Project Research Assistant

Current Status: The hiring for this position has been paused and we are no longer proceeding with this search

About NPEI :

The New Political Economy Initiative is a project of IIT Bombay’s Centre for Liberal Education. The Initiative aims to rethink the study of the economy by catalysing a set of research collectives, namely (a) Industrial Policy and Structural Transformation, (b) Regional Political Economy, (c) Social Structures of the Economy, (d) Public Goods and Public Sphere. The Initiative draws together economists, political scientists, sociologists, historians, geographers, legal scholars, urbanists, technical experts, journalists and research practitioners to build a structural and institutional vision of South Asia’s economies, past, present, and future.

Essential Qualifications & Experience

• Candidates must have earned an MA or an equivalent Masters degree, which is marked as the qualifying degree for this role.
• We are looking for candidates with qualifying degrees in economics, public policy, development studies, sociology, anthropology, political ecology, environmental science or other allied social sciences.
• Candidates should have at least two years of experience in field research, academic or otherwise OR a demonstrated interest and experience in quantitative analysis (this can be at the Master’s dissertation level or other research experience).
• We especially encourage applications from individuals belonging to under-represented and/or marginalised groups.
• This advertisement is very targeted for the profiles mentioned below, so we request the candidates to indicate what profile they are applying for in their personal essay (800 to 1000 words).
• While submitting the applications, we request applicants to submit a clear CV with proper timelines and a personal essay. Without these details, we will not be able to consider any applications.

Job Profile:

Applications from eligible candidates are invited for the following research programmes –

• Understanding people’s collectives in India: We are looking for two research assistants for this project that entails a lot of field work in different geographies of India to study and analyse newly emerging people’s collectives and their institutions in rural geographies. The RAs will work as part of a team of three individuals and report to the Fellow leading the study. The RAs will need to work remotely and will be required to travel for field work. Candidates applying for this profile must have a masters degree (in economics, sociology, anthropology, political ecology, environmental science or other allied social sciences) and at least two years of experience in field research, academic or otherwise. The project shall entail field work in different geographies in India; writing and analysing, and at times working with audio-visual media for documentation purposes, so it will be an added advantage if an applicant has those skills or is open to learning new skills. Candidates with working knowledge of languages beyond Hindi and English, especially southern Indian languages will be an added advantage.
• Industrial policies in subnational context: We are looking to engage a research assistant for a project that entails a lot of desk research and literature review of industrial policy documents and government policy briefs. The candidate will work remotely and will support and report to the Fellow leading the study and NPEI’s work on industrial policy and the subnational question.  For this profile, the candidate must have a master’s level training in economics or public policy or development studies with a demonstrated interest in quantitative analysis and skills to support this. They should also know how to handle datasets such as Annual Survey of Industry and NSSO unit-level data across various rounds, with an understanding of trends and comparability. The project will also entail content analysis, so some experience or training of this would be an advantage.
• Political economy of waste management in cities: We are looking to engage a research assistant based in Bengaluru on a full-time basis for a project that entails looking at solid waste as a large source of pollution in cities and the question of collective action and public goods in Indian cities. The candidate must have master’s level qualifications and specialisation or professional experience in the areas of air pollution, waste management, urban political economy, public goods. The selected candidate will work with a team of three to four people.

Compensation:

Level PR-A3: Salary range from Rs.25200 to Rs. 50400 + Rs.5000.00/- Out Of Campus Allowance (if applicable) p.m.

General information:

• While making an application, apart from the CV, the candidates have to mandatorily upload a personal statement clearly specifying the research project they are interested in. Without a CV and personal statement, the application will not be considered.
• Candidates are requested to make their personal profile specific to the research programme they are applying for.
• The use of generative AI tools for personal statements is prohibited, if found out, the application will be automatically rejected.
• This is a full-time position and the contract is valid for one year.
• The appointment is for a time bound project and the candidate is required to work mainly for the successful completion of the project and its allied programmes, along with some administrative duties.
• Medical Facilities as per project staff norms will be  provided.
• The selection committee may offer lower or higher designation and lower or higher salary depending upon the experience and performance of the candidate in the interview.
• The interviews for shortlisted candidates will be conducted online.

Application Process:

• The applications for this position, can be made on this link.
• This advertisement is very targeted and we will not be able to consider applications that don’t relate their proposals to the questions above or are not closely adjacent to the themes we are interested in.
• While submitting the applications and proposals we request applicants to clearly mention their year long research plans, outputs and timelines. Without these details, we will not be able to consider any applications.