Working at MIT offers opportunities, an environment, a culture – and benefits – that just aren’t found together anywhere else. If you’re curious, motivated, want to be part of a unique community, and help shape the future – then take a look at this opportunity.

POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE, TRAINING, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)-Research, Education and Training (RET),  to support the expansion of J-PAL’s training and capacity building portfolio and conduct own research--using randomized evaluations--to reduce poverty. J-PAL’s training activities focus on introducing policymakers to randomized evaluation methods; building data analysis and field research skills of evaluation specialists, researchers, and research staff at J-PAL and its partner organizations; and hosting training workshops for practitioners on topics including how and when to conduct randomized evaluations, generalizing insights across setting, and applying evidence to inform policy.  Will work under the supervision of RET co-chairs Shawn Cole (Harvard Business School) and William Parienté (Université Catholique de Louvain) and collaborate with J-PAL manager and associate-level staff  as part of the RET group at J-PAL Global, and closely with J-PAL training staff based in regional offices in Chile, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and the U.S.  May spend up to fifty percent of the time on independent research. Will be eligible to apply for funding from J-PAL’s research initiatives.  Will join a cohort of three to five other postdocs from J-PAL’s sectors and initiatives.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED: doctoral degree in economics, political science, public policy, computer science, or related field; experience and strong background in either implementing RCTs on their own and/or demonstrated research interest in one or several of the subject areas noted above; attention to detail; ability to work on projects independently, handle several different projects/tasks simultaneously, and meet deadlines; self-motivation and willingness to learn; and proficiency with Stata or R.  

PREFERRED: Python, C, MATLAB or other programming skills; and GIS and/or remote sensing experience. Job #19089

After COVID-19, will travel frequently for trainings and to liaise with partners.