JOB DESCRIPTION: Full-Time Research Assistant in Health Economics and Econometrics
Professors Amanda Kowalski (Michigan) and David Chan (Stanford) are seeking a full-time research assistant who will contribute mainly to a project entitled, “Equality vs. Equity by Social Vulnerability, Race, and Ethnicity: Evidence from Randomized and Targeted COVID-19 Vaccine Invitations.”
Positions are available at the University of Michigan starting at some point between August 2024 and June 2025. Strong preference will be given to applicants who have potential to work for two years, although we will consider exceptional applicants who are only available for six months to one year starting in January 2024. We are not currently interviewing applicants who can only start after January 2024.
Successful candidates will report directly to Professor Kowalski and will interact with her coauthors and other research assistants on a regular basis. Professor Kowalski’s current research is in the fields of health economics and econometrics and focuses on combining randomized experiments with theoretical models to target health interventions to individuals most likely to benefit from them.
Research assistants are involved in all stages of the research process and are expected to work independently within the scope of their responsibilities. Duties include, but are not limited to, collaborating on research design, conducting data analysis, interpreting results, training other research assistants, and drafting and editing manuscripts and presentations.
Candidates should have a long-term interest in pursuing research related to economics. Prior background in health economics is useful but not necessary. Preference will be given to detail-oriented applicants with previous work experience, particularly experience writing and working with large datasets in software such as Stata, SAS, R, or Matlab. This position is ideal for candidates looking to develop their research skills in preparation for PhD programs in economics. For continuing education, research assistants have opportunities to attend weekly seminars in economics and to get feedback on their independent research ideas. Previous research assistants have enrolled in top economics, health policy, and computer science PhD programs and have won graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation.
Salary will be competitive with other research assistant positions.
TO APPLY:
Please email Professor Kowalski kowalski@nber.org and current research assistant Louis McKinnon mckinnol@umich.edu a single PDF document named “Lastname_Firstname” containing the following materials:
- A cover letter describing:
- Your interest in this position and how you learned about it.
- The start and end dates during which you would be available to fill this position
- Your familiarity with programming languages (e.g. Stata, SAS, Matlab, ArcGIS
- Your prior experience as a research assistant, in the private sector, and/or with independent research projects
- A previous experience that involved working in a team environment
- Whether you require Visa sponsorship, and if so, what type
- Names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of 3 references (letters not required)
- A current CV
- All relevant undergraduate and graduate transcripts (unofficial is fine)
- A written list of classes currently in-progress and taken in the past that are in economics, mathematics, or statistics. Please indicate the name of the course, semester/year taken, the institution at which the course was taken, and grade attained.
- An original research paper (if available)
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. This posting will be taken down promptly from https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/amanda-kowalski/research-team/ if all positions have been filled, so there is no need to inquire if positions are still available.
