Design Research Intern | Summer 2025

DLR Group is an integrated design firm with a promise to elevate the human experience through design. This fuels the work we do around the world and inspires our mission to improve the lives of our clients, our communities, and our planet. If this sparks your interest, you’re in the right place.

DLR Group's Design Research Team has an opening for a Design Research summer intern. Please apply to the locations that are most suitable to your living situation during the course of your internship. This is not a remote position.  

About EPX at DLR Group 
Each person who works at DLR Group has a design voice, and we can’t wait to help you define and amplify yours. Whether it’s through a design charrette, a client meeting, an internal project review, or working through a building detail, you’ll learn the nuts and bolts (ha!) of putting together a building, while being part of something larger than yourself. You will gain experience on projects large and small, in various phases of construction. We also hope to give you experiences outside of the typical internship in your discipline – from helping on a business development or marketing pursuit, planning an event for your office, or sharing your ideas on what the future of design services looks like. 

Position Summary

The Design Research Intern will play a key role in supporting integrated design processes, offering seasonal exposure to research within a professional AEIP firm. This position provides the opportunity to collaborate with team members on both firmwide research and design projects, with a focus on higher education. Among other responsibilities, this position will support the DLR Group Evolution of Campus effort by conducting data collection on higher education trends from a variety of sources, such as interviews, surveys, focus groups, and industry reports on the evolving needs of college and university campuses.

Our research is intended for use across various design disciplines, allowing the intern to contribute to mixed methods research and gain hands-on experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in the built environment and the architectural design process.

What you will do:

• Assist in mixed methods research, contributing to both quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analyses
• Develop clear, compelling deliverables, including written summaries and visual presentations. Engage in knowledge-sharing across the firm, through written, visual, or spoken formats.
• Gain exposure to core research methodologies, including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and observations
• Contribute to business development efforts by translating research findings into strategic recommendations that address client challenges and objectives.

Required Qualifications:

• Currently enrolled in a graduate-level program focused on design disciplines, research methodologies, social science, or related fields
• Strong academic performance and involvement in student or community organizations
• Experience reading and summarizing peer-reviewed research articles
• Exposure to or direct experience with core quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
• Awareness of current Human Subjects Research practices (HSR certification is a plus, but not required)
• Comfort with sharing and presenting findings and data to others in a variety of settings.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with online research platforms for qualitative research (e.g. UserZoom, MaxQDA, etc.)
• Experience with Adobe Creative suite
• Design and/or research experience related to Higher Education or campus planning

*TO BE CONSIDERED, PLEASE SUBMIT A CURRENT PORTFOLIO, PREFERABLY IN PDF FORMAT* 

Our comprehensive Benefits at DLR Group include medical, dental, vision, disability, wellness programs, flex spending, paid holidays, and paid time off. We also offer a 401(k) plan, employee stock ownership, and bonus opportunities. Compensation considerations are based on location, experience, and skills. The suggested pay range for this position is:

Pay Range$18—$25 USD

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new builds, renovations, and adaptive reuse projects.

We are 100% employee-owned: every employee is literally invested in our clients’ success. At the core of our firm are interdisciplinary teams engaged in every step of project lifecycles. Our teams champion true collaboration, op