Training Intern – J-PAL Europe (F/H)

About the organization:

The "Development Methodologies" Chair held by Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee was created by the French development agency (AFD), the Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL) and the Paris School of Economics (PSE). The Chair’s main mission is to promote research in development economics in order to inform development policies, particularly those of France. J-PAL Europe coordinates the Chair's activities. 

J-PAL Europe's training vertical has expanded over the past 10 years, particularly in response to the growing demand for capacity-building in impact evaluation from various actors: researchers, policymakers and practitioners. The training vertical’s primary objective is to help these stakeholders to become better commissioners, producers and users of evidence, by offering a wide range of training courses including in-person and online training, long-term partnerships and customised packages. 

Summary of the role:

J-PAL Europe is looking for a training intern, as part of the Development Methodologies Chair, hosted by the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, for the period from March to July 2025 (4 to 5 months). 

The intern will be supervised by the Chair’s Senior Training and Policy Associate and will be integrated into the J-PAL Europe team. This internship will be an opportunity to put into practice the skills acquired during the intern’s studies. He/she will benefit from the support of the entire J-PAL Europe team.

The intern will be responsible for:

1. Contributing to the creation of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) on the Evaluating Social Programs course and on a Development Economics course taught by Esther Duflo. 

The intern will play a key role in setting up the educational content for these two courses in French on the France Université Numérique (FUN) platform. Working on MOOCs will be a way of developing expertise in the subjects covered. The Evaluating Social Programs (ESP) course already exists in English on the MITx platform and in French on a Google site. The course on development economics was taught by Esther Duflo at the Collège de France. 

The intern will also help create an additional module of the ESP course on using rigorous evidence. The intern will be involved in the design, production and online uploading of this new module. 

The intern will have the following responsibilities: 

• Follow the online courses available and assimilate the key concepts of impact evaluation;
• Create a detailed plan to serve as a roadmap and engage with the various stakeholders;
• Integrate the educational content of the two courses on the FUN platform (videos, quizzes, exercises, etc.) in HTML format;
• Help create new educational content; 
• Coordinate the production and online uploading. 

2. Help organise a summer school for African researchers and project leaders in Dakar in July. 

For the fifth consecutive year, J-PAL and its partners - AFD and the Fund for Innovation in Development - are organising a summer school for researchers, project leaders and other African partners from 7 to 11 July 2025 in Dakar on the campus of the Centre Africain d'Etudes Supérieures en Gestion. This event follows four similar summer schools held online in July 2021, in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) in July 2022 and in Rabat (Morocco) in July 2023 and 2024 respectively. 

The intern may support on the following tasks: 

• Review applications and select participants for the 2025 Summer School;
• Help organise the project incubator module for project leaders who seek to measure the impact of their own innovative solution;
• Reflect on content and prepare training materials;
• Support the logistics of the event remotely and, potentially, on site in Dakar during the training week. 

3. Support other "training" activities

The intern may also support other training activities, including internal coordination tasks, centralising information and providing input and/or logistical support for other training courses that may take place during the internship period. 

Reporting:

Weekly check-ins with the Senior Training and Policy Associate will be organised to discuss progress and any potential challenges encountered. Team meetings may be held on an ad-hoc basis to discuss more general or strategic issues. 

Softwares used:

• Microsoft Office / Google Workspace 
• FUN platform / HTML code 

Minimum level of education required: 

Master's level I or II 

Focus areas: economics, development economics, public policy. 

Field(s) of study required: 

A university course providing intensive training in empirical research methods, econometrics and/or statistics.

Minimum level of experience required: 

No previous experience is required, but the following will be checked: 

• An interest in and/or a good understanding of rigorous impact evaluation 
• An ability to explain the basic concepts of impact evaluation to a non-specialist audience. 

Operational skills required:

• Project management and coordination 
• Digital communication skills desired but not required

Digital skills required:

• Use of Microsoft Office / Google Workspace (Excel, Powerpoint, etc.)
• Basic knowledge of HTML code (a thorough understanding is not mandatory but would be an asset)
• Knowledge of web development environments or e-learning platforms would be a plus 

Foreign languages and levels required:

• French: Mother tongue 
• English: C1-C2 levels

Expected interpersonal skills: 

• Organisational and interpersonal skills
• An aptitude for project management and a sense of initiative 
• Ability to communicate and synthesise information both orally and in writing
• Ability to learn and adapt to the tools provided by the FUN platform