Duke Kunshan, a U.S. and China partnership through Duke University and Wuhan University, has partnered with Extern to help students gain real-world, resume-ready experience.
Since 2022, Duke Kunshan University has partnered with Extern to support students’ career development, giving students access to mentored, project-based externships and resume-ready proof of work.
How Are Externships Different Than Internships?
These virtual, fully remote projects are designed to fit your schedule and can be completed from anywhere. The experience includes guided online modules aligned with the project work, along with live sessions hosted by participating companies throughout the externship.
Projects are available across multiple industries and career areas, allowing students to build both soft and hard skills relevant to current workforce needs. Example projects include sustainability consulting engagements, venture capital investment memos, and game design.
Externships are typically 8–12 weeks in length and involve an estimated 5–10 hours of work per week. Participation is open to all eligible students regardless of GPA, major, or prior experience.
I'm a DKU student. How do I get access?
Step 1: Sign up using your DKU email — Create your Extern account with your @dukekunshan.edu.cn email to access DKU‑sponsored externships.
Step 2: Go to app.extern.com and use your DKU email to sign in — This is where you will be able to access all the available projects and scheduling for upcoming projects.
Step 3: Browse and sign up for an externship — Choose the projects that match your goals related to career path, skills, time commitment, and interests. Once you’re a member of Extern, there’s no additional application process; you can just enroll and start!
Step 4: Start building real experience — Join the live sessions, complete your deliverables, and add proof‑of‑work to your resume/portfolio.
What’s Waiting For You
Put the experience on your resume with big brand names you can point to and experience you can speak to in an interview.
Meet industry professionals and collaborate with peers from all around the world.
Learn through application the most in-demand tools and skills employers are looking for.
Showcase your project deliverables so you can show your peers and recruiters the experience you now have.
Extern will verify your experience if you meet the requirements of completion and act as a reference for recruiters.
Gain confidence as you learn about what actual projects look like in the real world and be more sure of the career you want to pursue.
Extern by the Numbers
Backed by data, powered by mentorship, loved by students.
Students Served — and growing fast
of externs get hired within 12 months
universities where students are externs
Analyze video ads, uncover what works, and build a strategy. Then, turn your insights into a creative concept you can showcase in your portfolio - and present to the Global Consumer Insights team.
Be a junior security consultant. Find a company's weak spots, score them on NIST and create a deck for senior leaders.
20+ years of juvenile justice data. Real correlations. Real policy impact. Your analysis goes straight to legislators.
Pick a community anywhere in the world. Find the public health data. Figure out what is actually driving childhood mortality there, and build the brief that could change how people respond.
Finance is changing. Learn to use AI to analyze real financials, benchmark performance, and build an exec-level financial memo.
Design + prototype the next big social app feature Gen Z actually wants. Build real UI/UX and product management experience with Canva, analyzing user insights, and pitching your final feature concept—all with BeReal.
A shopper buys kombucha Tuesday, a smoothie Friday. A $1B beverage brand can't explain why. Build the real survey and find the insights that can.
Redesign mental health care from the inside out. Map workflows, spot risks, and build tools to make patient care safer, smarter, and more human.
Scout Vertical AI startups for a SoftBank-pedigreed VC fund — sourcing deals, analyzing founders, writing investment memos.
100M people a year learn free on Khan Academy. Someone pays for that. Use AI to source and pitch the deals that fund it next.
Work with Amazon to analyze employee feedback, uncover patterns with Python + sentiment analysis, and deliver insights that drive ops strategy. Big-name experience. Real-world skills. Built for future analysts, consultants & strategists.
Turn six messy CSVs into an analytics database and a Q4 dashboard that drives real business decisions. SQL + Claude.
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Learn how VCs spot the next big tech startup. In this externship, you’ll discover how to find and evaluate early-stage companies, analyze markets, and create compelling investment memos. Perfect for those curious about startups or investing.
Build, hack, and defend real IoT infrastructure, then hand your security playbook to an actual company. You’ll launch realistic cyberattacks - from spoofing and replay to unauthorized shutoffs, and implement defenses like TLS and mTLS.
14 hours. Evaluate any company like an insider. Walk out with the portfolio to prove it + an endorsement from Eric Ries.
Dive into the fundamentals of equity research and financial modeling. Analyze a real public tech company, assess risk and competitive position, build valuation models, and present a full investment memo and pitch to an industry panel.
