We are building a research community focused on what a good digital society should look like and how we get there. As part of this, we seek to build up the skills of a diverse range of early career researchers who will go on to comprise the next generation of digital society researchers.
Our research internships scheme provides PhD students with a funded opportunity to experience working with interdisciplinary teams in various sectors and industries.
An internship is an ideal opportunity for a PhD student who is making good progress with their doctoral research project and is beginning to think about next steps after graduation.
Applications for the internships scheme are now closed.
The scheme
Applicants are responsible for finding their own host organisation, either by:
- Approaching one of our partner organisations via the Digital Good Network – BBC R&D, Zinc, Ofcom, CAST or Arebyte.
- Arranging an internship with another appropriate institution.
We will award each intern a stipend of £6,000 which is intended to cover living costs for a three-month internship period. We recommend an internship period of three months and will award the same amount of money to all interns.
We will fund up to 13 internships in this final call. One is ring-fenced for BBC R&D, one is ring-fenced for Zinc and the remaining 11 could be for internships with any suitable host.
We are not prescriptive about what each internship entails but below are summaries of the seven internships that we funded in our first call (2023-24) which give an idea of what types of project could be possible. Projects involved:
- Conducting evidence reviews, interviews and workshops with a view to supporting local authorities to deliver better value for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision as well as researching the potential impacts of demographic trends on public services.
- A rapid review into the various challenges and opportunities for the host in using emerging technologies to support civic and political engagement.
- Supporting a tech start up with various research activities i.e. literature reviews, pilot studies and data analysis in addition to other activities i.e. workshop planning and grant application support.
- Empirical research into the use of AI generative images in the run up to the general election.
- A short-term empirical study on the relationship between meaningful work and internal Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) use at the host organisation.
- A rapid literature review and workshops exploring the question ‘What would happen if we evaluated AI in journalism against societal benefits as well as efficiency gains, risk mitigation and engagement metrics?’ on behalf of the host.
- Supporting a women’s health tech start up with workshops, product design and grant applications.
What we are looking for
We will support internship opportunities that will give postgraduate research (PGR) students experience of working with interdisciplinary teams in various sectors and industries. Internships may be on academic research projects or research to support industry-based technology development activity.
We particularly encourage applications from PGRs from underrepresented groups.
You should be able to explain why the activities you plan to engage in during your internship will support your own development, as well as how they map onto the Digital Good Network’s aims and/or societal challenges.
You are encouraged to work with your proposed host organisation at an early stage in the development of your application. These organisations should be able to provide a named contact who will support you for the duration of your internship, as well as provide other relevant resources (eg desk space or research-related costs) related to your activity.
As part of their activities, Digital Good Network Interns are expected to complete a final output – such as a brief report or a technology prototype – which will be determined with your host organisation. We will also ask that you attend one of our research showcases and provide a blog post or vlog on your experience. Your profile will be added to our website and we will seek to involve you in network activities.
Internship hosts
Applicants are responsible for finding their own host organisation. There are two routes to do this. You can either approach one of our partner organisations via the Digital Good Network, or you can approach another appropriate organisation yourself.
Host organisations should:
- be active in helping you to develop your application, particularly where you describe your planned activities during the internship – involving them at an early stage in the internship funding call is important for this reason
- provide you with support to achieve your activities over the course of the internship – depending on your activities, this could include access to data and/or provision of desk space. You should consider the support you might need at an early stage so you can discuss this with your organisation
- provide a named person who will be the point of contact for the duration of your internship
- provide a letter of support for the application that explains why the proposed activities would be valuable for their organisation, and describes any support that will be provided by the organisation over the course of the internship
- provide you with regular opportunities to discuss your progress in relation to your activities over the course of your internship – we encourage internship hosts to look at our list of best practice resources for hosting interns
- provide a progress report (100-200 words) during your internship to enable the release of the second instalment of your stipend
Our host organisations
Please note, you do not necessarily need to have a research background in the organisation’s specific area, and we encourage applicants to explore areas of interest and focus that are different from their own PhD studies if they wish to.
BBC Research and Development
Protecting and promoting public media values and goals to advance a good digital society.
The Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Futures – or RIC for short- is a UKRI funded independent research centre hosted within the BBC’s Research & Development department. We are a team of 10, working with the BBC and our expert partner network, we produce scholarship and resources to help ensure a strong and resilient public service media sector now and in the future.
In this round, the Digital Good Network will support up to four Digital Good Network x BBC RIC Internships. The intern will work with one of RIC Research leads to identify and shape a suitable project and placement that aligns to a RIC challenge area. These include:
- Personalisation and the public interest
- Digital technologies and spaces for civic engagement
- Young adults’ learning and participation online
- Public interest journalism and Responsible AI
- Measuring social impact or value of technologies
The successful applicant will have the opportunity to spend time working closely with RIC and BBC teams to undertake and apply research in an industry context. They will learn about research, development, and innovation work in one of the world’s largest public service media organisations.
NB: it will be a requirement for any intern at the BBC to have their University sign an agreement with the BBC before the internship commences. We recommend that the relevant parties at the University are made aware of this as soon as possible to ensure a smooth process.
Zinc
Building research-rich, mission-focused start-ups to improve the health of people and planet.
Zinc builds science-rich, mission-focused start-ups that improve the health of people and/or planet. Its start-ups are working to scale new, tech-enabled products and services that tackle specific areas of health and environment. We are delighted to support Digital Good Network x Zinc innovation research internships, where interns will work with a start-up from the Zinc portfolio.
Digital Good Network x Zinc interns will apply their research skills and knowledge in work with start-up founders, and to learn what it takes to build and run a commercial start-up with a big social mission. The intern will spend time working closely with founders in a Zinc portfolio company (see here for a list of our companies).
As well as being able to explain their work’s relationship to the Digital Good Network societal challenges, applicants must have a strong interest in tackling health and/or environmental challenges, and a specific interest in one or more of our companies.
NB: student interns at Zinc VC may need to sign an agreement with Zinc VC and/or the named venture before internships can begin.
Ofcom
Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day.
Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, is dedicated to ensuring that communications work effectively for everyone. As part of our statutory duty, we promote media literacy and conduct research in this field. Our media literacy programme, Making Sense of Media (MSOM), focuses on three key elements: Research, Evidence and Evaluation, Engaging Platforms, and People and Partnerships. For more details, please refer to our Strategy published in October 2024.
MSOM aims to identify effective practices and areas for improvement in online platforms and services. This includes publishing best practice principles for platforms to promote media literacy by design. The 2023 Online Safety Act has further defined our activities, emphasising the development and use of technologies and systems that empower users to protect themselves and others online. This includes providing users with contextual information about the content they encounter.
We are eager to develop new ideas, proposals and prototypes that align with diverse user habits and needs. Our goal is to create nuanced solutions that are rooted in people's experiences and requirements.
Case Study Example: One area of interest is the development of real-time pedagogic interventions to help users understand and benefit from new, emerging or complex technologies (e.g. Gen AI, algorithmic media). This involves exploring how to deliver meaningful interventions at opportune moments, enabling users to comprehend the technology they interact with and the reasons behind the content they see. The aim is to identify interventions that can promote positive relationships with technology and flourishing online.
Student Background: We seek students with expertise in relevant fields including the social and policy science and social science related to technology (e.g., human-computer interaction).
NB: it will be a requirement for any intern at Ofcom to sign, and to have their University sign, an agreement with Ofcom before the internship commences. We recommend that the relevant parties at the University are made aware of this as soon as possible to ensure a smooth process.
CAST
Working to accelerate the agency, presence and influence of social impact organisations in the technologies that affect us all.
CAST is a charity that works to accelerate the agency, presence and influence of social impact organisations in the technologies that affect us all. CAST works with social impact organisations to create community and sector-owned products, services and strategies.
We believe that things are better when we have a more vocal and influential civil society so we work with social impact organisations to create community and sector-owned products, services and strategies.
We've a small core multi-disciplinary team with a large network of partners where we build the best teams to support charities in their use of digital and design. Sometimes we're in the headlines - like when The National Lottery Community Fund asked us to design and deliver £5m worth of funding and support as part of their COVID-19 response, or when we started Catalyst which is now supporting thousands of charities, via a network of 500 digital teams, with the tools and resources being accessed hundreds of thousands of times. As a digital-first, networked-based charity we seek our greatest impact, however, in the footnotes of other civil society organisations' work - supporting, training and empowering them to make the best use of digital, data and design. We lead two peer groups exploring the role of digital, and particularly generative AI: The Digital Leads Network is made up of people from c300 charities across the UK exploring the role of digital and AI in their work. The AI for Grantmakers group includes 150+ grantmaking organisations, exploring the potential and impact of AI on their organisations and the communities they support. This provides an incredible context for undertaking new research and generating new insight into the Digital Good.
An internship with CAST will provide access through these networks to charities who are actively exploring the use of AI in their work. We're keen to match interns to the challenges that charities face in engaging with AI:
- How can we best collect and analyse examples of charities' use of GenAI to support other charities' informed adoption and response?
- How can we equip charities to sense the impact of AI on their communities and identify how best to provide support?
- How can we create tools and resources that support charities' critical adoption/engagement with AI?
We're keen to explore your areas of interest and to see how we can match that with charities across our networks.
Arebyte
Arebyte is a leading digital art organisation based in London.
Founded in 2013, arebyte is a leading digital art organisation based in London. We explore how technology shapes contemporary society through exhibitions, performances, residencies, workshops. Our artistic work spans online and offline spaces, and includes world-building, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Motion Capture, CGI, Net.Art, AI, and blockchain technologies, pushing the boundaries of artistic practice, curation, and audience engagement.
We collaborate closely with artists and creative technologists to co-develop conceptually rigorous and technically complex works that open up new possibilities for art in the digital age.
As part of the Digital Good Network’s 2025 Research Internship Scheme, arebyte can host one research intern in 2026.
The selected intern will work with the Head of Programmes and Managing Director to shape a bespoke research project that intersects your own interests with our current curatorial themes and institutional priorities.
You’ll work closely with arebyte’s programme team to apply your research within an artistic context and gain first-hand insight into how digital art is developed, exhibited, and supported in a not-for-profit setting. The internship is based at our new site in Camden, home to our exhibition space and a community of 100 affordable artist studios and creative workspaces. While our studio provision serves the broader creative industries, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with a wide network of practitioners, including those working across digital and emerging media.
Applicants should propose a research focus that aligns with arebyte’s existing areas of interest or demonstrates a clear connection to our curatorial approach. Some areas of relevance might include:
- Alternative models for commissioning and distributing digital art
- Innovative approaches to digital patronage and artist support
- Environmentally and ethically sustainable practices in digital curation and / or art practices
- Strategies and challenges in archiving and conservation of born-digital artworks
- Histories and genealogies of internet-based art
- Hardware and software use in digital artistic production - New pipelines and workflow
- AI and Intellectual Property within artistic practices
These are indicative rather than prescriptive — we welcome proposals that resonate with arebyte’s commitment to critical engagement with digital culture and emerging technologies.
NB: student interns at Arebyte may need to sign an agreement with Arebyte before internships can begin.
You do not necessarily need to have a research background in the organisation's specific area, and we encourage applicants to explore areas of interest and focus that are different from their own PhD student if they wish to.
How to apply
Before applying we recommend that students read the eligibility criteria below to ensure they are eligible to apply.
There is then a two-stage application process.
Stage 1
Express your interest in interning with your chosen host organisation to enable initial discussions about your proposed internship.
Option 1: Applying to one of our listed hosts
If you are interested in working with BBC R&D, Zinc, Ofcom, CAST or Arebyte please complete the relevant expression of interest form (links below) by 16.00 (UK time) on Wednesday 30 July 2025. Expressions of interest received after this date may not be considered.
- Expression of interest form: BBC R&D
- Expression of interest form: Zinc
- Expression of interest form: Ofcom
- Expression of interest form: CAST
- Expression of interest form: Arebyte
After 30 July we will then send expressions of interest to each host. Your proposed host may then contact you directly to discuss your proposal further. They will let us know if they’re willing to support you to submit a full application and we will inform you.
NB: We anticipate that hosts will receive more expressions of interest than they can support so please note that engaging with a host does not guarantee that they will support your application.
Option 2: Applying to your own host
You are able to contact your own host at any time during the application window, to seek their support, but we encourage you to do this early to allow plenty of time for working on the application form. You do not need to complete our expression of interest form if you intend to approach your own host - you should just approach them directly.
Stage 2
If your chosen host supports your application please work with them to submit both an application form and a host statement of support. This needs to be emailed to applications@digitalgood.net by 16:00 (UK time) on Monday 29 September 2025.
If you have any queries or require these forms in an alternative format please contact info@digitalgood.net.
Eligibility
- Internships should run for three months during the 2026 calendar year. Though we anticipate internships lasting at least 12 weeks, the minimum eligible duration is 10 weeks.
- There is no maximum length (but the stipend will be capped at £6,000 per internship).
- You must be based at a UK research organisation and undertaking a PhD.
- Your PhD does not need to be UKRI-funded for you to be eligible to apply. You may be self-funding your PhD, or receive support for your PhD from a different source.
- Your proposed internship activities should be distinct from your PhD research. For example, you should not collect data for your PhD, or use the time to work on your PhD. However, we do encourage you to use skills learnt from your PhD research.
- You should have completed your first year of PhD study, including successful completion of your confirmation review, upgrade, or equivalent by the time of your application submission.
- Your proposed internship should take place before your proposed viva date.
- If you are in your writing up stage and you can get support from your supervisor and University to take the required leave of absence to enable you to complete the internship, we welcome your application. If successful, your internship would need to take place before your PhD (including your writing up stage) comes to an end.
- You should confirm with your institution that you are eligible to take a leave of absence from your doctoral programme for the duration of the internship and postpone the submission deadline of your PhD by the length of your internship, so that it does not affect your ability to meet your PhD submission deadline. You should also check compatibility with any visa conditions (if applicable).
- If your research is funded, you should also seek approval from your funder to apply for the internship. We can provide a letter of recommendation to successful applicants should it be required.
- Previous Digital Good Network interns are not eligible to apply for a second internship.
How we will assess your application
Proposals will be assessed using the standard ESRC expert reviewer scoring system against the following assessment criteria:
The application should specify:
- what aspects of the digital good the proposed activities address
- which of the network’s three societal challenges the activities address
This includes:
- how the proposed activities will generate new knowledge and lead to new insights
- clearly described and justified activities, including indicative research methods and research design where applicable
Has the application made it clear how the proposed activities will develop the applicant?
A final decision on the combination of successful applicants will then be made taking into account the scores and following criteria:
- Interdisciplinarity: do we have broad coverage across disciplines and hosts amongst selected interns?
- EDI: do we have a diverse and inclusive cohort of attendees in our final selection?
Applications will be reviewed by the Digital Good Network Management Team and/or College of Experts. We will follow principles of peer review, including on conflicts of interest. Assessment processes will be overseen by our Network Manager.
Commitment to contributing to the network
We ask applicants to contribute to the network in the following ways if requested:
- Producing a final report about the internship project.
- Producing Digital Good Network content (eg a blogpost or short video) about their internship experience.
- Attending our annual network building event (likely to be April/May 2026)
The costs of making these contributions (if applicable) will be covered by the network.
Timeline
10 June 2025: Digital Good Network Internship call launched
30 June 2025: Online Q&A with the team, sign up here
30 July 2025 4pm (UK time): Expression of interest deadline for Zinc, Ofcom, CAST, BBC R&D or Arebyte (stage one)
29 September 2025 4pm (UK time): Internship application form deadline (stage two)
Early November 2025: Decisions communicated to applicants
2026: Internships to take place
FAQs
Watch our pre-recorded webinar to find out more about the scheme:
Sign up to our Q&A event to put your questions to our team.
How many internships will you offer?
We will fund up to 13 internships in the 2025 call (our final call). One is ring-fenced for BBC R&D, one is ring-fenced for Zinc and the remaining 11 could be for internships with any suitable host.
I’m an international student in the UK - can I apply?
From speaking to immigration advisors at the University of Sheffield it became clear that student visa restrictions may unfortunately make it problematic for students who need a visa to study in the UK to apply for this scheme. However we encourage students on a visa to check the conditions of their own visa to be sure that this is the case.
What kind of format for internships (eg, hybrid, temporarily relocating to the internship host organisation) will be considered?
The format of internships should be discussed with your proposed host organisation. Some internships may take place by working in the offices of the host organisation. Other internships may adopt a hybrid format (eg, visiting once or twice a week or month). Interns are likely to benefit from at least occasional face-to-face contact with the named person at their organisation. Stipends awarded cannot be topped up, so applicants need to be sure they have enough financial support to enable the working format they deem appropriate for their proposed activities.
Can you give some examples of the types of activities an internship like this could support?
We do not want to be prescriptive about what interns spend their internships doing. It is for applicants to work with organisations to develop a feasible set of activities that enable the intern to develop their own research skills, whilst undertaking work that is beneficial in some way to the host organisation. You can see some examples of previous internship projects in the ‘The Scheme’ section of the above web page.
What kind of organisation would be an eligible host organisation?
We will consider internships hosted at a broad range of organisations. These could be smaller or larger in size; regional or international in reach; in the private, public or third sector. Host organisations must be able to deliver the requirements of a host, as specified above.
How do stipends work? How will I access the money?
We will pay stipends in two instalments of 50%. One will be made shortly in advance of the internship commencing. The second will be made after submission of a progress report at the end of week 4 from the host (approx 100-200 words).
Your home University will need to invoice us and we will transfer the money to them. They will, in turn, transfer the money to you.
Added on 3 July 2025:
Can I do an internship with a host that is based outside of the UK?
Yes. Please note the stipend is capped at £6000 so any costs for going overseas would need to be covered within this amount.
Can I apply to your hosts and my own? So submit multiple applications?
Yes but we wouldn't award somebody more than one internship. Due to the time taken for the application process (both on the applicant’s part and the host’s part) we wouldn’t recommend multiple applications but there is nothing in our terms and conditions that would prevent it.
I'm enrolled at a UK institution for my PhD but I'm a ‘distant learner’ living overseas. Can I apply?
We would welcome an application from students in this situation provided that their University is happy to support their application in the ways described in the scheme guidance (i.e. they need to approve the leave of absence and they need to receive the funds from us and transfer them to the student).
It would also be the applicant’s responsibility to check whether there is a suitable visa that they could apply for if the proposed host is in the UK and if an 'in person' model is proposed (it's worth noting that hosts could be in the UK or overseas). As a final point - it’s worth adding that the stipend is capped at £6000 so any costs for travel overseas would need to be covered within this amount.
I'm enrolled at a University outside of the UK. Am I eligible to apply?
No. This scheme is only open to students studying for their PhD at a University in the UK.
Could my host be a research organisation i.e. a University?
Our five listed hosts give an idea of the type of host we envisage but we are not prescriptive about what type of organisation a host should be.
The intention behind the scheme is to ‘provide PhD students with a funded opportunity to experience working with interdisciplinary teams in various sectors and industries’. It’s a key element in our capacity building strand of activity and as such applicants should be able to explain ‘why the activities [they] plan to engage in during [their] internship will support [their] own development’. It’s important to remember that we state that ‘proposed internship activities should be distinct from [applicants’] PhD research. For example, [applicants] should not collect data for [their] PhD, or use the time to work on [their] PhD. However, we do encourage [applicants] to use skills learnt from [their] PhD research’.
If an applicant is proposing a University-based host then a case would need to be made in the application form for how the above-mentioned points would be met.