Paid Cornell CIDER Predoctoral Fellowship

Cornell University's Collaboration for International Development Economics Research (CIDER) runs a predoctoral fellowship for graduates preparing for a PhD in economics, agricultural and resource economics, development studies, public policy or a related field. Fellows spend one to three years as full-time, salaried research staff in Ithaca, New York, working on development economics projects with Cornell faculty alongside weekly seminars, technical training and audited coursework. This round is recruiting several fellows to join a cohort, at $65,447 to $75,632 a year.

What you get:

• A salary of $65,447 to $75,632 a year, set by your experience, education, skills and field
• Cornell staff benefits, including health care options, retirement contributions, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays
• Cornell's staff education benefits, which the posting lists as including tuition-free Extramural Study
• One to three years of research experience with several core CIDER faculty, across multiple projects
• Weekly seminars, technical trainings, conferences, audited coursework and networking
• Cohort-based professional development, with research assistant training through CIDER, Mann Library and the Cornell Center for Social Sciences
• Possible field research, depending on project needs, your language skills and your interest
• The option to work as a teaching assistant on a related course, by agreement with your faculty supervisors

What you'll do:

• Work full time and onsite in Ithaca as a research assistant on faculty-led development economics projects
• Collect, clean, manage and analyse data, and write and maintain the code that organises it
• Help design, run and update research surveys, and work with partner organisations on data collection
• Review the literature and help prepare papers, conference presentations, grant reports and ethics board (IRB) submissions
• Prepare materials and handle logistics for CIDER events, trainings, workshops and seminars
• Join CIDER's research seminar series and the wider intellectual life of the university

Key dates:

• Posting opened September 9, 2026
• Applications received by October 15, 2026 receive full consideration
• Applications received after October 15 may be considered until the positions are filled

More information:

• Current Cornell posting, with full requirements, pay and the Apply button: https://jobs.hr.cornell.edu/us/en/job/WDR-00061135/Pre-Doctoral-Fellow-CIDER;-SC-Johnson-College-of-Business
• CIDER faculty you could work with: https://business.cornell.edu/centers/cider/faculty/
• Questions about the programme: cider@cornell.edu

• A bachelor's degree in economics, business, public policy, mathematics, statistics or a related field, with 2 to 4 years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Coursework in econometrics and statistics, and familiarity with statistical software such as Stata or R
• Strong knowledge of economics research methods, shown through coursework or prior research
• You must be able to work in the United States: F-1 OPT and STEM OPT holders can apply, and no other visa sponsorship is offered
• Full time and onsite in Ithaca, New York, with no relocation assistance
• Preferred but not required: a master's degree, research experience such as a senior thesis, ArcGIS, Python or SQL, and French, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil or Portuguese
• Apply with a resume and a cover letter covering your research interests, your quantitative research experience and skills, and your interest in doctoral study