International Monetary Fund (IMF) Internship Program 2019 for International Students

The Fund Internship Program (FIP) provides an opportunity for Doctoral students to gain an insider experience of the integrated, member country focused, mandate and work of the IMF. 

Application Deadline: 6th January 2019

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): Work is undertaken at IMF headquarters in Washington D.C.

About the Award: Interns are assigned cutting-edge research in macroeconomics or a related field (the exception being an internship in the IMF’s Legal Department), supervised by an IMF colleague. Fund interns work under the supervision of experienced colleagues to carry out a research project, and prepare a research paper. Papers may be presented to IMF staff at the end of the internship, and those of the highest standard may be published internally to the IMF.

Research topics are derived from the IMF work program—the host department’s needs. Past projects have delved into a broad spectrum of economic issues. A few of the 2016 and 2017 FIP research topics included:

• Preferential access to credit: evidence from Brazil
• Credit Demand and Supply during the U.S. Recovery
• Climate change—a contribution to this analytical chapter in the October 2017 WEO
• Impact of commodity price shocks on financial stability in developing countries.
• Explore non-linear effects of oil price shocks on growth (Kazakhstan).
• Spillover effects of ECB unconventional monetary policies
• Impact of foreign direct investment and portfolio investment on gender inequality in developing countries
• Systemic risk amplifiers for stress testing based on inferred networks
• Survey literature on public sector BSA
• Spillovers: measuring third party effects
• Technology and income polarization
• Carbon tax, structural transformation and inequality
• Consumption and wealth in Italy
• Debt sustainability, capacity to repay and other risk assessments
• Productivity and volatility in Europe/Euro Area
• Financing costs in sub-Saharan Africa—Overshooting or fundamentals?
• Trade Integration in Latin America
• Macroeconomic and structural policies and gender inequality
• Bond trading: big data analytics
• Evaluating post-implementation effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms
• Benchmarking policy frameworks in low-income countries

The IMF’s Legal Department is also offering an internship under this program. The successful applicant will be assigned research for the Legal Department and be supervised by a senior member of the department. In past years, the Legal Department’s FIP has had the opportunity to complete:

• Analysis of the legal framework for capital controls under the European Economic Area
• Research on the insolvency of non-bank financial institutions
• Research on the legal mandate of the IMF in financial regulation
• Cross-country comparisons of effectiveness of AML/CFT efforts

Type: Internship

Eligibility: To be eligible for the FIP, candidates must meet the following criteria:

PhD students

• Must be within one to two years of completing a Ph.D. in macroeconomics or a related field and be in student status (i.e. must be returning to university after the internship). Typically, internships are sought by those who are interested in the IMF’s Economist Program following graduation from the Ph.D.
• Be below the age of 32 at the commencement of the internship.
• Have an excellent command of English, written and oral.
• Possess strong analytical, quantitative and computer skills.

Master’s degree students

• Must be in student status at the commencement of internship (not yet graduated).
• Be below the age of 28 at the commencement of the internship.
• Have an excellent command of English, written and oral.
• Possess strong analytical, quantitative and computer skills

Number of Awards: Internships are offered to about 50 students each year.

Value of Award: IMF interns receive:

• A competitive salary;
• Round-trip restricted economy class air travel to Washington, D.C. from their university; and
• Limited medical insurance coverage.

Duration of Program: between June and October 2019.  Internships are a minimum of 10 weeks duration, and maximum of 12 weeks duration.

How to Apply: 

• If you are a Ph.D or Master’s student in macroeconomics click here to enter the IMF’s job application system, then enter 1800920 into the field titled “Job Number”.
• For the Legal Department Internship: candidates must be within one or two years of completing an LLM, J.D, or equivalent advanced degree in law and below the age of 32. To apply for this internship, click here to enter the IMF’s job application system, then enter 1800904 into the field titled “Job Number”.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details