Predoc Tips

Looking for a predoc? Here are some sources to look for positions that I have used and have suggested to friends, this list by no means is exhaustive

Pages with Predoc (RA) postings:


  1. Websites to look through many postings

  • NBER posts non-NBER RA positions here

    • NBER also advertises some positions directly here

  • Profs and others tag relevant RA postings on Twitter @econ_RA page (no account needed to check the postings)

  1. Organized pre-doctoral research programs with a set hiring cycle for multiple RAs every year:

  • Stanford (SIEPR program, a variety of topics)

  • Chicago (EPIC program, Energy Policy center)

  • Harvard EPod – look for EPoD Research Fellow postings here

  • Harvard Opportunity Insights (2 year commitment) updates posted here

  • Yale predoc program

  • Princeton – mentioned in the PhD program application – cross-department university program, unclear how many Econ positions there are

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For US citizens and/or permanent residents only:


  1. Other sources to check

· J-PAL Careers (again, a lot of RA positions directly at JPAL do not provide visa sponsorship, but other postings do) https://www.povertyactionlab.org/careers

· IPA Research position https://www.poverty-action.org/work-with-ipa/current-opportunities

· Brown, Princeton often have a lot of positions that are not always posted on the above-mentioned websites, you can check them directly in their career portals

· World Bank has research postings that don’t seem to come up on Twitter or NBER, so you can check their careers under research & quantitative analysis job family https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite, there are specifically research assistant positions, but another type is ET consultant that seems to offer a very similar RA opportunity


Other resources:



  • A website I came across recently that might have something useful - Predoc.Org


My archived search guide (pdf last upd in Nov 2020)