Position: Research Assistant 2025
Location:
Boston, MA
The Research Assistant (RA) program at the Boston Fed is a two-year program designed for recent college graduates with a background in economics, math, statistics, or related fields. RAs work with economists on a variety of research projects and provide support for ongoing analysis of the New England, U.S., and global economies and monetary policy, as well as bank regulation, the payments system and financial markets.
Positions are available in our Research Department starting in June 2025. The Research Department provides current economic analysis and policy advice to Federal Reserve decision makers and conducts innovative research with the aim of improving our understanding of the regional, U.S. and global economies and encouraging better policy outcomes.
The Boston Fed is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to supporting and fostering diversity within the broader economics research community. If you are interested in gaining meaningful work experience, expanding your career options, and serving the public, we encourage you to apply for our Research Assistant Program.
Please note the deadline to apply is Friday, October 4th.
RA Responsibilities
- Review, organize, and analyze economic and financial data.
- Write programs using statistical software such as Stata, MATLAB, R, SAS or Python
- Conduct literature reviews, perform thorough data analysis, and prepare written summaries of results for economists.
- Prepare charts and tables using spreadsheet and data visualization software packages.
- Conduct economic research for policy memos and for articles intended for publication by The Boston Fed, academic journals, and business periodicals.
- Design programs to clean data, perform statistical tests, and run regressions. Update and maintain data series regularly used by economists.
- Proofread, edit, and fact-check articles and papers.
Qualifications
- A bachelor’s degree in economics, math, statistics, computer science, international relations, or related field with concentration in economics.
- Strong analytical, communications, and organization skills.
- Familiarity with programming languages and statistical software packages such as Stata, Python, Matlab, R, and knowledge of statistics and econometrics.
- Prior research or classroom experience analyzing data.
Other Requirements
- Research Assistant positions require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
How to Apply
- Applications must include the following to be considered:
- Cover letter: Cover letters should be addressed to Jeffrey Kelley, Recruiting Manager. It should include your statement of interest in the position, including how a research assistant position at the Fed is relevant to your career aspirations, as well as particular qualities or skills that make you a good candidate.
- Résumé: Résumés should include all education information, including institutions attended and areas of concentration, overall undergraduate GPA as well as GPA in your major, graduate GPA (if applicable), computer skills, and relevant work experience.
- Writing sample. Your writing sample should be 3-5 pages, preferably on an economic topic and should include technical content. Writing samples might include papers from undergraduate economics classes or a thesis. Excerpts from longer pieces are acceptable.
- Transcript: We accept unofficial transcripts from each college or university attended as part of your application. If you become a finalist for a position, we will ask that you submit an official transcript.
- Recommendation Letters. Two letters of recommendation are required, one from an economics professor. Letters should be emailed to Sonia Pierre at Bos.RA.Recruiting@bos.frb.org. Please request that they include your name in the subject line of the email.
Learn more about our RA Program here.