Research Fellow

Blueprint Labs, formerly known as the School Effectiveness and Inequality Initiative (SEII), is

recruiting several Research Fellows based at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Blueprint Labs is a growing

team of professionals devoted to using data, economics, and analytic tools to generate insights to

uncover the consequences of policy choices and improve society. Based in the Department of

Economics at MIT, Blueprint Labs consists of over 18 academic affiliates who represent leading

economic thinkers, ten full-time staff members, and six graduate researchers. Blueprint Labs works

closely with leading academic, government, and nonprofit institutions across the country to

generate pioneering research that informs policy and practice in education, health care, and the

workforce.

We are seeking motivated, independent, and organized Research Fellows to support market design

research and other initiatives. Fellows receive a full-time appointment with Blueprint Labs, a

research lab based at the MIT Department of Economics. The fellowship is a full-time position

located on MIT’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Fellows will work closely with one or more of Blueprint Labs Directors Joshua Angrist, David Autor,

and Parag Pathak, Professor Daron Acemoglu, and our collaborators at universities across the

country, including Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University. This position also

offers the opportunity to work collaboratively with other Blueprint Labs research staff. Previous

Fellows have gone on to an Economics or related Ph.D. program, K-12 education, consulting, tech,

government, and beyond. Curious to learn more? Check out “A Day in the Life at SEII” (note that we’re

now called Blueprint Labs!).

Research Fellows receive a full-time, one-year appointment that is renewable annually (contingent

on funding). An employment term of two years is strongly preferred. We expect all Fellows to start

full-time by June 15, 2022 and prefer a part- or full-time start date in spring 2022. The salary range

is $51,500-$52,500.

Research Fellows will work on 1-2 research projects with MIT faculty members and additional

affiliated faculty. Specific responsibilities include constructing data sets and preparing data for

analysis, conducting analysis in Stata, R, and/or Matlab (or similar) to answer research questions,

presenting results and engaging in discussion in weekly team meetings, and editing papers for

publication. Fellows can also expect to interact with our external partners, manage advanced code

bases, and write about results for different audiences. Other duties will arise as needed. This

position requires a high level of independent judgement and presents opportunities for

professional development and on-the-job learning.

This position will be based in-person in our Cambridge, MA office, subject to change with MIT’s

COVID-19 policies. This position is not eligible for any visa sponsorship.

MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

- Education: A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in economics, computer science, mathematics,

statistics, or a related field.

- Experience: Minimum 2 years’ specialized experience with quantitative data analysis,

research methods, and/or social sciences research (which may include coursework or

experience gained as an undergraduate).

- Skills: Programming skills, particularly around data analysis, cleaning, and simulations.

- Responsibility and Judgement: Deals with confidential information and/or issues using

discretion and judgement.

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

- Education: coursework or experience in market design, game theory, and/or econometrics

- Experience: Knowledge of Stata, Matlab, and/or R, and previous research experience,

acquired through a research assistantship or an independent research project, are strongly

preferred. Some background or willingness/ability to learn Stata is particularly important.

Prior work with education data, academic writing and involvement in previous

publications, and policy experience are preferred as well.