Opportunities for undergraduate research
Undergrad research can be a valuable experience, both to learn what research is like and if you enjoy it and to boost your application to other research jobs in the future. These jobs are often under-publicized, so a good first step is to check with the departments at your university and professors you know to see if they have job openings or know of any. Department listservs can also be helpful. Although it’s not a surefire method, cold-emailing professors you don’t know but whose work you’re interested in can be effective. If you get lucky, the person you contact will either have work for you or be willing to connect you with other opportunities.
We’ve aggregated some ways to find undergrad research opportunities, both within economics and in related fields.
Economics
- Government
- Treasury Department
- The Federal Reserve
- USAjobs: posts internships in various US government agencies
- Non-profits
- J-PAL
- World Bank
- Urban Institute
- Other sites aggregating opportunities:
- If you belong to a group that is underrepresented in economics (e.g. if you are a woman, LGBTQ+, person of color, low-income, and/or first-generation college student), check out the opportunities here. Several of these are summer undergraduate RA opportunities that also provide mentorship. Others are shorter programs and conferences designed to provide resources and information.
- The American Society of Hispanic Economists also aggregates opportunities for undergrads here.
Related fields
- REU programs: note that since REUs are funded by the NSF, most are only accessible to U.S. citizens
- Data Science for Social Good Fellowship: this fellowship has multiple locations, this links to just one of the many sites!
- Civic Digital Fellowship
- The Leadership Alliance summer research program: great opportunity for research in a range of fields (available to U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents)