The DEVIDENCE Fellows program is not recruiting at this time. Please follow GPRL and BITSS social media for updates on when the next round of Fellows can join the program.
About the DEVIDENCE Fellowship
The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley and the Global Poverty Research Lab (GPRL) at Northwestern University are seeking motivated graduate students (who have completed a Master’s degree or who are enrolled in a PhD program) and early-career researchers (including PhD graduates and postdocs) to join DEVIDENCE, an ambitious project to synthesize academic research in international development.
This is an opportunity for individuals from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) who are interested in strengthening their capacity in experimental design & econometrics while collaborating with DEVIDENCE on extracting results and study-level information from published academic studies. The fellowship includes financial compensation and offers virtual trainings and materials on experimental design, data collection, interventions, and empirical specifications, as well as guest lectures from leading researchers in development economics, including Dean Karlan and Chris Udry from GPRL and Edward Miguel from CEGA, on topics including meta-analysis, evidence to policy translation, and research transparency.
Work Experience
This is an opportunity for individuals who are interested in strengthening their capacity in experimental design & econometrics while collaborating with DEVIDENCE on extracting results and study-level information from published academic studies. Fellows validate and refine extracted data and inform model development by checking the accuracy of LLM-extracted results and study-level information, and helping surface important details the model may have missed. The initial set of papers spans entrepreneurship, education, nutrition, and agriculture.
This is a fully remote, mostly asynchronous opportunity. After a virtual training, fellows validate and code papers through our dedicated portal at their own pace, alongside office hours and ongoing guest lectures. Fellows are expected to commit for a six-month period of flexible working hours with the possibility of extension. In the first 6 months, Fellows are expected to validate at least 75 studies (3 per week).
Compensation
This fellowship is designed as a 6-month engagement, with the possibility of extension. Over this period, DEVIDENCE fellows will successfully process data from at least 75 academic papers, allowing for 1,000 papers total to be completed by the end of the first cohort (2026–2027). Fellows in the initial cohort will be compensated for the amount of data validation they complete on a per-study basis, and are eligible to receive a stipend of up to $3,000 USD for their time over the first six months. For anyone who is in the U.S. on a U.S. visa, please check with your academic office to see if you are eligible to receive financial compensation.
Benefits include:
- Certificate from Northwestern upon completion of the program
- Targeted trainings from researchers at UC Berkeley and Northwestern
- Financial compensation on a per-study basis up to $3,000 for the six-month engagement
- Accelerated on-ramp to using DEVIDENCE data for your own research projects
- 1-year access to gated journals
- Public recognition for top contributors
Who Should Apply
We are looking for individuals who are passionate about rigorous research methods and international development. Ideal candidates include:
- English fluency (all papers are written in English).
- Early-career researchers who have completed at least a Master’s Degree. Current PhD students and recent PhD graduates are welcome to apply; we are looking for applicants who already have had some entry-level training in econometrics and impact evaluation design.
- Individuals with a strong understanding of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and impact evaluations. While the majority of the papers currently being processed by this project are in economics, we welcome social science researchers from multiple disciplines.