Research Assistant (Economics) (111136-1225)

University of Warwick - Department of Economics

Location:	Coventry, University of Warwick
Salary:	£31,236 to £34,610 per annum
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On:	7th January 2026
Closes:	18th January 2026
Job Ref:	3624

For informal enquiries, please contact Amrita Kulka, Assistant Professor, at amrita.kulka@warwick.ac.uk

The Department of Economics is seeking to appoint a Research Assistant to assist Dr Nikhil Datta and Dr Amrita Kulka in the successful execution of their Nuffield-Foundation-funded Big Data project "Towards housing affordability: local supply drivers and optimal policy" (project page here).

In the face of plummeting housing affordability in the UK, the overall project examines various factors of the UK housing delivery system that may drive housing prices, ultimately seeking to answer what the optimal policy design would be to improve housing affordability across the UK. Sub-projects will focus on the role of market power among developers and landlords in contributing to poor housing affordability as well as the extent to which different planning regulations and conditions contribute to the lack of new housing supply and housing affordability. For further details, please check the lead researchers’ websites and project webpage, or reach out to them with questions via email.

The role will primarily involve quantitative analysis of our newly constructed data on planning documents combined with data on housing construction, search and price information, and other data that vary depending on the focus of a given sub-project. You will also be learning how to work with Big Data, with billions of observations, through cleaning, processing, and validation, as well as combining data from various sources. Additionally, you will contribute to preparing presentations for a variety of audiences (academic to policy-oriented) and drafting academic research papers.

This job includes a variety of tasks providing excellent preparation for doctoral programs in applied economics, a career in quantitative analysis of public policies, or a data science position in industry.

The start date is flexible, and the contract will be for 18 months with scope of extension.

About You

We require an individual who has an interest in the research area, who is pro-active and willing to work as part of a team. The Research Assistant will be expected to assist with the construction, cleaning, manipulating and analysis of Big Data. They will also conduct reviews of existing literature, datasets, and policy documents and work closely with Dr Kulka and Dr Datta throughout to disseminate project outcomes and draft presentations, reports, and academic papers.

You will have completed a masters degree in Economics by the start date. In exceptional cases we might consider a candidate with a completed bachelors degree.

For further information regarding the skills required for this role please see the personal specification section of the attached job description.

CLOSING DEADLINE: Sunday 18th January 2026 at 11:55pm (UK Time)

Full details of the duties and selection criteria for this role can be found in the vacancy advert on the University of Warwick's jobs pages. You will be routed to this when you click on the 'Apply' button.