"Pre-Doctoral Research Specialist"

University Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn's distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America's Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Posted Job Title

Pre-Doctoral Research Specialist

Job Profile Title

Research Specialist A

Job Description Summary

Wharton School Overview
Founded in 1881 as the world's first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With campuses in both Philadelphia and San Francisco, Wharton has over 850 staff, a faculty population of more than 235 renowned professors, and 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education's individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 104,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. Wharton is home to a dynamic community of staff, bringing a wide range of skills, experiences, and perspectives. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

The Mack Institute for Innovation Management is continuously seeking new ways to support cutting-edge research and train a new generation of management scholars. Building on successful programs of other Wharton research centers, the Institute is launching a program for predoctoral research fellowships in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. These are full-time staff-level research specialist positions, ideal for highly qualified college graduates who are motivated to acquire the research skills, experience, and credentials needed to apply for a full-time PhD program. Awards will cover the predoctoral researcher's salary and benefits for a maximum of two years.

Job Description

The predoctoral research fellow will support faculty research on various topics, and work under the direct supervision of 1-2 Wharton faculty members on projects they have proposed/received funding for. Faculty will serve as their fellow's mentors, with the goal of ensuring that the fellow is well prepared to advance into top-tier PhD programs. For this position, the faculty mentors will be Professors Emilie Feldman and Paul Nary.

The successful candidate will support faculty research in corporate strategy, M&A, private equity, and other adjacent areas as designated by faculty supervisors.

Job Responsibilities:

Collecting, cleaning, coding, designing, implementing, and maintaining moderately complex quantitative and qualitative data, and using a variety of statistical and econometric analyses and other research methods, as well as writing research reports, and providing research-related support as required.

Specifically:

• Analyzing data requirements and research sources
• Performing a variety of statistical and econometric analysis
• Designing implementing, and maintaining databases and database dictionaries
• Processing large files with raw data
• Prepare supporting materials for faculty research papers such as research reports, graphs, tables, data descriptions, appendices, etc.
• Design and implement machine learning algorithms
• Scrape data from websites
• Design and implement surveys and experiments
• Review relevant literature and provide detailed outlines and/or literature reviews

Qualifications:

• BA/BS in Business, Economics, Statistics, Finance, Mathematics, Computer Science or another closely-related discipline and 1-2 years of experience is required, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Coding and programming skills in at least one or more common social science statistical analysis packages such as R, Python, and Stata are required.
• Independent thinking, intellectual curiosity, and a thorough understanding of businesses, markets, and economics, as well as self-motivation are highly valued in performing these functions.
• Previous experience as a research assistant or in pursuing independent research is preferred.

This is a full-time, limited-term position typically intended for recent graduates who are seeking predoctoral research experience. This position is contingent upon funding and is designed for a duration of 2 years and cannot be extended beyond the initial term.

The term for this position is July 1, 2026- June 30, 2028. Annual salary is in the range of $57,000 -$60,000 plus benefits.

This position is a full-time, limited-term appointment intended for up to two years (July 1, 2026- June 30, 2028) and is not eligible for extension beyond this term.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$44,500.00 - $57,000.00 Annual Rate