Now Hiring: 2026-27 Postdoctoral Research Scholars

The Center for Political Economy is seeking full-time Postdoctoral Research Scholars for the 2026-27 academic year. Under the direction of the Center’s faculty co-directors and Idea Lab leads, scholars will have the opportunity to pursue their own research while supporting the work of the Center. 

The Center welcomes applications that align with its broad thematic priorities, including the focus areas of the following Idea Labs — Work and Labor, Firms and Industrial Policy, Political Economy of Climate, and International Political Economy. We encourage you to select the Idea Lab that best reflects your background, expertise, and research interests. Please see below for descriptions of each lab. 

• Work and Labor examines the forces that influence labor and labor markets, focusing on modes of collective worker action, the interplay between government policies and worker power, how worker organizations intersect with the political process and government, and the future of domestic and international labor movements, with an emphasis on empirical research. This cycle the Work and Labor Idea Lab is especially interested in applicants whose work speaks to politics and policy, including, but not limited to, the politics of enacting labor reform at different levels of government; worker perspectives on representation through labor organizations and collective action; the design of labor policies and the effects of those policies on opportunities for building worker power and fostering collective action; coalition management between worker organizations and other movements and organized interests; and the relationship between worker organizations, including unions, and politics and government. 
   
• Firms and Industrial Policy aims to gain new insights into how firms behave, to provide a grounding for policy interventions to promote innovation and shared prosperity. Industrial policy — government interventions to stimulate innovation, accelerate technological change, and promote selected industries — is back on mainstream policy agendas across the globe. But even as the policy pendulum swings back toward government intervention, the knowledge base to guide industrial policy remains underdeveloped. Topics may focus on factors that shape firms' decisions technology adoption, product innovation, quality upgrading, R&D investments, patenting, and other forms of innovative behavior; on how such decisions are influenced by market conditions, network relationships, and supply chain architectures; on novel ways to measure such decisions and influences; and on what works and doesn't work in industrial policy.
   
• Political Economy of Climate explores how political and economic forces shape policy and societal responses to climate change. The Lab is most interested in fostering synergies around the following thematic areas: climate fairness and environmental justice, international collaboration or lack thereof, interests shaping the effectiveness of energy transition, and political constraints on environmental (especially climate) policies.
   
• International Political Economy analyzes the intersection of international economics and international politics, including the politics of international money, finance, trade, and migration, and the interaction of international economics and geopolitics.

Funding for the postdoctoral sesearch Scholar will cover salary for up to one year with the possibility of a one-year extension. Together with other members of their Idea Lab, the scholar will organize seminars and conferences, public events, and additional programmatic support and outreach within the given Lab with which they are involved. 

Qualifications

Applicants must have a PhD, JSD, or equivalent from across the social sciences, history, and law.

Salary Range

The salary range for this position is $72,116-$80,000.

Application

Interested applicants should submit the following materials via Interfolio:

1. Cover letter describing your interest and relevant experience;
2. Curriculum Vitae;
3. Documentation of PhD or JSD conferment, or timeline for obtaining degree;
4. Writing sample consisting of a single journal article, essay, or book chapter (published or unpublished);
5. A summary of the research plan for which the position is sought (limited to 350 words);
6. A detailed research plan (up to five pages, single-spaced) for the position stating specific goals to be accomplished during the period it will be held; and
7. Three letters of recommendation provided by references familiar with your work (including your doctoral supervisor, if applicable).

Please use this Interfolio application link to submit an application. Only complete applications submitted via the process outlined will be considered. 

Key Deadlines:

All application materials must be received no later than Nov. 3, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. EST. 

Decisions are expected to be made in January 2026, with an anticipated start date of Aug. 1, 2026. 

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.