Economic Research Intern Using New Data Tools in the Caribbean

IDB- 2026 Summer Internship Program

Graduate Intern

We improve lives

The IDB Group is a community of diverse, versatile, and passionate people who come together on a journey to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our people find purpose and do what they love in an inclusive, collaborative, agile, and rewarding environment.

About this position

The IDB Group is looking for an active graduate student to be hired as an intern under the Consultant modality.

The 2026 Summer Internship Program is a competitive paid opportunity, based in Headquarters, for university students from member countries to learn about development work and corporate management of the Bank, and to acquire work experience at the professional level through on-the-job learning.

You will work in Economics Team part Country Department Caribbean Group. The Department leads the IDB Group engagement with its Caribbean member countries, directing policy dialogue and the preparation, execution, and monitoring of country and regional strategies. It oversees the design, processing, negotiation, and administration of both public‑sector and private‑sector operations, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and country‑specific development objectives.

About the research projects. This project aims at estimating country-specific models that, based on technologies using high frequency data available in real time or quasi-real time, forecast quarterly economic growth in Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname with high accuracy. The study will leverage state-of-the-art Nowcasting models developed with Machine Learning technologies in order to exploit variation from real-time data in forecasting economic activity. Another research project uses large language models to look at the uptake of reforms following loans and other interventions.

What you’ll do

With inputs from the Country Department Caribbean Group (CCB) Economics Team, assist in the data extraction automation of key macroeconomic indicators in Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname, and process non-structured data in the same countries. This task aims to identify key indicators of economic activity based on remote sensing and Internet search data.

• Clean and prepare data for Nowcasting analysis of GDP in the above-mentioned six Caribbean countries. All data will be collected and cleaned into a dataset, which will be prepared for Nowcasting models.
• Support project supervisors in training IDB staff and/or government staff on the applications and use of nowcasting tools. The training workshops will consist of an online overview of the applications and the code used to extract and automate data extraction.

In addition, you will be expected to work on a research study on the impact of reform processes in Caribbean countries, which includes running Large Language Models (LLM). This would require helping to train the LLMs and assess algorithms, and finding sources of data (particularly regarding newspapers, because we will try to complement Factiva with web-scrapable repositories)

Review results (datasets, reports, narratives) generated by the AI, and conduct comparison exercises. The intern will also be expected to combine the mining and cleaning of structured data published by public entities, and semi-structured or non-structured data.

What you'll need

• Education: An active  graduate student in Economics, economic policy, data science or similar fields from an accredited University. The graduation date should be after the Internship period.
• Languages: Fluency in English with a working knowledge of one other Bank language (Spanish, French, or Portuguese) is a plus.
• Key Skills: learn continuously, collaborate and share knowledge, focus on clients, communicate and influence, innovate and try new things
• Technical skills: Knowledge of large language models and AI tools, Python, and R. Experience working with unstructured data and Nowcasting would be preferred but not necessary.

Requirements

• Citizenship: Be a national of an IDB member country.
• Active student: enrolled in a graduate (master’s or Ph.D.) program as of the starting date of the internship program. The graduation date should be after the Internship period.
• Consanguinity: Not have family members (up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, including spouse) working at the IDB or IDB Invest.
• First job at the IDB Group: Be a first-time participant in an Internship Program held by the Bank or Inter-American Investment Corporation (“Corporation” also known as “IDB Invest”). In addition, you have not been a former staff member, Complementary Workforce (“CW”), contractor for the Bank or the Corporation, or have previously provided services to the Bank or the Corporation through a contractor or under any other contractual modality.

Notes:

• Submit your resume, academic transcripts (official or unofficial), and university letter certifying your student status when applying.
  • If you submit an unofficial academic transcript at the time of applying, you will be requested to present an official one if moving forward.
• Academic transcripts and university letters should be issued within the last three months.
  • For graduate students a minimum of 50% of coursework must be completed when applying.
• Applications without the requested documentation will be disqualified.
• Save each file in a PDF format with your name and subject.
• DO NOT send copies of your degree certificates or other courses.
• You must be available to work full-time (40 hours per week) from June 16 to August 15, 2026. These dates are fixed and cannot be modified. Interns must complete their assignments within this period.
  • If you are an international student in the U.S.A., your work authorization is through CPT or OPT. Consult your school advisor before applying. You must be able to work 40 hours per week, many international students are limited to working part-time, depending on their academic standing.

Type of contract and duration

• Type of contract: Intern Consultant
• Length of contract: Two (2) months
• Dates of the contract: June 16th to August 15th, 2026
• Location: Washington, D.C. – United States of America

Our culture

At the IDB, we work so everyone brings their best and authentic selves to work while finding their purpose. Our people consistently strive for excellence, and we recognize and celebrate the impact of their contributions.

In our efforts to drive innovation, we intentionally include all voices, cultivate a sense of belonging and champion fairness. We welcome individuals from underrepresented groups to join us and share their unique perspectives.

We ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job interview process. If you require an accommodation to complete this application, please email us at accommodations@iadb.org.