Department: Kellogg Research Support

Empirical Research Fellows work with faculty at the Kellogg School of Management on the preparation and analysis of data for economics-based research projects. You will generally work on multiple faculty research projects at any given time, and your contributions could span all aspects of the research life cycle.

Research duties vary from project to project, and may include: collecting and validating new research datasets, performing statistical analyses on large databases, writing programs to replicate prior results, updating existing code for greater efficiency or easier reproducibility, or preparing results for inclusion in presentations and publications.

We seek applicants who want to apply to a Ph.D. program in Economics, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Strategy, Operations Research, or a related field in the pursuit of an academic research career. The ideal candidate will have: (i) strong data management and computer programming skills; (ii) exposure to applied statistical models; and, (iii) prior experience working on research, such as an independent thesis or as a research assistant. Prior coursework in Economics is a plus, but not necessary; in fact, this position is well suited for someone who has strong quantitative skills, but wants more exposure to Economics research before graduate school.

If selected, you will be offered a one-year appointment, with the ability to renew for a second year based on performance. Successful applicants must have completed at least a bachelor’s degree by the employment start date.

Your application must include a cover letter. In that letter, please describe your academic career goals and how a predoctoral appointment at Kellogg will serve those goals. If there are specific Kellogg faculty or departments you want to work with, please mention them in the letter as well.

Specific Responsibilities
Work closely with faculty members as project team members on research projects
Collect, maintain, and document original research datasets
Merge data from separate sources, derive new variables, or reformat data for analysis
Proactively test data for integrity
Create or replicate results of applied statistical or machine learning models
Write programs that solve constrained optimization problems
Produce tables, figures, and/or other research outputs as needed
Might assist faculty members with literature reviews or reviewing drafts of papers

Required Qualifications
Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university, leading to a bachelor’s or higher degree

Required Competencies
A long-term interest in performing research in Economics or a related field
Ability to write programs in at least one language – such as R, Python, Stata, and/or SAS
Strong habits documenting and managing versions of datasets and program code.
Demonstrated ability to work independently to solve analytical problems
Good understanding of applied statistical concepts

Applications accepted here: Apply for Job

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