lab (Egypt, Guatemala, India)
- Innovations for Poverty Action (Peru, Ghana, the Philippines, Sierra Leone)
- IDinsight (the Philippines)
- Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP)
- Development Impact Evaluation (DIME World Bank, Rwanda)
- Causal Design (Cambodia)
“This summer placement has been both intense and incredibly rewarding. I’ve gained not only technical skills, but also a deeper appreciation for how evidence-based policymaking, rigorous impact evaluation and close collaboration between policymakers, international development partners and research institutions can improve lives.”
Apiwan Duangphumment MIDP’26
Learn more about the MIDP summer experience
If you want to know more about the Master of International Development Policy summer experience, such as how to find a placement or what expenses the program covers, please email Faculty Director Franck Wiebe at Franck.Wiebe@georgetown.edu.
Summer experience highlights
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Around the World, McCourt Students Bring Development Policy to Life
Through MIDP’s Summer Experience and gui2de summer internships, McCourt students spent their summers applying analytical methods at leading international development institutions.
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From the Mountains of Balochistan to Capitol Hill
Walwala Bashir’s interest in development policy started in the place she calls home. After her time at McCourt, she aims to address the challenges that first sparked that interest.
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Doctor pushes to improve health outcomes beyond the exam room
Changemaker Nicholas Mensah (MIDP’26) seeks policy solutions to the problems that affect us individually and collectively.
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From Morocco to the Philippines: How MIDP students are making an impact globally
Through MIDP’s Summer Experience program, McCourt students are spending their summers applying analytical methods at leading development institutions worldwide.
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The MIDP is a professional program with a skills-based curriculum in economics and quantitative methods that are essential for any development practitioner.
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