Metcalf Clinics
Gain experience and grow your network with the Metcalf Clinics program! Metcalf Clinics are co-op, project-based experiences for UChicago students facilitated by employer partners. During the project, teams of undergraduates take a deep dive into their field of interest and build relevant experience. These clinics are a wonderful way to build your research, analysis, and strategic thinking skills. After working on a project, teams will have the opportunity to give a presentation on their results. Students will receive access to coaches, industry experts, and the opportunity to network with successful alumni.
Metcalf Clinic projects center on key themes with a focus on emerging and future careers including the arts, clean energy, biotechnology, quantum information sciences, and finance. Past employer partners included organizations such as: Alpha Sophia Technologies, Cornerstone Research, Hollister, IBM Quantum, and North Star Investment Management.
Application Pathways
There are two application pathways for the Metcalf Clinics program:
Apply directly to project: Some individual Metcalf Clinic projects accept direct applications from students. This is a great option if you're particularly interested in a specific project.
Apply to matching program: Students can also apply to the Metcalf Clinics Matching Program. For this option, students will submit a general application and then be matched with a team and an employer.
Direct Application Deadlines
Fall 2025 application deadline: October 5, 2025
Winter 2026 application deadline: January 11, 2026
Spring 2026 application deadline: March 29, 2026
Summer 2026 application Deadline: April 12, 2026
Fall 2025 Clinics Accepting Applications
Hamrah Arts Club Project
Project Description: Launched in 2021, Hamrah Arts Club is an independent creative mentorship program for refugee-status youth, fostering solidarity between refugee, asylum-seeking, and immigrant communities and creating a network of support through creative expression. Interns may support finalizing the project’s website that is already designed and built, and prepare it for launch. Some responsibilities include proofreading, transcribing audio to text, loading data on the website, PR (creating written and designed content), and SEO optimization. Interns will be working with UChicago Lecturer, Nazafarin Lotfi , Department of Visual Arts
Special note: the deadline for this Metcalf Clinic project is September 7
Illinois Environmental Council
Project Description: Interns will focus conducting state-level environmental policy research on key issues that impact the state of Illinois. Students will work closely on this project with the IEC's policy team and present a final report and deck that highlights their findings and impact.
National Immigrant Justice Center
Project Description: Interns will have the opportunity to work closely on a project with the Communication and Marketing team, such as engaging audiences through digital channels, developing online fundraising campaigns, and using data for impactful programs. Interns may also work on a project with the Development Team, such as helping secure and maintain funding through various fundraising strategies, with responsibilities including donor outreach, event coordination, and research. This is an ideal opportunity for students interested in nonprofit work, philanthropy, and social justice.
Cook County Treasurer
Project Description: Interns may support with projects in communications and marketing, such as assisting with event planning, responding to incoming inquiries, and assisting in writing and proofreading marketing materials, social media posts, and emails. This is an ideal opportunity for students with outstanding written and personal communication skills, with great attention to detail and an interest in public policy, urban planning, communications, marketing, or similar fields.
Language Metcalf Clinics
Project Descriptions: Interns may have the opportunity to support employers with translation, community engagement, media, research, and/or education. Interns may create marketing materials, websites, or social media, develop bilingual resource guides, conduct comparative studies on language usage, dialects, or cultural norms in communication, or develop culturally responsive teaching materials.
Summer 2025 Metcalf Clinics Matching Program
The Metcalf Clinic Matching Program provides opportunities to work with leading Business and STEM employers. Students will be able to rank their interest in specific projects within the application. Once admitted to the program, students will be matched to a Clinic project.
Projects in the Summer 2025 Matching Program include opportunities with Cornerstone Research, Hollister Incorporated, IBM, In Vitro Diagnostic Solutions, and STRS Ohio.
Applications are now open for the Summer 2025 Matching Program. Students can apply on UChicago Handshake. Applications are due by April 9 at 9:00am.
Duration: Full-time for 2 weeks.
Key Dates for Summer 2025 Metcalf Clinic Participants:
March 26: Applications open
April 9: Applications due
May 14: Decisions released
June:
Students matched to project teams
Mandatory virtual orientation and coaching session
Project teams introduced to employer partners
August 11- 22: Work on Metcalf Clinic with your team!
During the full-time (approx. 80 hour) project, teams will work together to tackle projects with employer partners; projects will occur fully remotely
August 22-29:
Present project findings to employer
Celebrate a successful project, return to campus, and kick off the new academic year!
Spring and Summer 2025 Metcalf Clinics
The Revival Theater & UChicago Chicago Studies: Laugh Tracks & Spotlight Stroll, A Chicago Performing Arts Walking Tour
Project Description: Students will research and develop narratives around the history of the performing arts (inclusive of music, theatre/vaudeville, film production, burlesque, minstrelsy, and comedy) in the South Loop.
Climate & Science Reporting
Project Description: Students will serve as a research and reporting cadre to help support the practitioners’ current projects. Students will learn about the current state of environmental, science and climate writing, publishing and media.
Illinois Environmental Council
Project Description: Students will be working closely with the organization to conduct environmental policy research to gather and organize data to support IEC’s legislative priorities.
JMA Music: Festival University
Project Description: Students will develop fundraising and a marketing plan for the establishment of Festival University, a music education initiative that takes students behind the scenes of major global music festivals to meet and learn from musicians, producers, record labels, and promoters.
Mapping 15th Century Florence - Geographic Data Management
Project Description: Florence Illuminated is an international consortium of independent digital projects and was created to develop ways to effectively share and aggregate historical demographic data on Florence, one of early modern Europe’s most dynamic urban phenomena. This collaboration is focused specifically on implementing a schema to federate independently-born digital projects and resolve the myriad redundancies inherent in building separate digital infrastructures. For this project you will be working in group with teams to construct a demographic map of Florence in 1427 to create an online, searchable geographic database.
Migrants of the Mediterranean
Project Description: Metcalf Clinic Fellows will support the organization’s social media and communications strategy in the project areas below:
Administration – scrape current social followers/following on active platforms (IG and FB) and set us up on new platform (likely Bluesky); as well as suggest other to follow or engage with
Analytics – provide feedback on best content to offer and how to engage
Content/design – create written messaging and designed layouts for social content; would speak to exit from current platforms, announce ourselves on the new ones; potentially other posts
United African Organization
Project Description: Students will support a dynamic coalition of community-based organizations that promotes social and economic justice, civic participation, and empowerment of immigrants and refugees in Illinois.
Past Metcalf Clinics
Get inspired by reviewing these Metcalf Clinics from previous programs!
Alpha Sophia
Project Description: The Metcalf Clinics team built an algorithm that would match LinkedIn profiles of physicians with leads in Alpha Sophia’s proprietary database.
BallotReady
Project Description: The group developed multiple high-impact content pieces to boost the BallotReady brand and drive traffic to their website.
Blackthorne Capital Management
Project Description: Students worked as a team to analyze macroeconomic and financial data, develop quantitative models, and gain hands-on experience in financial modeling and consulting for global macro futures markets.
Cornerstone Research
Project Description: In this Metcalf Clinics project, students leveraged industry research and conducted data analysis to assess the impact of a corporate merger.
Hollister Incorporated
Project Description: The students conducted market research to explore adjacent uses and markets for hydrocolloid biomaterials.
IBM Quantum
Project Description: The team created a guide to help K-12 students navigate an educational game on key concepts in quantum computing.
International Space Elevator Consortium
Project Description: The project group produced a digital animation on a multi-modal interplanetary transport system, complete with a research-supported script.
National Space Society
Project 1 Description: UChicago students created a strategic plan for boosting U.S. student participation in the organization's space policy debates program.
Project 2 Description: The Metcalf team created a resource bibliography and literature review of lunar mapping and atlases.
North Star
Project Description: The project focused on assessing the extent of AI adoption among companies in the Russell 2000 Index.