Pre-doctoral Researcher - Technical Associate (Tong Liu, Lira Mota, Christopher Palmer, Kerry Siani) 2026/2027

Professors Tong Liu, Lira Mota, Christopher Palmer, and Kerry Siani are looking to hire up to three full-time pre-doctoral research fellows. The position duration is up to two years (one year, with potential renewal for a second), with a start date of July 1, 2027. The job will entail close collaboration at all stages of the research process on new and ongoing empirical projects which utilize large, rich datasets to address questions in the fields of corporate finance, capital markets, macro-finance, household finance, and micro-econometrics.

This position offers the opportunity to gain exposure to and training in a broad set of economic research topics and statistical methodologies before pursuing a PhD in economics or finance. The chosen candidates will also gain valuable experience analyzing large and unique datasets (e.g., restricted-use insurance claims, government administrative records on individuals and firms, textual analysis of corporate disclosures, investor holdings data, and proprietary company data), and working with programs such as Stata, R, MATLAB, and Python.

The chosen candidates will have the opportunity to take courses and attend seminars at MIT. Principal Duties and Responsibilities Perform analysis of large-scale quantitative and qualitative datasets as part of research projects. Use of new tools to collect and process data. Summarize and document research results and learn about different research agendas.

Other duties are as needed or required.

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Economics or Statistics, or a related field; minimum 2 years’ specialized experience with qualitative data analysis, research methods, social sciences (which may include experience gained as an undergraduate; strong programming skills and experience, especially in Python, R or MATLAB; and ability to work independently to solve problems.

Candidates must have authorization to work in the US for the duration of the appointment. Master’s degree preferred. The pay range for Technical Associate I is $50,000-$63,000.

If you are interested, please provide the following documents and apply via Interfolio: A one-page cover letter briefly describing your academic career and future study goals. A CV A transcript A writing sample. This could be any research paper or term paper that you think best reflects your abilities A sample of code(s) which you have written, along with a summary of the outputs it generates (logs/graphs) in a single document We will be accepting and reviewing applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

P riority will be given to applications received before November 13. NOTE : Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Candidates should have authorization to work in the US for the duration of the appointment.