Summer Research College (SRC)

The Department of Political Science is pleased to announce summer research positions for undergraduates.

Summer Research College is designed to foster close intellectual exchange by involving students in the ongoing research of Stanford faculty. Participants will work directly with a faculty mentor for ten weeks and receive an $8,500 stipend. There may be an additional supplement based on financial need.  Students also have the opportunity to attend optional research training seminars to learn additional skills throughout the summer. Projects will be done in person on campus.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for our SRC program, you must:

• be a currently enrolled undergraduate at Stanford
• be available to conduct research on campus in Summer 2026
• be available to contribute 40 hours per week to the research project for the duration of the program dates June 22-August 28, 2026
• not be serving a suspension or on a Leave of Absence
• not have received Stanford funding for another full-time experiential learning opportunity in the 2025-26 academic year

Co-term students and seniors are eligible only if the bachelor's degree will not be conferred before the end of the research appointment. Faculty mentor approval is required if taking summer courses. Summer enrollment should not exceed 5 units. Student athletes should confirm the impact of any awarded stipend on their athletic eligibility by contacting the Compliance Service Office prior to applying. 

Expectations: 

Student participation is expected to be 40 hours per week during the program dates June 22 through August 28, 2026. The program is in person on campus. Students and faculty will present their collaborative research in lunchtime seminars that will take place twice per week. Students are required to participate in all lunchtime presentation seminars. 

Stipend: 

Each student will receive a stipend of $8,500 with additional funding available based on financial need.

Restrictions: 

The department does not offer course credit for Summer Research College. Students planning to take Summer courses may not enroll in more than 5 credits and must get prior approval from the faculty member with whom they are working.

Housing: 

For students who want to apply for on-campus summer housing, room, board, house dues, and other academic expenses are paid by the student. Students are responsible for paying their university summer bill, which will include any other academic expenses incurred. Students may review the summer room and board rates on the Housing Assignment Services website.

How to Apply:

Click on this link to apply to your preferred research opportunities.  Please attach a cover letter for each research opportunity you wish to apply for, as well as a resume and unofficial transcript. If your application is selected, a faculty member will contact you to set up an interview. The department is only accepting applications via the link above. If you have questions about the status of your application(s) please contact Margaux Leivenberg.

Click for cover letter guidelines.

Deadline:

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and should be received no later than Friday, February 13, 2026 at 5 pm. You are encouraged to apply early as research teams can fill up and positions may close before the deadline. For any questions, please email Margaux Leivenberg (margauxl [at] stanford.edu (margauxl[at]stanford[dot]edu)).

 2026 Summer Research Opportunities

Project Descriptions

The Political Economy of Industrial Policy in Emerging Markets

Professor Michael Allen

Professor Allen is seeking students to help study industrial policy in emerging markets, with a regional focus on Africa. The goal of this project is to examine how governments and regional economic organizations use various policy tools (e.g., tariffs, subsidies, tax incentives, and regulations) to promote domestic industry, attract foreign investment, and shape patterns of international trade. Research assistants will be expected to help collect and analyze data on industrial policy interventions across African countries. This will involve writing literature reviews or case studies, using publicly available sources to identify and code policy measures, and assisting with quantitative analyses. Tasks will include verifying when policies were implemented, documenting their design and objectives, and analyzing their political and economic context. Experience with R and strong interest in the politics of economic development, international trade and international organizations are ideal. Proficiency in French or Portuguese is a plus.

A Database of Court-Curbing Bills 

Professor Tom Clark 

Professor Clark is recruiting two or more undergraduate research assistants to help update a database on legislation in Congress related to the Supreme Court. Research assistants will be responsible for collecting legislation from the congressional website and recording various pieces of information about the bills, their sponsors, and whether they became laws, to integrate with an existing database. While not required, I am particularly interested in at least one research assistant with facility with AI tools that can be developed to replicate earlier data collection and used to automate the process of collecting new data.

Historical Slavery in Europe 

Professor Anna Grzymala-Busse 

This project examines how secular, religious, and legal norms around slavery developed in Europe after the fall of Rome (6th c CE). The job requires going through the secondary literature to collect state and religious laws and treaties on slavery. For each item, we would need a paragraph description, and an entry into a database (no technical knowledge required). Students familiar with European languages (French, German, Italian) and/or Latin would be especially welcome.

Immigration Policy Lab

Professors David Laitin, Jens Hainmueller, and Claire Adida 

Professors David Laitin, Claire Adida, and Jens Hainmueller are seeking research assistants to assist in the Immigration Policy Lab’s research on the impact of immigration policies in the United States. The Immigration Policy Lab has a number of projects underway, including a survey of refugees in Michigan, the experience and migration decision-making of rural households in Guatemala, and an evaluation of AI-powered translation earbuds on immigrant well-being. The research assistants will be responsible for data collection (quantitative and qualitative), data analysis, drafting literature reviews, as well as producing journal-quality graphics and tables. Interest in immigration is a must, and a background in social science and statistics is preferred.

The China-Russia Military Relationship: Evolution, Drivers and Implications 1949-present

Professor Oriana Skylar Mastro 

Dr. Oriana Mastro is seeking tenacious and detail-oriented Research Assistants with strong analytical and writing skills to contribute to a research project on China-Russia military relations, U.S.–China–Russia dynamics, and Indo-Pacific security. The Research Assistants will support the project through in-depth analysis of English and/or Russian and/or Chinese sources (depending on the student’s language expertise), drafting and revising research materials, and providing critical insight into great-power military and political developments. Responsibilities include conducting literature reviews in English and/or Russian and/or Chinese on relevant political, military, and strategic topics pertaining to China-Russia relations and alliance politics; drafting research memos, analytical summaries, and briefing notes; revising and editing research documents for clarity and coherence; evaluating primary and secondary language sources related to the project themes; assisting in data organization and documentation for ongoing research activities; supporting the development of project outputs, presentations, and reports. Additional important skills include professionalism, self-motivation, and organizational skills.

The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications: - First-rate analytical capabilities and ability to synthesize complex political and military developments. - Outstanding academic credentials in International Relations, Political Science, Security Studies, or related fields. - Proficiency in English (required). Russian and/or Chinese language skills preferred although not required. - Previous relevant research experience related to the military or political history of Russia, China, great-power relations or alliance politics. - Excellent writing and editing skills for drafting and revising research memos, literature reviews, and analytical briefs. - Experience conducting literature reviews and critically engaging with primary and secondary sources. - Professionalism, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple research tasks effectively. - Strong self-motivation and the capacity to work independently in a research-intensive environment. - Exceptional organizational skills to coordinate data, documents, and project materials efficiently.

Who is Winning the New Cold War? The Impact of Great Power Competition in Key Regions on U.S. Foreign Policy

Professors Michael McFaul, Elizabeth Economy, and James Goldgeier

Professors Michael McFaul, Elizabeth Economy, and James Goldgeier are seeking to hire student research assistants to support a project on the impact of great power competition among China, Russia, the EU, and the United States on third countries worldwide. The research assistants will work both individually and collaboratively with the project’s core team on their assigned case studies (determined based on their interests and language skills). Previous research and writing experience, as well as a demonstrated interest in International Relations, are required. Fluency in Russian, Mandarin, or other foreign languages are preferred.

Stalin's Terror, 1930-1953

Professor Norman Naimark 

The project examines the dramatic period of Stalin's terror in the 1930s. Students will reconstruct the major episodes of the period, when possible using primary documents in the Hoover Archives or published. Each student will be assigned a particular aspect of the terror to investigate. They will be responsible for taking notes on what they have read, and for writing a short essay on what they have learned from their research. Students with a reading knowledge of Russian and/or Ukrainian will be given preference, but there is much English-language material to be examined, as well. The final product will be a comprehensive book on the subject.

The G3O Initiative: Building the Global Government GenAI Observatory 

Professor Simone Paci 

How is Generative AI shaping governance around the world? Work with our team this summer to build a first-of-its-kind global database: the Global Government GenAI Observatory (G3O). This database tracks how governments are adopting generative AI: what tools they use, what tasks they apply them to, and how adoption impacts service delivery and state-citizen relations. You’ll contribute to a high-impact research product by helping maintain an automated web-collection pipeline, validating records through targeted research, and helping set up a multi-country survey of GenAI usage among public-sector technical staff. Ideal applicants are organized, detail-oriented, and excited by the intersection of technology and public policy; helpful experience includes Python (or willingness to learn), working with messy web data, and comfort with structured documentation and reproducible workflows (Git/CSV/Google Sheets). Training and close mentorship are built in through weekly lab meetings, weekly 1:1s, and ongoing technical onboarding.

Surveilling Digital State Surveillance 

Professor Jennifer Pan

We are seeking research assistants to analyze digital monitoring data from China's November 2022 White Paper protests, examining how public opinion shifted during this period and what the data reveal about China's surveillance infrastructure. RAs will work with a unique dataset used by local governments to monitor public sentiment across websites, social media platforms, forums, and traditional media, exploring questions about information flows, narrative diffusion, and sudden shifts in public discourse. Responsibilities include data cleaning and preprocessing of Chinese text data, implementing text classification and temporal analysis pipelines, and documenting data sources and analytical findings. Required qualifications: native or near-native Chinese reading ability, familiarity with natural language processing in Python, and statistical analysis skills in R. Experience with Chinese NLP libraries, social media data structures, and background in Chinese politics is preferred but not required. Students will have opportunities to gain hands-on experience in large-scale text analysis, Chinese language NLP methods, and politically sensitive research on digital authoritarianism.

Identity Politics and Teacher Selection: How Cultural Conflicts and Restrictions Influence US Teachers 

Professor Roxanne Rahnama

We are seeking a research assistant for summer 2026 to work on a project examining how educational culture wars and policy restrictions affect teacher labor markets. This project is run by Roxanne Rahnama (Stanford University), Elisa Wirsching (London School of Economics and Political Science), and Tyler Simko (University of Michigan). Using teacher roster data from all U.S. states (2017-2024), we investigate how restrictions like educational gag orders and book bans influence teacher selection and sorting, with preliminary Florida findings showing library specialists experienced 40-percentage point increases in exits while STEM teachers were minimally affected. The RA will conduct web scraping of additional teacher rosters (we have data for 28 states currently), clean and code multi-year data, process school board meeting minutes, and assist with analysis. The ideal candidate has strong programming skills (Python, Selenium, or similar tools preferred), interest in education policy or labor economics, attention to detail, and ability to work independently. Prior research experience is helpful but not required. This position offers opportunities to contribute to research on symbolic policies' workforce effects while developing technical data collection and analysis skills.

The Evolution of Public Opinion 2024-2026

Professor Douglas Rivers 

What were people voting for when they voted for Donald Trump in 2024? Were they surprised by what they got? Using survey data collected during 2024 and a recontact survey of the same respondents in 2026, we analyze voter expectations about deportations, tariffs, consumer prices, and foreign policy, and evaluations of Trump's handling of these issues in the first 18 months of his term. Students will formulate hypotheses, perform statistical analyses and present the results. Students should have prior experience using R and creating data visualizations using ggplot, and some familiarity with survey data and research of American public opinion.

Just and UnJust Nuclear Strategy 

Professor Scott Sagan 

Students will conduct research to support a book project on nuclear strategy and just war doctrine, with a focus on two chapters: 1) Revolutions in Technology, Proliferation, and Law; and 2) Can Nuclear Deterrence be Replaced by Missile Defense and Conventional Retaliation? Research will include literature reviews and case studies to help understand technological changes in nuclear weapons accuracy, yield, and platforms. Students will also analyze the “three-body problem” of nuclear deterrence in a tripolar environment and its implications for strategic stability in the context of U.S. investments in missile defense and Russian and Chinese nuclear modernization. Some background coursework in international relations, nuclear strategy, just war theory, and the law of armed conflict would be helpful.