Research Professional – Political Economics Initiative (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)

Job Title: Research Professional Political Economics Initiative (Full-Time Benefits Eligible)

Location: Chicago IL Hyde Park Campus Saieh Hall

Expected Start Date: July 1 2026

For questions about this position please email

Job Summary:

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) is seeking to hire a full-time Research Professional to work with Professor Leonardo Bursztyn as part of BFIs Political Economics Initiative and BFIs Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP). Successful applicants will collaborate on new and ongoing research.

Applicants must have completed a Bachelors degree by June 2025 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 2026 and work for BFI for one to 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 or R to analyze large datasets

Help design launch and analyze field experiments and online experiments.

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 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

Bachelors 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 Matlab Stata R and/or Python required.

Required Documents:

Resume/CV

Writing sample

Transcripts (unofficial is ok)

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