Student Research Placement

International Student Research Placement in Tourism Development for Thesis & Dissertation Programs

Are you currently an Undergraduate, Masters, or PhD student seeking a student research placement in tourism development or a related field, or a looking for a local partner abroad to conduct field research on your thesis or dissertation? Are you unsure if you want to travel for your dissertation research, but want to research and support a relevant tourism project virtually? Solimar International has forged relationships with destination managers and outstanding local research institutions around the world who are eager to host student researchers that have to conduct field research for their dissertations. Placements are extremely flexible and can work around your schedule, ranging from one to twelve months or more. You have the opportunity to not only work with local academic partners, but to also have input and feedback from a leading sustainable tourism for development consultancy firm, ensuring that your academic work is firmly grounded in practical applications. You can conduct your research on these projects either in-person or virtually (or a mix of both).

Solimar is pleased to offer a range of different projects for your thesis placement, all of which are active projects that we are currently managing over the next several years. You can support these projects either in-person (field-based experience), virtually in tandem with our Virtual Internship Program, or a mix of both (why not do a virtual internship first to learn about what we do, then take those lessons to apply them on the ground in your field research?)

• Sundarbans Reserved Forest, Bangladesh
• Atauro Island, Timor-Leste
• Tunisia
• Sisian, Armenia
• Maldives
• Liberia

The length of your placement depends on the requirements for your degree and the length of our project. For most projects, you can stay in the field as long as you need. Typically, your placement time period may depend on the length of the research visa you will acquire in order to conduct field research in-country. Placements can range from a few weeks to a year or more.

Much of our work is conducted from abroad when we are not in the field. You are welcome to do the same! If you do not wish to travel to conduct field work, you can also conduct research remotely using our project data and contacts.

 First, you will need to ensure that you have an academic supervisor at your host institution. Solimar can provide informal supervision of your project but you will not have an academic professor overseeing your work from our side. Additionally, we have partners in academic institutions in each of our project countries, and we can help you arrange co-supervision and research sponsorship from a local university.

During your placement, you will have 24/7 access to our Solimar Slack channel for any questions or concerns, as well as a dedicated manager who is responsible for overseeing the entire project in addition to your work. We will also help you to arrange accommodation and transport prior to your arrival in-country, as well as setting up collaborations with our local partners.

Placement costs vary per location. We work with local partners to ensure you have a great experience that meets your needs, and fees vary dependent on service you may need (visa fees, accommodation, translators, etc). Scholarships are available to partially or fully offset these fees.

Your dissertation does not have to be just about tourism to be eligible to apply. However, the data that you collect during your research placement will ideally be beneficial to our project outcomes, either contributing to Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning (MEL) or else project activities.

Please fill out the form below to inquire about these placement opportunities. Spots are limited, so ensure that you apply well in advance of when you would like to start your research. Please email Chloe at [email protected] with any questions.

What if I’m not a student researcher? 

If you are unsure if these categories fit your needs, do not worry! We have a range of opportunities to suit interns, volunteers, researchers, and professionals alike along all stages of career development. We offer in-person opportunities for early to mid-career tourism professionals to support our projects through our Destination Development Corps (in-person, field-based experience supporting our DMOs on the ground with full management and oversight from Solimar staff) or a Virtual Internship Program, for those eager to learn more about our approach and work on our projects but not yet ready to commit in-person. We strongly encourage a mix of these approaches – for example, you can take a 12-week Virtual Internship and then apply for a Student Placement or Destination Development Corps position where you will have a better understanding of our projects and approach.