The Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences (MBDS) program's top priority is to identify industry partners eager to work with our students on Design Challenges and capstone projects, especially if they can be tied to internship opportunities. We also look for partners who can help shape hands-on skill-building workshops and activities to leverage our students' knowledge and interests.
What makes the MBDS program unique is the practical approach to behavioral and decision sciences, always with an eye on industry applications and scalability. What makes our students unique to your organization is their diverse background, interdisciplinary approach, and eagerness to provide real-life solutions to industry challenges.
As an Industry Affiliate, you can:
Our goal with the Design Challenges is to drive collaboration between student groups and Industry Affiliates who, together, integrate cutting-edge knowledge into real-life problems. Design Challenges highlight students’ training and diverse skillsets in behavioral economics, decision sciences, network analysis, and public policy by connecting behavioral insights to industry questions in an immersive and actionable format.
Read more about 2nd MBDS Design Challenge—Spring 2020 »
The Behavioral Science Consulting course, taught by Zarak Khan, allows students to work directly with Industry Affiliates to better understand applied behavioral science and relevant frameworks, build their portfolio of work experience, and strengthen our student and alumni network. Skills emphasized are client management, teamwork, oral and written communication, and behavioral research and design.
Industry Affiliates can provide institutional support and sponsor the Norms and Behavioral Change (NoBeC) Conference, which brings together researchers studying the relationships between social norms and behavioral change. This conference invites researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of social norms and behavioral changes and its applications in economics, psychology, political science, public health, and other adjacent fields.
As an Industry Affiliate, you have unique opportunities to share your expertise and individual research areas and focus with our students. Your organization can offer internships and employment opportunities to students, or you can provide case studies and data sets to be used in our courses. We welcome specialists on your team to join one of our classes as guest speakers; lead a lecture on a relevant topic in an Action Design Meetup; or conduct one of our professional development workshops.
Contact us
For more information, or to partner with MBDS on any of these opportunities, send an email to penn-mbds@sas.upenn.edu with the subject line “MBDS Industry Affiliate program.” We will discuss your questions and explore ways to become a partner.
MBDS Industry Affiliates
