Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Urban Economics

School: Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Department/Area: Economics

Position Description

The Economics Department in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is currently seeking a full-time Pre-Doctoral Fellow to contribute to a research project related to informal urban transportation in Kampala, Uganda. The project involves primary data collection and a planned randomized experiment. The fellow will be involved in data cleaning, data analysis, design of the experiment, academic and policy writing. The candidate will work under the supervision of Principal Investigators, Dr. Gabriel Kreindler (Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics) and Dr. Carole Turley Voulgaris (Graduate School of Design, Department of Urban Planning and Design).

Part of the funding for this position is from a grant from Harvard University's Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The individual will work in close collaboration with the Principal Investigators. More specifically, the individual will:

• Design, write, and fine-tune code in the R programming language for data cleaning and data analysis;
• Create data analysis results, including regression results, and spatial analysis, including visualizations and maps;
• Run power calculations for randomized controlled trials;
• Assist in reviewing, synthesizing, and writing reviews of existing literature on informal transport in the global south;
• Assist in the preparation of academic journal submissions and code and data for publication;

Additional Information : This is a 12-month, full-time position with benefits. Visas may be arranged. You can find more information on benefits for Harvard employees here: .

Basic Qualifications

• Proficiency in the R programming language, including for geospatial data (simple features using the sf package).
• Proficiency with Git and GitHub for project version-control.
• Strong interest or background in transportation planning, transportation engineering, urban planning, development economics, informal economies, or related topics.
• Curiosity and eagerness to learn.
• Strong academic writing skills.
• Undergraduate degree in civil engineering, geography, urban planning, urban studies, computer science, data science, economics, urban studies, statistics, or a related field.
• If you are unsure whether you meet all of the above requirements, but you think you might meet most of them, and you are interested in the position, please apply.

Additional Qualifications

Preference may be given to candidates with the following qualifications, but they are not required.

• Ability to work in-person in Cambridge, Massachusetts at least two days per week.
• Familiarity with or direct lived experience in Sub Saharan African cities.

Special Instructions

Please submit:

1. A cover letter that explains your interest in this position, emphasizing your qualifications that may not be reflected in the rest of your application,

2. Unofficial transcripts,

3. Your resume/CV,

4. A writing sample (optional),

5. The names and contact information for three individuals who can serve as references,

6. A statement on AI use that describes whether and how AI tools were used in preparing your application materials.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are received and will continue until the position is filled.

Contact Information

Sonia J

Contact Email: [email protected]

Salary Range

$60,000

Minimum Number of References Required: 3

Maximum Number of References Allowed: 3