Research Intern Research Quality Assurance Unit, HQ Link External Appl

INTERNSHIP IN APPLIED RESEARCH FOR ENS MASTERS’ STUDENTS IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (HQ) IN MEMORY OF ANTONIN GIRARDI Internship Overview

The Antonin Girardi Research Internship was established in 2021 as a partnership between IMPACT Initiatives and the École Normale Supérieure (Paris), in memory of Antonin Girardi and of all humanitarian workers who have been victims of violence perpetrated against them. On 9th August 2020, Antonin Girardi and 6 other colleagues lost their lives when they were targeted by an attack in Kouré, Niger.

Antonin and his colleagues were in Niger as humanitarians, putting their skills and capacity to the service of some of the most vulnerable communities in the world. Specifically, Antonin’s work revolved around applied research. Through his research, Antonin shed light on the situation and the needs of populations displaced and affected by conflict. By doing so, Antonin’s work was used by aid actors to target the most in need, with the right help, at the right time.

The Antonin Girardi Research Internship will provide opportunities to other ENS students to put their skills and capacity to the service of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. The selected intern will join a leading humanitarian research organisation, and will spend 6-12 months in its Geneva headquarters supporting research being conducted in various contexts of crisis. The internship will provide a unique opportunity to be exposed to, and apply, quantitative research and analysis skills in an international working environment, centred around humanitarian action.

The Programmes, Communications and Research (PCR) Division at IMPACT HQ was created in 2025, following a restructuring process and subsequent merger of three previous HQ departments:
Global Programmes, Research, and Communications & Advocacy. The PCR Division was created to ensure the organisation continues to deliver high-impact, high-quality research programmes through user-centered design, establishing core standards, supporting country implementation, and amplifying impact through effective communications and advocacy.

Within this set-up, the Research Quality Assurance (RQA) Unit acts as a “guardian” of research quality, ethics, and compliance within IMPACT. This means:

• Ensuring that all IMPACT teams (global and country) have the knowledge, tools and capacities for the consistent production of rigorous, credible, and responsible evidence across different contexts.
• Continuously strengthening research methods, tools and processes through a learning-based approach.

Through these functions, the RQA Unit will contribute towards achieving Objective 2 – Pioneering Research Excellence – within IMPACT’s Strategic Plan for 2025‑2030, specifically Sub‑objective 2.1 focused on Research Quality.

Research Intern

6‑12 months (depending on candidate availability and agreement with ENS Paris)

1'450 CHF gross per month (961 CHF basic salary + 489 CHF contribution towards medical insurance)

May 2026

Geneva, Switzerland

• Understand how research implementation works in the humanitarian sector, and the different steps to follow from design to final output production, ideally to build the competencies required for a field‑based research or data position with IMPACT after the 6‑12 month internship.
• Understand the challenges and constraints faced by country teams across the implementation of a research project, through mentoring, day‑to‑day communications with country teams, and other ad‑hoc learning opportunities.
• Understand the humanitarian sector and IMPACT research standards through the completion of the Foundational Learning Programme (FLP) courses, humanitarian sector course, a dedicated learning activity, available guidelines included in the RD toolkit, and the many existing learning forums at IMPACT (Division & Unit meeting updates, lunch & learn, information sharing webinar, etc.).
• Develop other soft skills needed for a field research position, such as planning, prioritizing, public speaking (through different interventions in front of RQA members at the department or unit level), problem…