Digital Content Specialist

University of Chicago Physical Sciences Division Communications Office

Mentors

Marcela Reyes Director of Communications, University of Chicago Physical Sciences Division
Maureen Searcy Assistant Director of Content, University of Chicago Physical Sciences Division

Background

The Physical Sciences Division has a rich history of advancing and defining new fields of discovery in the physical and mathematical sciences, spanning Astronomy & Astrophysics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Geophysical Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics. Eight institutes further interdisciplinary excellence. With a student body that is 55% international and a faculty of top scientists from around the world, the impact of PSD is global.

The Office of Communications in the Physical Sciences Division (PSD) seeks to maximize positive exposure for the discoveries by our world-leading researchers through news stories, press releases, profiles, and social media posts that highlight PSD’s field-defining work. The team also partners with central communications to call local and national media attention to this exciting scholarship.

Externship Description

Under the guidance of the Director of Communications with the collaboration of the Assistant Director of Content, the extern will learn how to create and execute a strategic plan for digital content and social media.

Externs will gain marketable skills from strategic communications professionals, such as a deep understanding of best practices for digital content planning and creation, thinking visually and sourcing appealing graphic material (images, video), using the right hashtags and tracking successful content. Participants will leave the externship with a better understanding of how to strategically plan, develop and share digital content that is attractive for a variety of audiences, as well as work samples that will enhance their portfolio and give them an edge for opportunities in science communications careers.

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Specific Objectives

• Co-create PSD’s social media strategy, including planning, development, ideation, and digital content management.
• Create, package, and schedule multimedia content (Tweets, Instagram decks, reels, infographics, and short-form video) that is compelling, engaging and suitable for PSD’s social media channels.
• Identify opportunities to pitch and produce social-first content that will elevate PSD audiences’ experience.
• Develop short-form video, including storyboarding and editing.
• Work with nuanced and complex topics to draw out a simple message, and reframe it for different audiences and platforms.
• Track and measure engagement for digital content. Iterate accordingly.
• Explore different digital content formats.

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Deliverables

The extern will pitch, create and design social media content over the course of a 9-week internship, reviewing carefully with the PSD Comms mentors. The extern will create or find appropriate audio/visual material to include with the posts, requesting permission as necessary. Finally, the extern will share the published content with interested parties, such as PSD academic departments, faculty members, or other units within the university, to help amplify and widen our reach.

Qualifications

• Basic English language writing skills.
• Ability to comfortably receive and respectfully respond to and act on constructive feedback
• Access to Zoom for meetings with remote mentors
• Familiarity and knowledge using social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and/or TikTok
• Familiarity with science digital content created for general audiences (images, video, audio)
• Capable of building rapport to imagine and create intuitive, easy to understand content for social media.

To apply, please provide a resume and cover letter describing why this internship is relevant to your career goals. If available, feel free to send any relevant short-form content samples

Before submitting an application, please visit the Externships page for instructions regarding our new application platform: myCHOICE-Symplicity.