This page contains information about currently or recently open positions with our team. Those interested in working together at UT Austin can see [this page] for information about Ph.D. applications to our program. For those at Harvard or in Europe, please see [this link] for information about points of contact at other AI & Global Development Lab sites. See also [Students].
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Postdoctoral Fellowships in Computational Social Science
Posted: Spring 2025
Deadline: May 19, 2025
Ref: IEI-2025-00244
Join the AI & Global Development Lab at Linköping University’s Institute for Analytical Sociology (IAS) to apply frontier machine learning and causal-inference methods to evaluate local development programs in Africa.
As part of an interdisciplinary team, you will:
- Develop remote-sensing and ML pipelines to generate geo-temporal poverty estimates
- Design and implement causal-inference studies assessing the impact of interventions (e.g., World Bank, Chinese aid) on African communities
- Lead publication-quality research, present at weekly lab meetings, and collaborate across Linköping, Chalmers, Harvard, Gothenburg, and partners
We offer:
- A 2-year postdoctoral contract (extendable to 3 years) with flexible remote work and support for occasional travel
- Mentorship by Prof. Adel Daoud (AI & Global Development Lab) and Dr. Connor Jerzak (UT Austin)
- Access to computing clusters, interdisciplinary workshops, and an international research environment
Your profile:
- PhD (or imminent defense) in sociology, economics, political science, data science, or related fields
- Strong coding ability (Python/R) and experience training deep-learning models at scale
- Solid grounding in causal-inference theory and methods
- Demonstrated publication record or strong working-paper portfolio
- (Desirable) Experience with temporal/geospatial data and interest in development, poverty, or inequality
How to apply:
- Submit your application—including CV, publication/sample manuscript, and a brief statement indicating whether you wish to focus on (1) poverty estimation via remote sensing + ML or (2) causal evaluation of development programs—by 19 May 2025 via the Linköping University careers portal: [Portal Link]
Questions? Learn more about the Lab at aidevlab.org and IAS at liu.se/en/organisation/liu/iei/ias.
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