External Career & Research Opportunities

The Department of Economics shares external career, research, and professional opportunities as a service to students and alumni. Please contact the sponsoring organization directly with questions about any posting.

Pre-Doctoral Researcher – MIT (with Professor Amy Finkelstein)	MIT Professor Amy Finkelstein is looking to hire highly skilled and motived full-time pre-doctoral researchers to begin in the spring or summer of 2027 and to work for two years as part of her research team. The position will entail close collaboration and assistance with all stages of empirical research in health economics. For full job description and application instructions, please visit: job ID #25916 on MIT’s Careers Website (https://hr.mit.edu/careers) or directly at https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/jobDetails/jobDetail.html?jobPostId=34509&localeCode=en-us
Research Assistant (RA) program at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago	The Research Assistant (RA) program at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is a two-year commitment designed for recent college graduates with a background in economics, mathematics, statistics, finance, computer science, or related fields. Applications are now being accepted. Please visit the Careers page for further information. All applications will require a resume, a cover letter, an unofficial transcript, and at least one letter of recommendation (submitted directly from your recommender). Please note: only U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents/Lawful Permanent Residents/Green Card Holders [with the intent to become a U.S. Citizen] are eligible to apply. If you have any questions, contact [email protected].
Various positions – J-PAL Global	https://www.povertyactionlab.org/careers
Statisticians at the Federal Trade Commission (While the FTC generally hires Statisticians during the regular recruiting period in the fall, candidates may apply for a Statistician position at any time there is an opening on USAJobs.gov.)	Duties In this role, you will gain real-world experience by working alongside PhD economists to protect consumers and promote competition in the US economy. Statisticians work with economists to support FTC matters, including: – providing economic and statistical analysis in support of antitrust investigations, cases, and rulemaking – conducting academic research and developing reports on the functioning of markets in the economy To learn more information about the experience of a Statistician at the FTC please visit: https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-economics/careers-ftc-bureau-economics/statistician-recruiting
the EPIC Predoctoral Fellowship Program (The winter deadline is the beginning of March, with final decisions made around toward the end of March)	Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago https://epic.uchicago.edu/about/jobs-fellowships/fellowships/predoctoral-fellows/predoctoral-fellowship-program/fellowship-opportunities/ Pre-doctoral fellowships serve as a one- or two-year bridge program between college and a doctoral program. Applicants must have completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree by June of the year they are applying, and have strong quantitative and programming skills. Candidates with research experience are strongly preferred, especially those with experience in Stata, R, Python or Matlab. The ideal candidate would begin in June and work for EPIC for one or two years before applying to graduate school in Economics or another quantitative social science. EPIC offers a competitive salary and employee benefits. Applications for pre-doctoral fellowships are reviewed in fall and winter cycles. The fall deadline is in mid-November, with final decisions made in mid-December. The winter deadline is the beginning of March, with final decisions made around toward the end of March.
Research Assistants (varying application cycles)	Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Each year, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) hires a new cohort of Research Assistants (RAs) who gain real-world experience by working alongside PhD economists to assist with original economic research and provide critical support for policy analysis. The 2026-27 cycle will open for submission in August 2026. RAs are selected during two main recruitment cycles in the fall and spring. Applications are not reviewed until after each respective deadline. Fall Recruitment Cycle Completed applications open in August. Spring Recruitment Cycle Completed applications open in October. Click here for more information
Pre-doctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP)	BECKER FRIEDMAN INSTITUTE at The University of Chicago About the program: Pre-Doctoral Research Professionals \| BFI (uchicago.edu)