Student Opportunities

The Reimagining the Economy Project has various openings for current Harvard students, to support our research, strategy, and products. In general, we're looking for candidates with strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude. Time commitment is typically 5-10 hours a week. We’re looking to hire students for the following projects by September 2023. Please apply using this form

• Research translation: The Reimagining the Economy Project will be disseminating insights from new research in industrial policy, local and place-based economic development, and the energy transition, to a broader audience. Research Assistants will engage deeply with a particular research paper, peruse related work, and translate the key ideas into blog posts and other products for policymakers and the public. Candidates should have a working knowledge of economic principles and American economic policy. They should be able to understand and interpret economic research and have excellent writing skills - especially for non-academic audiences.
• U.S. Place-based institutions: This project will focus on the role of different types of local economic development organizations in the U.S., and unpack their histories, trajectories, capabilities, metrics of success, impact, and leadership. We’re interested in understanding the various roles that these entities play and how they collaborate with other institutions. Research Assistants will review existing literature on regional economic development organizations, including local news articles and reports; interview practitioners in the field; document findings and code insights; and write case studies. Candidates should have strong qualitative research skills, attention to detail, ability to navigate ambiguity, and excellent writing and interpersonal skills.
• Industrial policy in developing countries: This project will study the design and implementation of industrial policy in a cross-section of developing countries. We’re interested in studying how different countries are approaching industrial policy, the underlying institutions and state capacity considerations, and mechanisms to measure and evaluate impact. Some of the countries we’re interested in are Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Korea. Candidates should have strong qualitative research skills, attention to detail, a background in institutional arrangements and state capacity, and the ability to navigate ambiguity. A background in one or more of these countries is a plus.
• Strategy and Communications: We want to be able to communicate our work to a wide range of stakeholders, through our website, social media, and newsletters. We’re looking for a strategy and communications assistant to help do this. Since we’re a new project, this role also offers the chance to be entrepreneurial and work with the project’s leadership team to strategize and create new products. Candidates should have experience with website content management systems (Drupal, Wix, WordPress), graphic design skills, an understanding of social media (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, MailChimp), and attention to detail.
• Product: We’re building a data visualization platform on local labor markets that we want to test among different user groups, add/modify product features, and complement with data-based stories. Students in this role will support the Product Team to 1) create a user research strategy, 2) devise and implement an editorial strategy for content to support the platform, 3) assist with UI/UX research, and 4) assist with platform rollout. Candidates should have a background (or interest) in product management, experience working with Tableau and Stata, and strong writing skills (for those interested in the editorial strategy and data stories).