Predoctoral Research Fellow - Harvard Kennedy School

Organization:
Location:
  • United States of America
Start Date (Earliest):

About the Position

Professor Will Dobbie (Harvard Kennedy School) and Professor Crystal Yang (Harvard Law School) are recruiting two to three full-time predoctoral research fellow(s) to start in Summer 2025. The fellow(s) will support and collaborate on a series of interdisciplinary projects related to race, discrimination, and the criminal justice system, among other topics.

The successful applicant(s) will receive mentoring from faculty within a tight-knit research community at the Wiener Center and access to a broad range of activities at Harvard. Prior fellows have gone on to attend top-tier PhD programs in Economics and Public Policy.

This position is based at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, MA. The appointment term for the fellow(s) is for one year with the strong potential for a second-year renewal. Preference will be given to applicants who have availability to work for two years.

About the Wiener Center

The Wiener Center is a vibrant intellectual community of faculty, Master’s and PhD students, researchers, fellows, and administrative staff whose mission is to address pressing public policy questions through academic research, teaching, convenings, and policy outreach. Researchers at the Wiener Center study the domains of health care, human services, criminal justice, labor markets, education, immigration, and political and economic inequality. The Wiener Center addresses pressing questions in these areas by carrying out research on important public policy issues, educating the next generation of academics and policy scholars, and ensuring that research and education are closely tied to and draw from policy and practice.

Responsibilities

  • Clean and manage large datasets
  • Conduct statistical analyses of data using Stata and R
  • Prepare literature reviews, background research, and other content for grant proposals and
  • academic papers
  • Assist with survey data collection by preparing online survey instruments, facilitating survey
  • recruitment, and processing survey data
  • Draft project reports, research protocols, and other project documents
  • Oversee and coordinate field research activities
  • Travel to the field as needed

Qualifications

Required

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Economics, Public Policy, Statistics, or related field requiring
  • substantial quantitative coursework
  • Prior experience as a research assistant or fellow in the fields of Economics or Public Policy
  • Proficiency programming in Stata
  • Strong academic record
  • Strong interest in Economics and Public Policy research
  • Excellent command of Microsoft Office Suite (Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
  • Strong written and oral communication skills
  • Excellent organizational and time management skills

Preferred

  • Graduate-level coursework in Economics and Econometrics
  • Proficiency programming in R, MATLAB, and Python
  • Proficiency in LaTeX

How to Apply

Submit your application using this form: https://forms.gle/nMK78WVx1YnjHNi19

You will be asked to upload the following documents as a single combined PDF. The title of the PDF should be “DobbieYangFellowship” followed by your first and last name, e.g., DobbieYangFellowship_JaneDoe.pdf.

  • CV (please list your GPA from all degrees completed)
  • Cover letter, which should be no more than one page in length and include a detailed explanation of your experience with each stage of the research process. Please also describe your familiarity with various statistical programming languages (e.g., Stata, R, Python, etc.)
  • Official or unofficial transcripts for all degrees earned or underway
  • An excerpt from a single-authored academic writing sample, no more than five pages in length
  • Brief coding sample in Stata
  • Contact information for three academic or professional references (email and phone number)

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and will not be considered complete until all elements are received. Applicants chosen to move forward in the recruitment process will be required to complete a technical exercise and participate in interviews.

Compensation and Benefits

  • Wiener Center Predoctoral Fellows receive a competitive salary and are eligible for Harvard
  • University’s partially subsidized healthcare options in which fellows can enroll and purchase medical, dental, and vision insurance plans. Other benefits include life insurance and long-term disability. Fellows have access to Harvard’s tuition assistance program (after eligibility of service), through which they can enroll in one class per academic year.
  • Professor Dobbie and Professor Yang value having a diverse research team and encourage
  • applications from women, people of color, and other groups that have historically been
  • underrepresented in the field of economics. Authorization to work in the US is required. The Wiener Center may be able to sponsor successful international applicants for a J-1 visa. If you have any questions about work authorization, you can send an email to: mwcenter@hks.harvard.edu.
  • Fellows are also able to take advantage of a broad array of activities including academic seminars, forums, networking opportunities, and special events.