Research Professional - Juanma Castro-Vincenzi, Alejandro Sabal, Vincent Rollet (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)

About the role

Job Title: Research Professional (RP)

Location: Chicago, IL

Salary Ranges

$59,000-62,000 annual salary, additional $2,000 professional development fund

Reporting to: Professors Juanma Castro-Vincenzi, Alejandro Sabal, and Vincent Rollet

Terms: Seeking a Research Professional for a period of at least one year, ideally two years

Expected Start Date: To be determined - Summer 2027

Department: Becker Friedman Institute

Job Summary

The Becker Friedman Institute (BFI) is seeking a Research Professional (RP) to work on new and ongoing research projects in and related to urban economics, international trade, and industrial organization. The Research Professional will primarily work under the guidance of Professors Juanma Castro-Vincenzi, Vincent Rollet, and Alejandro Sabal. The research professional will be responsible for the construction of new datasets, reviewing relevant literature, estimation and data analysis, and the revision, extension, and description of results.

The program is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students. Applicants must have completed a Bachelors degree by June 2027 and have strong quantitative and programming skills. Candidates with research experience are strongly preferred, especially those with experience in Stata, R, Git, Python, and/or Matlab. The ideal candidate would begin on July 1, 2027 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.

Responsibilities

• Cleans and analyzes data.
• Writes or finalizes replicable data files or scripts for publication.
• Assists with writing data analysis plans and contributes to preparing study registration documents.
• Maintains technical and administrative support for a research project.
• Analyzes and maintains data. Conducts literature reviews. Assists with preparation of reports, manuscripts and other documents.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.
• Experience: 3 months to one year of work experience in a related job discipline. Experience gained through coursework may be counted as relevant experience.

• Experience in with statistics and econometrics.
• Working as a research assistant.
• Analyzing large data sets, applying econometrics methods or machine learning techniques.
• Knowledge of Stata, Python, Matlab, Julia, or R required

Preferred Qualifications

Education: Master's degree in economics, public policy, or a related field.

Experience

• Previous research assistance experience contributing meaningfully to faculty research.
• Advanced knowledge of research techniques and methods in relevant scientific field.
• Knowledge of Git and LaTeX helpful
• Advanced knowledge of research technique and methods in relevant scientific field.

Preferred Competencies

• Understanding of academia and higher education in a research and teaching environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet tight deadlines.
• Work both independently and as a team member.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV
• Cover letter
• Writing Sample
• Transcripts (unofficial accepted)
• Two professional references