Professional Senior Research Associate, Center for the Economics of Human Development
The Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago invites applications for a full-time Senior Research Associate for a one-year term with the possibility of renewal. This non-tenure track position will begin at or around July 1, 2025.
The Senior Research Associate (SRA) will work with the faculty Director and conduct independent research projects that advance the research agenda of the Center for the Economics of Human Development. The position requires a PhD in Economics, a strong background in empirical research, experience with grant writing, at least three years’ experience in a post-graduate academic position, and a record of managing and mentoring students and researchers.
Working in collaboration with the faculty director, the SRA will conduct original research and co-author and solo-author academic publications. The SRA is expected to have an active role in obtaining and carrying out funded research projects and may serve as Co-Investigator or independent Principal Investigator on research grants. The position requires demonstrated expertise in human development, including health economics, and applied microeconomics. Individuals with expertise in designing and implementing longitudinal household surveys and/or high-frequency data collection on and with non-native English speakers will be most competitive.
The Senior Research Associate (SRA) will develop theoretical and empirical economic models of human development across the lifecycle. The overarching goal of this work is to examine the origins of human differences and the effectiveness of alternative intervention strategies to foster human skills and capacities and remediate disadvantages. This may include neighborhood choice, fertility decisions and child preference formation, intergenerational models of family influence, dynamic nonlinear factor models, and dynamic models of the evolution of skills and capacities. The SRA will organize a variety of large-scale developmental data sets, and as such, the SRA should demonstrate experience with administrative data, survey data, and experimental data. To carry out this work, the SRA will supervise researchers of all levels (e.g., undergraduate students and predoctoral fellows), and therefore, the position requires a demonstrated record of managing students and researchers. The SRA will also participate in disseminating the work of the Center, including making presentations at professional conferences, and therefore, the position requires demonstrated experience in this area and the ability to travel domestically and internationally. Finally, the SRA will interface with non-profit and non-governmental organizations as well as survey firms domestically and abroad to build strong relationships across the lifecycle of policy-focused academic research, so strong candidates should have demonstrated expertise in communicating effectively with a wide range of audiences and managing multiple stakeholders.
Other duties may include hosting visitors at the Center, writing grant proposals or reports, and working with the Executive Director to develop and implement a comprehensive research strategy for the Center. These tasks may include participating in recruiting, hiring, and managing of researchers, participating in twice-monthly Center research and staff meetings, identifying or vetting research partners, and disseminating the research of the Center. The SRA is expected to meet tight deadlines in a high-pressure work environment and also manage an independent flow of research.
Applicants are required to apply online on the University of Chicago’s Interfolio website.
Applications are required to include:
- curriculum vitae
- research statement
- contact information for submission of two academic letters of reference
- at least one publication
Although optional, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit additional published or unpublished research papers.
Screening of applications will begin on or after April 15, 2025 and will continue until the position is filled or the search has ended.
Apply Now: https://apply.interfolio.com/164110
