Market Research Internship

Job Description

IAE Market Research Internship – Fall 2026 | University of South Florida

The Tone:
This is a part-time internship with the University of South Florida, located in Ybor City, Tampa, FL. This role supports SOFWERX, a venue that fosters collaboration and innovation to address critical warfighter challenges under an agreement with the United States Special Operations Command. As a student intern, you will contribute to accelerating the delivery of innovative capabilities by conducting crucial market research, identifying emerging technologies, and supporting the refinement of promising solutions for national defense.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Part-time (15-20 hours/week during Fall/Spring, 20-29 hours/week during Summer)
• Location: In-person, Ybor City, Tampa, FL
• Pay: $18.50 hourly
• Team: Works within the USF Institute of Applied Engineering and SOFWERX
• Mission: Plan, lead, and coordinate market research efforts to identify emerging technologies and experts for national defense projects.
• Tech Stack: Excel, Word, PowerPoint

What You’ll Actually Do
• Coordinate Market Research: Plan and lead team-wide market research initiatives by developing data query strategies, managing a landing webpage, creating collection forms, and administering a database.
• Analyze Data: Perform quantitative analysis on research submissions using simple Excel functions and formulas.
• Identify Technologies: Conduct market research on U.S. Special Operations Command areas of interest to find emerging technologies that support SOFWERX’s goals and projects.
• Evaluate Publications: Assess academic publications and technical reports to identify the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of relevant science or technology.
• Develop Resources: Create market research curriculum, facilitate training, and develop new tools and techniques to optimize the market research process.

The Must-Haves
• Background: U.S. Citizenship; Junior or Senior Collegiate Student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a STEM or Business field, with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
• Experience: Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint); experience working on a variety of STEM-related efforts.
• Skills: Strong written and oral communication; effective planning and organizational skills; ability to work both independently and collaboratively; high integrity, accuracy, dependability, and confidentiality.