- Department: Economics, UC San Diego
- Salary: Commensurate with experience
- Appointment: 24-36 months
- Start Date: July 1, 2021
- Location: UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
The Department of Economics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is pleased to announce multiple 2-year Postdoctoral Fellowships (extendable to a third-year) with the Program on the Indian Economy starting in July 2021 (or earlier). The successful candidates will work closely with Professors Karthik Muralidharan and Prashant Bharadwaj, Paul Niehaus (UCSD), Aprajit Mahajan (UC Berkeley), Manisha Shah (UCLA), and Sandip Sukhtankar (UVA) to run economic research and analysis to improve the quality of public expenditure in Indian states. This work will be conducted in close partnership with the Center for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS), based in India, which aims to work closely with Indian state governments to improve governance and service delivery.
The position offers the opportunity to join a team of leading development economists with a strong track record of publication and policy impact, and to produce research and analysis that is likely to have a substantial impact on policy in India. CEGIS aims to produce high-quality economic analysis to inform state-level policymaking in India, and the position is best described as being equivalent to a policy economist, with an expectation of producing both high-quality analysis for policy, as well as peer-reviewed academic papers as appropriate. The ideal candidate will be someone who values rigor, relevance, and impact in economic analysis. We expect to hire multiple post-doctoral fellows (2-4) and thereby create a world-class intellectual community for policy-relevant research on India. Fellows who joined the program last year are Manaswini Rao, and Naveen Kumar.
The position is open to a candidate who has recently earned a Ph.D. in Economics, Public Policy, other quantitative social sciences, applied statistics, or information systems (including GIS), with a focus on development/public/labor economics, applied statistics/econometrics, or applied data sciences with a focus on policy applications. Strong applied econometrics skills are expected, and so are excellent written and verbal communication skills. The ideal candidate will also have a deep interest in India, and Indian economic policy, and be able to travel to India as required (2-3 trips a year of 2-3 weeks or longer when the travel becomes possible again). We also highly value the ability to work effectively in teams and to produce high-quality analytical output in policy-relevant timeframes.
The position will be based at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and will initially be for 2 years (extendable based on mutual agreement). The target start date for the position is summer 2021, with some flexibility on the exact start date. The successful candidate will be a fully integrated member of the UCSD economics community. We expect that successful performance in this role can lead to a variety of longer-term career options including faculty positions, or joining other policy think tanks, non-profits, foundations, or development organizations (especially those focused on India).
Please apply through EJM, and feel free to reach out to Burak Eskici (beskici@ucsd.edu) if you have any questions.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but it is highly recommended that you apply before Jan 04, 2021, for full consideration. We will conduct interviews with the shortlisted candidates in January 2021. The position is eligible for J-1 visa sponsorship.
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to academic excellence and diversity within faculty, staff, and student body. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.