The Institute welcomes requests at any time from university students who wish to arrange internship experiences. These are particularly well suited for students who wish to further their interests in health policy and health economics related fields, by participating in the Institute's activities. Internships can provide an opportunity to strengthen analytical skills by working with real data, research an emerging policy issue, research and review the literature on a contemporary policy topic, and assist with on-going research projects. Given the Institute's portfolio and interests, internships can also provide unique opportunities for international students to apply cutting-edge analytic techniques or policy analyses to emerging issues in a developing country context. Examples of research projects that have been undertaken by recent interns include an international review of low-fertility trends and policy responses to develop policy implications for Sri Lanka, and an analysis of non-communicable disease mortality trends in Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Internships can be arranged as part of a required academic internship or practicum, or on a more flexible basis. In the past, most interns have been students at universities in North America, Europe and Australia, who have been pursuing masters degrees in health-related fields, such as public health, health economics, etc., but the Institute is also able to host doctoral students who wish to conduct doctoral research in Sri Lanka in areas of interest to the Institute. The Institute has a substantial resource base in terms of data sets and on-going research activities, which lend themselves to designing tailored student research projects.

Graduate and under-graduate students who want to undertake an internship at the Institute should contact us indicating their current academic status and affiliation, when and what type of placement they are interested in, and their specific interests if any.