READ Me! US State Department-NSF Virtual Internship Opportunities
Dear Colleagues,
The U.S. Department of State has a program, known as the Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) program. It arranges for U.S. students at colleges and universities to work with Federal agencies on a wide-range of 600+ topics over the academic year while staying on campus. This is not a course; it is not work-study. Many universities do however give recognition for participating. Overall, students get a great opportunity and a great recommendation from the participating agency.
However, the window for application closes THIS WEDNESDAY 31 JULY 2019. If you or your students or a student you know might be interested, please suggest this program to them. A VSFS application is submitted through USAJOBS.gov.
Information about the VSFS program: https://vsfs.state.gov/about
How to apply: https://vsfs.state.gov/how-to-apply
Most frequently asked questions: https://vsfs.state.gov/faq
NSF is a participating agency. The announcement for NSF topics is at: https://vsfs.state.gov/agencies/view/NSF
| NSF-USA-1 | Team with EASE: Excellence Awards in Science and Engineering | Recognize those who have made significant contributions in STEM education at the K-12 grade levels, as well as individuals and organizations that have contributed outstanding efforts in enhancing the participation of underrepresented persons in STEM. Join the NSF EASE team. |
| NSF-USA-2 | Portfolio Analysis for Research on Networking Technology and Systems | Contribute to the analysis of short-term and long-term trends in the computer networking projects funded by the Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS) cluster at NSF. Use publicly-available information to identify recent developments and the focus areas of the research efforts funded by NSF. |
| NSF-USA-3 | NSF I-Corp Vlogging Broadening Participation Messaging Campaign Intern | Support the NSF I-Corps Broadening Participation Messaging Campaign by engaging with underserved communities, focused on MSIs. Engage with a larger community and increase awareness about the impact of I-Corps and I-Corps innovation program. |
| NSF-USA-4 | Data and Pattern Mining of Federal Computer Science Research Investments | Explore patterns and changes in sponsored scientific research in selected technical disciplines within computer science based upon open-source databases of research projects across the federal government. |
| NSF-USA-5 | Social & Economic Sciences Funding Outcomes by the Numbers | Help collect, combine, analyze, and visualize data to inform a quadrennial assessment of the NSF Division of Social and Economic Sciences and develop materials for stakeholder outreach. |
| NSF-USA-6 | NSF-Vanderbilt Website Usability Assessment | Assess usability of the web portal at Vanderbilt University, known as the Cyber-Physical Systems Virtual Organization (CPS-VO), by assisting in furthering its development, making it more useful and usable to the research community. |
The CPS-VO has a particular interest in topic 4 and topic 6, which we have highlighted above.
For more information about the VSFS program in the press, there are:
- Career Accelerator: VSFS boost opportunities for Department and students, State Magazine, December 2018
- U.S. Department of State Seeks Intern for New Blockchain Working Group, Crowdfund Insider, June 2017
- Students Interested in Foreign Service Intern with State Department, The Brandeis Hoot, November 2016
- Inside the remote student internship program solving government problems, FedScoop, August 2016
- The Reality is Virtual: U.S. College Students Assist MapGive and USAID, video from State of the Map conference, July 2016
- Virtual Internship takes innovation to the next level, Arizona State University News, February 2016
We hope that you can let your students, friends, and colleagues know about the VSFS opportunities; especially, the two that are highlighted for NSF in cooperation with Vanderbilt.
Thank you!