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Are you a Lund University student with an interest in the Middle East region? The Centre for Advanced Middle East Studies (CMES) offers internships in several projects during the spring semester of 2026.
Who We Are
CMES supports, coordinates and expands interdisciplinary research on the Middle East at Lund University. Our researchers are experts in topics ranging from environmental sustainability and democracy to peacebuilding and religion. Every semester, we host research seminars, public lectures, book talks, and more - always with the Middle East in focus.
Research on the Middle East and Semitic languages has existed at Lund since it was founded in 1666. Over the last three decades, research on the region has developed significantly within the faculties of Social Science, Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Engineering, and is now a priority of the university administration. Most of the research at CMES is situated within the Strategic Research Area “The Middle East in the Contemporary World” (MECW), which is funded by the Swedish Research Council.
About the Internships
The internships at CMES will run between 15 March and 15 June 2026, or as per agreement. One or two students may work in each of the following CMES projects:
1. ECO-Syria Project, especially those interested in environmental peace and conflict studies and our core case study: North and East Syria (Rojava/NES). Possible internship tasks include:
- Research support
- Conduct literature searches and compile a chronology of events related to post-war Syria and developments in Rojava/NES.
- Assist with gathering documents, datasets, and background materials for the working papers of the research team, including targeted literature and data searches as requested
- Project communication & website work
- Contribute to updating, organizing, and improving the ECO-Syria project website.
Interns will work closely with the research team and gain hands-on experience in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of environment, conflict, and peacebuilding. Knowledge of Kurdish and/or Arabic is an asset but not required.
2. Data Infrastructure on MENA Project. Interns should have demonstrable skills and experience working with quantitative datasets, including searching for, cleaning, and compiling data in Excel or similar tools, as well as familiarity with data science concepts. Possible internship tasks include:
- Quantitative data work
- Searching for and collecting global, regional, and national datasets relevant to the project
- Compiling and organizing data in Excel or other spreadsheet formats
- Supporting the team in basic data exploration, documentation, and preparation.
Interns will gain experience in quantitative research, data management, and infrastructure development within a project focused on the MENA region.
3. Extreme-Loss Project, which investigates agricultural workers’ livelihoods under climate-change-related extreme weather events and biodiversity loss. Possible internship tasks include:
- Identifying and gathering national and regional datasets related to the Konya River Basin in Turkey
- Searching Turkish governmental, statistical, environmental, and hydrological data sources.
Knowledge of Turkish is essential, as many of the relevant datasets and documents are available only in Turkish. An interest in climate change, environmental data, agriculture, or regional development in Turkey is an advantage. Interns will contribute directly to building the project’s data foundation and gain experience working with climate and environmental datasets linked to a critical agricultural region.
4. Frictional Homebuilding: Swedish Civil Society Actors in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Funding Agency. This project explores the complex history of Swedish humanitarian initiatives in the occupied Palestinian territories through the concept of frictional humanitarian homebuilding. Possible internship tasks include:
- Work with literature reviews, data collection, coding, and the creation of a database
- Participate in the project’s daily tasks, such as administrative and communication-related duties. We hold regular meetings on Mondays, where the interns discuss their work with us.
5. Satellite Water Investigation of Fragile Terrains: Monitoring and Managing Environmental Alterations Under Conflict and Governance Stress. The Middle East faces a critical water crisis exacerbated by climate change-induced aridity, unsustainable overexploitation, weak governance, and the weaponization of water in conflicts. An example of relevant internship tasks could include:
- Conducting a systematic survey of Arabic-language governmental, policy, and institutional documents related to water governance, irrigation systems, environmental regulation, and water infrastructure.
- Identifying regional and national reports, statistical publications, hydrological bulletins, and ministerial documentation not available in English.
- Compiling structured summaries of relevant documents, including metadata (author, institution, year, scope, geographical coverage).
- Assessing whether key regulatory changes, environmental shocks, or infrastructure disruptions are documented in Arabic sources but absent in English-language literature.
- Supporting the integration of Arabic-language findings into the project’s broader data infrastructure and governance framework.
Arabic proficiency would be a strong merit, given the nature of the source material. However, students with strong analytical and organizational skills, and an interest in governance and environmental policy, would also be encouraged to apply.
Please specify in your application which project(s) you are interested in. There will be a maximum of 2 interns in each project. All positions are temporary, unpaid and part-time. You can only apply if you are a registered student at Lund University for the duration of the internship.
How To Apply
Application deadline is 15 March 2026. Apply here.
If you have any questions regarding the application process or CMES in general, please contact us at info [at] cme [dot] lu [dot] se (info[at]cme[dot]lu[dot]se).