"Postdoctoral Associate"

Postdoctoral Associate

Company: Virginia Tech

Job Location: Blacksburg, 24061

Category: Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

Type: Full-Time

Job Description

The Kohl Center in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech invites applications for a non-tenured position at the rank of Postdoctoral Associate with a specialization in Data Science/Applied Econometrics and its application in applied economics and social sciences broadly defined. The position is one-year, 12-month, calendar-year appointment, with the possibility of renewal based on funding availability and performance. The anticipated start date for this position is May 2026.

Appointment Description:
The Kohl Centre at Virginia Tech is a pioneering interdisciplinary hub dedicated to advancing, implementing, and disseminating state-of-the-art applied economic problem-solving informed by data analytics solutions.
The successful candidate will develop a strong applied research program that works both within and at the boundaries of data science/econometric methods and the social sciences to discover, create, and disseminate new knowledge. The successful candidate will contribute to both academic and policy-relevant publications, while helping secure external funding to support ongoing and future research efforts. The candidate will also work to increase the impact of Kohl Center research by engaging stakeholders through training, workshops, webinars, and action-oriented projects and programs.

Opportunity for Advising and Teaching: At the graduate level, the individual will participate in recruiting and advising/mentoring graduate students, including serving on graduate committees. At the undergraduate level, the individual will assist in recruiting, mentoring, and training undergraduate students in our experiential learning program. There will be opportunities to teach graduate or undergraduate courses.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in agricultural and applied economics, economics, data science, econometrics, statistics, computer science, operations research, public policy, or a closely related field (candidates with expected completion dates prior to the start of employment will be considered). Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree must be awarded no more than four years prior to the effective date of appointment, with a minimum of one year eligibility remaining.
• Proficiency in R, including R shiny, and other data-science related tools such as Git.
• Research experience using R and modern data-analytical tools
• Explicit research experience or coursework on the boundary between data science/statistics/econometrics and social sciences in their major field(s)
• Record of peer-reviewed publications or advanced working papers relevant to the position description.
• Excellent communication and organization skills and ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in agricultural economics, health economics, policy analysis, small business and entrepreneurship, or applied econometrics.
• Strong quantitative skills and experience with cutting-edge techniques in data science, econometrics and machine learning, especially in the areas of causal machine learning and optimal policy learning.
• Proficiency in other languages such as Stata, and/or Python modeling languages.
• Research experience using Python.
• Experience working with large structured and unstructured datasets such as multimodal data and remote sensing data.
• Ability to engage effectively with stakeholders through outreach, extension, and engagement activities.

Overtime Status
Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type
Restricted

Salary Information
53,550-65,029

Hours per week
40; M-F 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Review Date
12/31/2025

Additional Information

Applicants should submit the following materials via the Virginia Tech careers portal:

• Cover letter outlining research interests and relevant experience.
• Curriculum vitae (CV).
• Three confidential letters of reference.
• A sample of academic writing

Review Date:
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with a priority deadline of December 31, 2025. The position will remain open until filled. For more information, please contact Dr. Le Wang at lewangecon@vt.edu

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.