2026-27 AY PT Research Fellowship: Vocational Schooling in Brazil
The Stanford King Center on Global Development’s Academic Year Part-Time Research Fellowship Program connects King Center faculty affiliates and affiliated researchers with undergraduate students committed to providing research support during autumn, winter, and spring quarters.
Students have the opportunity to engage in world-class research that has real-world impact. Undergraduate student research fellows are paid $19/hour*. Students must be enrolled full-time to participate and must be able to commit to research 8-10 hours per week.
*Students must attend orientation and submit an I-9 form to verify employment and receive payment. Students who cannot accept pay may be allowed to receive academic credit for this research.
Research Project Description:
We have two complementary projects. One project focuses on an afterschool vocational program in Pernambuco, Brazil. The other focuses on an apprenticeship program in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The first project is an RCT where students face different incentives to participate in the program. The second places students in nearby businesses. We would be matching students to comparable students. In both cases, we are examining impacts on employment and schooling outcomes.
Primary Research Mentor: Eric Bettinger
Co-Research Mentor: Maria Thereza Rios Hortencio
Stanford undergraduate students in good academic standing and enrolled full-time are eligible to apply. Co-term students must have undergraduate student status; if co-terms are in graduate billing status (after 12 quarters) they are ineligible to participate.
All majors are welcome!
Students Responsibilities:
- In both cases, we are using experimental or quasi-experimental methods to identify causal impacts
- Students will help clean and match data.
- Students will also help with basic descriptive statistics and implementation of statistical models.
Students qualifications:
- Coding in Stata or R
- Ability to match data
- Basic statistical knowledge
- Some econometric background
- Portuguese is a plus
Time Commitment:
The time commitment is 8-10 hours per week (equivalent to a 3-unit course) each academic quarter. The expectation is that students will work the full academic year with their mentor (Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters). Students planning on studying abroad may not be eligible.
To Apply:
Along with the application, applicants are asked to submit:
- a cover letter
- resume or CV
- unofficial Stanford transcript (first quarter frosh do not need to submit transcripts for autumn quarter applications)
Research Mentor Questions for Applicants:
- Do you have any knowledge of Portuguese or Spanish? If so, what are your proficiency levels?
