Predoctoral Research Associate in Finance

About the Role

Harvard Business School (HBS) is seeking multiple Predoctoral Research Associates to support faculty research in the Finance unit, starting in summer 2027. Associates will typically work with two faculty members, with some working with up to three. This opportunity is designed for candidates who aspire to pursue a PhD in finance or economics.

Key Responsibilities

• Work under the general direction of participating Finance faculty on academic research projects covering financial markets, concepts, data, and frameworks.
• Support multiple faculty members and projects, adapting to diverse research questions, methods, timelines, and working styles while maintaining high-quality and organized project workflows.
• Contribute to the full research process, including developing research questions, reviewing academic literature, collecting and assembling data, designing empirical analyses, interpreting results, and preparing findings for faculty review.
• Develop, design, conduct, analyze, and implement research using data science knowledge and prior knowledge of requested statistical packages.
• Perform statistical programming and, where relevant, use natural language processing or other computational methods.
• Manage and manipulate financial and economic data using requested packages, such as STATA, Python, R, or MATLAB.
• Document data sources, code, workflows, and outputs to ensure reproducibility and shareability across projects.
• Prepare research memos, literature reviews, tables, figures, presentations, case materials, and other written or analytical products to communicate research progress and findings clearly.
• Utilize mentorship and feedback from multiple faculty members to deepen knowledge of finance and develop essential research skills, judgment, and professional habits for future academic study.
• Ensure compliance with department, University, and federal regulations.
• Complete work with only general direction.
• Be aware of department, School, and University policies, and potential outside research policies.
• Build trust and collaboration by being present on-site and engaging directly with colleagues and various constituents.
• Responsible for other duties as assigned.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Bachelor’s degree with a GPA above 3.5.
• Ability to read academic, subject-specific information and write a reasoned and thoughtful analysis.
• Ability to produce a creative interpretation of information.
• Evidence of prior high-quality, original academic writing.
• Background in analysis and interpretation of relevant data, research, news, and literature is helpful.
• Proven evidence of independent research in a specific advanced field of study.
• Extremely high standards in terms of quality of work, attention to detail, and strong organization skills.
• Absolute commitment to task completion.
• Ability to balance multiple tasks and shifting priorities under tight deadlines at an accelerated pace.
• Familiarity with navigating a complex organization, such as Harvard Business School, is helpful.
• Statistical packages including STATA, Python, R, or MATLAB.
• Knowledge of data science principles.
• Experience with natural language processing or other computational methods is relevant.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with a GPA above 3.5.
• Ability to read academic, subject-specific information and write a reasoned and thoughtful analysis.
• Ability to produce a creative interpretation.
• Evidence of prior high-quality, original academic writing.
• Background in analysis and interpretation of relevant data, research, news, and literature.
• Proven evidence of independent research in a specific advanced field of study.
• High standards in terms of quality of work, attention to detail, and strong organization skills.
• Absolute commitment to task completion.
• Ability to balance multiple tasks and shifting priorities under tight deadlines at an accelerated pace.
• Familiarity with navigating a complex organization is helpful.
• Experience with STATA, Python, R, or MATLAB.
• Data science knowledge.
• Potential experience with natural language processing or other computational methods.

Additional Information

• Appointment End Date: June 30, 2028.
• These are one-year term appointments starting summer 2027 through June 30, 2028, with an expectation of reappointment until June 30, 2028, based on funding and performance.
• Faculty strongly prefer candidates willing to commit for two years.
• Standard Hours/Schedule: 40 hours per week.
• Harvard University is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.
• The recruiting process is rolling; applications will be reviewed as they are received.
• This is a hybrid position, requiring a combination of remote and on-site work at the Boston, MA campus.
• HBS expects all staff to be on-site a minimum of 3 days per week.
• Specific hours and days on-site will be determined by business needs and are subject to change with appropriate advanced notice.
• Interviews may be conducted virtually or in-person.
• A cover letter is required.
• All candidates are expected to submit a writing sample, transcript, and a code sample for review by an HBS statistician.
• Work location will be set by the department and based upon operational needs.
• Individuals must meet work location sponsorship requirements prior to employment.
• Salary grade level 055.
• Benefits include generous paid time off, parental leave, medical, dental, and vision health insurance, retirement plans with university contributions, wellbeing and mental health resources, support for families and caregivers, professional development opportunities, and commuter benefits.