Pre-Doctoral Research Opportunities

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) is seeking to hire a full-time Research Professional to work with Professor Joshua Gottlieb, Harris School of Public Policy, Co-Director of BFI’s Health Economics Initiative, and Professor Matt Notowidigdo, David McDaniel Keller Professor of Economics and Business and Public Policy Fellow, Professor Zarek Brot-Goldberg, Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, and Professor Maggie Shi, Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy,, and their students and coauthors.  The Research Professional will be involved in all stages of ongoing and new research projects related to health and urban economics.  Their current research can be viewed at the BFI website.  Previous RPs working for the Health INitiative have gone on to PhD programs at Stanford, Yale, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern, and become co-authors on projects commenced during their tenure as RPs.

Successful candidates will work directly with Professors Gottlieb, Notowidigdo, Brot-Goldberg, and Shi, and co-authors as part of BFI’s Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP). The program is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students interested in empirical economics. Applicants must have completed a Bachelor’s degree by June 2024 and have strong quantitative and programming skills. Candidates with research experience are strongly preferred, especially those with experience in Stata, R, and/or Python. The ideal candidate would begin on July 1, 2024 (flexible) and work for BFI for two years before applying to graduate school in Economics or another quantitative social science. BFI offers competitive salary and employee benefits.

Applications will be reviewed in the order in which they are received.

 Unit-specific Responsibilities:

• Write programs in Stata, R, and/or Python to analyze large datasets
• Code economic models in Julia
• Construct maps, figures, and tables for economics papers
• Identify new data sources
• Editing tasks
• Other duties as assigned.

 Unit-preferred Competencies:

• Desired (but not required) skills include advanced familiarity with numerical optimization and package development in Stata, R, Python, and/or Julia, and the ability to use Stata to manage and analyze large datasets. Although previous experience with any specific language is not essential, familiarity with at least one scripting language is encouraged.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Excellent organizational skills
• Attention to detail
• Strong academic writing/communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, computer science, physics, engineering, or other quantitative STEM fields is highly desirable.

Experience

• Relevant research experience as a research assistant.

Technical Knowledge/Skills

• Knowledge of R, Python, Stata preferred

Required Documents:

• Resume/CV
• Writing sample
• Transcripts (unofficial is ok)

The University of Chicago provides equal employment opportunities to all employees, applicants, and job seekers. No person shall be discriminated against in employment or harassed because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status, parental status, ancestry, source of income, or other classes protected by law. This policy includes the commitment to maintaining a work environment free from unlawful harassment.

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) works with the Chicago Economics community to turn its evidence-based research into real-world impact. BFI takes a unique approach to bridging the divide between academic researchers and decision-makers in the business community and government by translating and packaging the rigorous work of the Chicago Economics community into accessible formats, and proactively sharing those findings with relevant decision-makers and thought leaders around the globe. BFI is a collaborative platform serving the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the Law School.

Job Summary:

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) is seeking to hire a full-time Research Professional to work with Damon Jones, Associate Professor. Successful candidates will work directly with Prof. Jones and co-authors as a part of Socieconomic Inequalities Initiative and BFI’s Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP). Professor Jones conducts research at the intersection of three fields: public finance, household finance, and labor economics. The position entails collaboration on new and ongoing research on inequality in health care access, guaranteed income programs, labor markets and racial equity. Part of the job entails working with administrative data sets and implementing and analyzing large-scale randomized controlled trials. This is a unique opportunity to learn how to work with such data and methods.  

The program is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students interested in empirical economics. Applicants must have completed a Bachelors degree by June 2024 and have strong quantitative and programming skills. Candidates with research experience are strongly preferred, especially those with experience in Stata, R, Python or Matlab. The ideal candidate would begin on July 1, 2024 and work for BFI for one or two years before applying to graduate school in Economics or another quantitative social science. BFI offers competitive salary and employee benefits. 

Unit-Specific Responsibilities

• Write programs in Stata, R, Python to analyze large datasets
• Construct maps, figures, and tables for economics papers
• Identify new data sources
• Conduct literature reviews
• Editing tasks
• Other duties as assigned

Unit-preferred Competencies

• Desired (but not required) skills include advanced familiarity with numerical optimization and package development in R and/or Python, and the ability to use Stata to manage and analyze large datasets. Although previous experience with any specific language is not essential, familiarity with at least one scripting language is encouraged.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Excellent organizational skills
• Attention to detail
• Strong academic writing/communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, computer sciences, engineering, or related STEM fields is highly desirable.

Experience

• Relevant research experience as a research assistant.

Technical Knowledge/Skills

• Knowledge of R and/or Python preferred
• Knowledge of STATA preferred

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)
• Transcripts (unofficial is acceptable) (required)
• Two Professional References (required)

The University of Chicago provides equal employment opportunities to all employees, applicants, and job seekers. No person shall be discriminated against in employment or harassed because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status, parental status, ancestry, source of income, or other classes protected by law. This policy includes the commitment to maintaining a work environment free from unlawful harassment.