Strategic Research Intern

01 — The role

Why this role exists at EduRankAI

EduRankAI is developing next-generation technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Education Technology, Research, Product Engineering, and Digital Innovation. Strategic research supports the decisions that are hard to reverse — whether to build, buy, or partner, which segment to enter next, and what would have to be true for a plan to work at all. You will hold a small number of named questions at a time, each running for several weeks, and the output is a decision memo rather than a deck. The discipline that defines this role is the written pre-mortem: before recommending a course of action, you set down what would make it fail and what early signal would tell us it is failing. Work is confidential by default and is reviewed directly by the executive office.

02 — The work

What you will own

• 01 Take a named strategic question, scope it into researchable sub-questions, and agree upfront which decision it must inform.
• 02 Build the evidence base for build, buy, and partner options, including what each option costs and what it forecloses.
• 03 Write decision memos that state the recommendation first, then the reasoning, then the supporting evidence.
• 04 Run a written pre-mortem for every recommendation, covering the failure modes and the earliest observable warning signs.
• 05 Maintain a register of past strategic decisions and revisit them against what actually happened.
• 06 Research regulatory, structural, and demographic shifts that could invalidate the assumptions behind current plans.
• 07 Prepare briefing notes ahead of executive discussions and capture the decisions taken afterwards.
• 08 Handle all material as confidential and follow the information-handling rules of the executive office.

03 — The expertise

What we look for

04 — The bar

Who thrives here

• → Students pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate programs from any discipline are encouraged to apply; students from the disciplines listed under Specialisation are especially encouraged.
• → Available for a full-time, 6-day-per-week internship for the stated duration.
• → This role handles confidential internal material; a signed confidentiality undertaking is a condition of the internship.

Learning Outcomes

What you will practically learn

Perks

What you get, beyond the work itself

• Internship Certificate
• Letter of Recommendation (Performance Based)
• Mentorship from experienced professionals in the field
• Exposure to real product, research, and operational work — not simulated exercises
• Skill Development Workshops
• Outstanding performers may be considered for extended internships, leadership opportunities, or future full-time roles based on organizational requirements.

Terms of Engagement

How this internship is structured

Project Work / Departmental Responsibilities: approximately 5 hours per day. Holistic Well-being & Personal Development: approximately 1.67 hours per day, including physical fitness, mindfulness, reading, reflective learning, leadership development, and community engagement.

• · Interns are expected to maintain professionalism, creativity, confidentiality, and timely completion of assigned responsibilities.
• · Weekly mentor reviews and evaluations will be conducted.
• · Compliance with organizational policies, intellectual property guidelines, and ethical standards is mandatory.
• · Internship Certificate will be awarded upon successful completion of internship requirements.
• · Internship does not constitute an offer of employment.

05 — Hiring process

What to expect after you apply

1. 01

   Application review

   Every application is read personally within five business days. We respond either way.

2. 02

   Take-home or live exercise

   Role-specific. Time-boxed. Real problems we are actually working on, not invented puzzles.

3. 03

   Conversations

   Deep technical and values conversations with the team you would join. No trick questions. No panel ambushes.

4. 04

   Offer or honest no

   If yes: digital offer letter, signed in-portal, transparent terms. If no: written feedback if you want it.