Working at MIT offers opportunities that just aren’t found anywhere else, including generous and unique benefits that help to ensure that MIT employees are healthy, supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work/life balance. Discover more about what it's like to work at MIT.

We welcome people from all walks of life to bring their talent, ideas, and experience to our community. We value diversity and strongly encourage applications from individuals from all identities and backgrounds – like yours. If you want to be part of our exceptional, multicultural, collaborative, and inclusive community, then take a look at this opportunity.

MIT provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the Institute reasonably expects to pay for a full time position at the time of posting (if you are applying for a part time salaried job, you will need to prorate the posted pay range). The pay offered to a selected candidate during hiring will be based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience and education/training, internal peer equity, and applicable legal requirements. This pay range represents base pay only and does not include any other benefits or compensation.

Predoctoral Researcher

Job Number: 25317
Functional Area: Research - Other
Department: Economics
School Area: Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences
Pay Range Minimum: $69,294
Pay Range Maximum: $74,624

Employment Type: Full-Time Temporary
Employment Category: Exempt
Visa Sponsorship Available: No
Schedule:
Pay Grade: No Grade

Posting Description

PREDOCTORAL RESEARCHER, Economics, to support work at all stages of the research process on projects in economics and applied machine learning / artificial intelligence. This position offers the opportunity to gain exposure to and training in a broad set of statistical methods and economic research topics. Predoctoral Researchers will engage directly in the research process, and implement complete project pipelines covering data processing, machine learning, and statistical inference. Predoctoral Researchers will work on research projects with Professors Sendhil Mullainathan and Ashesh Rambachan along with their co-authors at MIT, the University of Chicago, Harvard University and other institutions. The role will entail close collaboration with all stages of the research process on projects that integrate machine learning / artificial intelligence and economics. These positions will be part of BikeShop@MIT, an interdisciplinary lab that integrates computing and economics to build algorithms that make people and the world better.

The full job description is here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/izvkooxmlzm44fe5u01ih/Job_Description_Predoc_Rambachan-and-Mullainathan.pdf?rlkey=nikteu91582q8leteyxome4t4&e=1&st=9rg29o01&dl=0.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED: A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in economics, computer science, mathematics, statistics, or a related field; a minimum of two years of specialized experience with qualitative data analysis, research methods, social sciences (which may include experience gained as an undergraduate); strong analytical/coding skills; quantitative and programming skills in Python and R; and strong time and project management skills, excellent attention to detail, and strong communication skills. PREFERRED: Enthusiasm for developing or applying cutting-edge machine learning methods to understand/find solutions to real world problems.

Please apply online with a single PDF attachment titled “RA_Application_[First name]_[Last name].pdf”, including: cover letter, resume, transcript if applicable. Questions should be directed to asheshr@mit.edu.

Application review and interviews will be conducted in January and early February 2026. Preferred start date is June 1st, 2026, with some flexibility, and an employment term of one to two years.

11/18/2025