Apply as a Research Assistant in University of Oxford

Application Deadline: August 19, 2025

The Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford is inviting applications for a full-time Research Assistant to provide research and administrative support on the project, with a strong focus on data cleaning, management and analysis. While the postholder will work most closely with Stefan Dercon, they will regularly engage with the principal investigators and the supporting research teams at partner organisations, including the World Bank, the BRAC Institute for Governance and Development, GiveDirectly, FCDO, J-PAL, IRC, and other organisations as the research portfolio expands.

The postholder will be responsible for providing support on grant applications, contributing to writing preanalysis plans, engaging with research partners and exploring new research partnerships (for instance, by attending regular meetings), assisting in the design of survey instruments, providing oversight on data collection, and cleaning and analysing data when it comes in. The postholder will also play a key role in developing materials to communicate our results, including presentations and policy brief.

Roles/Responsibilities

Data cleaning, management, and econometric analysis
Supporting fieldwork design and survey development
Preparing research briefs, presentations, and policy outputs
Liaising with research partners (e.g., BRAC, GiveDirectly, J-PAL)

Eligibility

Hold a bachelor’s degree, together with some relevant experience.
Ability to carry out independent quantitative research, including excellent skills in
statistics/econometrics and programming software (Stata and/or R);
Demonstrable team working skills with a flexible can-do approach, self-motivation, resilience and a
willingness to adapt to the changing team needs and priorities;
Excellent organisational skills with attention to detail and accuracy;
Ability to interpret, apply and communicate regulations and procedures;
Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to synthesise complex issues for
a non-expert audience;
Demonstrated ability to take responsibility for managing a project to completion (including having
scoped, managed and delivered projects before, even if on a voluntary basis or as part of student
activities) and maintain momentum;
An interest in development economics and climate response

Requirements

Experience applying machine learning techniques (e.g., LASSO, random forests);
Previous experience in working on or supporting lab and/or field experiments;
Previous experience working or living in developing countries;
Experience in fieldwork budgeting and monitoring of expenditures with third party suppliers;
Experience in project management.