"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

The successful candidate will support research by Professors Arthur van Benthem, Susanna Berkouwer, Judd Kessler, Corinne Low, Leon Musolff, Sagar Saxena, Ben Sprung-Keyser, and Shing-Yi Wang. Topics include energy and the environment and/or development economics (van Benthem, Berkouwer, Wang); industrial organization (Musolff, Saxena) public and labor economics (Sprung-Keyser); labor, gender, and experimental economics (Low, Kessler). There are several open positions.

Examples of recent projects include:

• Berkouwer and van Benthem: efficiency losses from imperfect environmental policies, energy efficiency adoption, carbon offsets and carbon markets, energy infrastructure construction, and land protection and biodiversity.
• Kessler and Low: the impact of grade-optional policies, running experiments to measure hiring bias among employers, examining changes in women's labor force participation over time, studying the unequal division of home production within the household, and mechanisms to reduce hiring bias.
• Musolff and Saxena: the effects of AI on high skilled work, market power in web search, price controls and deregulation, and crop insurance for climate change.
• Sprung Keyser: the impact of childhood geography on adult labor market outcomes, welfare analysis of climate policies, and welfare analysis of tax audits.
• Wang: returns to temporary migration, incentives to improve worker effort, and the labor supply consequences of having a Child in China.

You will join Wharton's Department of Business Economics and Public Policy (BEPP) and become part of a cohort of predoctoral research fellows. BEPP offers many opportunities for personal and professional development through learning new technical skills, attending seminars, and taking courses. In some instances, predoc RAs have become co-authors of academic papers.

Job Description

Job Responsibilities

Job responsibilities include performing a variety of statistical and econometric analyses, cleaning and analyzing data, writing research reports, conducting background research and literature reviews, identifying and obtaining secondary data, coding survey questionnaires, and managing field activities. Independent thinking, a thorough understanding of economics or related disciplines, an ability to manage work flows on multiple projects, and self-motivation are highly valued in performing these functions.

This is a challenging opportunity for an early-career professional who is passionate about social science research and has a strong desire to expand and deepen skills in economic research and quantitative data analysis. You will work closely with one or more of the professors, who will provide supervision on research and offer mentorship on academic development more broadly. You will also be encouraged to be an active part of the research community, within the BEPP department and in relevant Wharton research centers. This is a full-time, limited-term position typically intended for recent graduates who are seeking predoctoral research experience in the field of Economics, Public Policy, or another quantitative social science. The position is designed for a duration of 1-2 years and cannot be extended beyond the initial term.

QUALIFICATIONS

• BA/BS in Economics, Statistics, Data Science, or a related quantitative discipline;
• Previous experience as a research analyst or conducting independent research using statistical software such as STATA or R is preferred;
• Ability to process and analyze large data sets and write reports;
• Self-directed, intrinsically motivated, capacity to manage work independently and organize workflows across multiple projects.

SALARY & BENEFITS

This is a full-time, limited-term position typically intended for recent graduates who are seeking predoctoral research experience. The position is designed for a maximum duration of two years and cannot be extended beyond the initial term. The start date for this position is July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2028 and is not eligible for extension beyond this term. Annual salary is in the range of $57,000-61,000 plus benefits. For more information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University visit: https://hr.wharton.upenn.edu/benefits-comp/. Remote work may be possible for a temporary period.

HOW TO APPLY

For the application to be considered complete, please submit a brief cover letter, explaining your interest in the position, a cv including three references, and all your academic transcripts. We will review applications on a rolling basis. In your cover letter please indicate which professors you are particularly interested in working with. We will also consider applicants who are not yet authorized to work in the United States.

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

Wharton's Business Economics and Public Policy Department is an applied microeconomics department that has been an innovative force in research, teaching, and public service. Areas of faculty expertise include energy and environmental economics, development economics, industrial organization, experimental and behavioral economics, public and urban economics, and gender and discrimination. Our faculty have held presidential appointments on federal regulatory commissions, held research appointments and fellowships in government and not-for-profit think tanks, and serve on the boards of many corporations.

The Wharton Climate Center supports cutting edge research, provides thought leadership, and brings together stakeholders from academia, government, and the private sector to design smart public and private sector policies related to topics such as climate change, renewable energy, air and water pollution, waste disposal, biodiversity, and deforestation. See https://impact.wharton.upenn.edu/centers-labs/climate-center/.

Penn Development Research Initiative (PDRI) projects focus on various aspects of international development including education, health, governance, environment, gender, urbanization and migration, labor markets, poverty, and economic growth. Through regular seminars, conferences, collaborative research projects, and dissemination activities, PDRI makes it possible for faculty and graduate students at Penn to expand their efforts to conduct research that advances science and contributes to the improvement of well-being in developing countries. See https://pdri-devlab.upenn.edu/.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$44,500.00 - $58,000.00 Annual Rate