ACDI's internship program is designed to expose interns to a wide range of experts, topics and tasks within climate change and development research to help them prepare for the next stages in their careers. Interns are expected to make meaningful contributions to ACDI’s ongoing operations and research, in line with their interests, disciplinary background and experience.

ACDI has developed a collaborative training program to support the personal development of interns wishing to pursue a career in climate change and/or development. The internships are especially beneficial for graduates who are considering a career in research – whether you are considering further study, or are interested in areas of work related to research such as project management, fundraising or communications. Enjoy this short video our 2016 interns made about their time at the ACDI.

Applications for 2017 are now closed, however, South African Honours and Masters students in their final year who are interested in interning at the ACDI in 2018 are encouraged to apply to the DST-NRF internship program when it opens in November 2017. Sign up for our newsletter for updates.

International and local students can also self-fund an internship at ACDI as part of a study program or for work experience in the sector (i.e. cover your own accommodation and living expenses). Such applications will be reviewed case-by-case.

If you have any questions about the internship program, please email Leigh Cobban (leigh.cobban@uct.ac.za).

Need some career advice?

  • Read through ACDI’s early-career blog series on finding meaningful work in the environment and development sectors here.
  • Our 2016 interns reflect on their experiences at the ACDI and give some helpful career advice in these blogs by Andrew Hall, Makeya Karlie and Luleka Dlamini.


The University of Cape Town reserves the right to make no awards at all, to cancel the award if the conditions are not met, and to effect changes to the conditions of the award. The University of Cape Town reserves the right to disqualify ineligible, incomplete and/or inappropriate applications.