The Columbia Center for Political Economy is seeking full-time Postdoctoral Research Scholars beginning July 1, 2025. Under the direction of the Center’s faculty Co-directors and Idea Lab leads, the Scholar will have the opportunity to pursue their own research while supporting the work of the Center.
The Center invites applications on topics relevant to its broad priorities. This includes the foci of the Center’s Idea Labs — Work and Labor, Firms and Industrial Policy, Money and Finance, and Political Economy of Climate. We encourage you to apply for the Idea Lab that best suits your background and research interests:
- Work and Labor examines the forces that influence labor and labor markets, focusing on modes of collective worker action, the interplay between government policies and worker power, how worker organizations intersect with the political process and government, and the future of domestic and international labor movements, with an emphasis on empirical research.
- Firms and Industrial Policy aims to gain new insights into how firms behave, to provide a grounding for policy interventions to promote innovation and shared prosperity.
- Money and Finance explores the relation of money and finance both in theoretical terms and in institutional configurations, including the design of financial instruments as well as the policy instruments employed by central banks, but also the design of financial intermediaries and their relation to central banks and financial market regulators.
- Political Economy of Climate explores how political and economic forces shape policy and societal responses to climate change. The Lab is currently focused on the political economy of forests and how communities dependent on fossil fuel extraction adjust to shifts in demand.
Funding for the Postdoctoral Research Scholar will cover salary for up to one year with the possibility of a one-year extension. The scholar will commit to jointly organize seminars and conferences, public events, and additional programmatic support and outreach with the given Lab that they are involved with.
About Columbia World Projects
Columbia World Projects mobilizes the university’s researchers and scholars to work with governments, organizations, businesses and communities to tackle global challenges. Columbia World Projects is a major, university-wide initiative that aims to forge a closer and more useful connection between Columbia University's vast research capabilities and the needs of the world.
About the Columbia Center for Political Economy
Launched in 2022, the Center for Political Economy at Columbia World Projects identifies and advances the most promising contemporary developments within economics and promotes a new political economy with robust, intellectual and policy incubators across distinct thematic or Idea Labs, outlined above.
Qualifications
Applicants must have a PhD, JSD, or equivalent from across the social sciences, history, and law.
Salary Range
The salary range for this position is $71,050-$82,000.
Application
Interested applicants should submit the following materials via Submittable:
- Cover Letter describing your interest and relevant experience;
- Curriculum Vitae;
- Documentation of PhD or JSD conferment, or timeline for obtaining degree;
- Writing sample consisting of a single journal article, essay, or book chapter (published or unpublished);
- A summary of the research plan for which the position is sought (limited to 350 words);
- A detailed research plan (up to five pages, single-spaced) for the position stating specific goals to be accomplished during the period it will be held; and
- Three letters of recommendation provided by references familiar with your work (including your doctoral supervisor, if applicable).
Please use this Submittable application link to submit an application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Key Deadlines
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. All application materials must be received no later than Dec. 2, 2024, at 5 p.m. EST.
Award announcements are expected to be made in February 2025, with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2025.
Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions.