01
Specialized software access
Full usage of enterprise-grade investigation and data workflow tools, the same platform used to reconstruct public investigations from primary documents.
Student Fellowship
Own a real regulatory investigation, from the primary record to a report you can publish.
A remote, independent fellowship for students who want hands-on experience investigating public institutions and complex regulatory events. You work on enterprise-grade investigation software, follow a guided research roadmap, and leave with a portfolio-ready case study.
FDA drug approval
Drugs@FDA · BLA 761178
Format
Remote and independent
Commitment
Self-paced, one case
Admissions
Rolling, no fee
You leave with
A published investigation
About the program
The Public Interest Investigation Fellowship is an independent research and portfolio-building program for students who want to learn how public institutions are actually investigated. You do not shadow someone else's work. You take a major regulatory event and reconstruct it yourself, from the documents the institution produced.
Every fellow gets full access to the same enterprise-grade investigation platform EphemerisX uses to rebuild public investigations from primary sources, plus a structured roadmap and mentorship at each milestone. Your case can come from any public institution that leaves a paper trail. FDA drug approvals, FAA aviation incidents, SEC financial disclosures, cybersecurity breaches, and environmental compliance failures are only examples.
The fellowship is remote, self-paced, and free to join. It is built for one clear outcome: a finished, defensible case study that demonstrates advanced analytical capability to future employers, and that you own end to end.
Where to investigate
The fellowship is not limited to a fixed set of topics. The domains below are common starting points, but if you have a different institution or case in mind, you can bring it. Every investigation uses the same workflow: retrieve the record, extract what it establishes, reconstruct the timeline.
Reconstruct how a drug moved through review, and where the record shows the decision turned.
Rebuild an aviation investigation from the official docket and trace the chain that led to the finding.
Trace a company's disclosures and an enforcement action through the public filing record to what actually happened.
Reconstruct how a breach or security failure unfolded from the public disclosures and enforcement actions that followed.
Follow a compliance failure through filings and enforcement to the procedural breakdown behind it.
These are examples, not a fixed menu. If there is a public institution or case you want to investigate, propose it in your application and we will help you scope it.
What you gain
This is not a lecture series. You work the same primary record a professional investigator would, on the same software, and you leave with a finished piece of work.
Full usage of enterprise-grade investigation and data workflow tools, the same platform used to reconstruct public investigations from primary documents.
A published or presentation-ready investigation report that demonstrates advanced analytical capability to future employers.
Structured milestones covering document retrieval (FOIA and public dockets), root-cause analysis, and timeline mapping.
Proficiency in regulatory workflows, data synthesis, and OSINT methodologies that transfer directly to law, policy, and technical roles.
Program structure and milestones
Onboard to the investigation platform, learn the workflow, and select the regulatory case study you will own for the fellowship.
Analyze public records, regulatory filings, and technical documentation. Pull the dockets, extract what each source establishes, and map the timeline.
Structure your findings, identify the procedural breakdowns, and build out the final report where every claim traces back to a source.
Who should apply
Undergraduate or graduate students working in or adjacent to:
No prior investigation experience is required. Curiosity and follow-through matter more than a specific major.
The record is public. Almost no one reads it. This fellowship teaches you how.
Put it on your resume
Every fellow leaves with a work product that reads like professional experience. Here is a template you can adapt, swapping in your own case.
Start your applicationResume entry · template
EphemerisX - Regulatory Investigation Fellow
[Term, Year] · Remote
Questions
Yes. The fellowship is fully remote and self-paced. You work on your own schedule against the program's milestones.
It is designed around one case rather than fixed weekly hours. Most fellows commit somewhere between five and fifteen hours a week and finish a case study over a term.
No. You need curiosity and the willingness to stay with a dense record. Onboarding covers the platform and the workflow from the start.
A published or presentation-ready case study reconstructing a real regulatory event, with every claim traceable to a primary source, that you can show to employers.
Many programs allow independent-study or practicum credit. We can provide documentation of your work to support a credit request at your institution.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Tell us who you are and the kind of case you want to take on.