Invited Researchers

Invited researchers are an important element of J-PAL’s effort to increase the number of high-quality randomized evaluations providing actionable insights on the most effective approaches to reduce poverty and improve lives worldwide. The more than 550 invited researchers in the J-PAL network are eligible to apply for funding from J-PAL or work with a J-PAL regional office to implement their evaluation. 

Learn more about invited researchers

Like J-PAL affiliated professors, invited researchers are also professors based at academic institutions where freedom to publish results is protected. Invited researchers typically have less experience than affiliated professors in carrying out randomized evaluations. By joining J-PAL as an invited researcher, they become eligible for a three-year term to apply for funding from a specific J-PAL initiative(s) or to work with a specific J-PAL regional office to implement their research project, opening doors to gaining this experience—often in partnership with a J-PAL affiliated professor. 

We seek to recruit invited researchers from universities around the world, with particular emphasis on individuals from or based in a low- or middle-income country. In expanding our invited researcher program, we seek to build diverse networks of researchers around the world who are carrying out randomized evaluations, crowd in subject-matter expertise to J-PAL initiatives, and help researchers strengthen their research portfolio and advance their careers. 

Some invited researchers previously served as post-doctoral associates with J-PAL or members of our affiliate network, or participated in one of J-PAL’s Regional Scholars programs. Many invited researchers go on to become J-PAL affiliated professors; in 2022, 92% of our new affiliates were previously invited researchers.

Invited researcher criteria

Invited researchers typically have less experience carrying out randomized evaluations than affiliates and are invited to either a specific J-PAL initiative(s) or a specific J-PAL regional office. Invited researchers to a J-PAL initiative are eligible to apply for funding from that initiative. Invited researchers to a J-PAL regional office are eligible to contract with that regional office to carry out field research.

Like J-PAL affiliates, invited researchers should be currently affiliated with a university or its equivalent, where academic freedom to publish results is protected, either as a professor or as a principal investigator. Researchers working at funding and implementing organizations (e.g. the World Bank, ADB or IDB) are not eligible to become invited researchers because of potential conflicts. 

Due to limits on research funding and staff capacity, we can only add a limited number of researchers to each initiative or office every year. Eligible invited researchers are identified through an extensive annual centralized search process, nominated quarterly by initiative co-chairs or regional scientific directors, or through an annual self-nomination process (see below). Final selections are made by a committee of J-PAL affiliates.

Self-nomination form

The 2024 self-nomination application to become a J-PAL invited researcher is closed as of August 1, 2024. Applications are under review by J-PAL’s Invited Researcher Selection Committee, and decision notifications will be sent to applicants by late November 2024.

Future applicants: Please check back at this page for information on the 2025 self-nomination period. To be eligible for consideration as a J-PAL invited researcher, researchers must meet the criteria noted above, and must provide the following as part of their self-nomination:

  • CV
  • Two publications in peer-reviewed journals
  • Proof of PhD degree in economics or related quantitative discipline
  • Proof of affiliation to and independent PI status at a university
  • Brief personal statement detailing training, experience running RCTs or interest in doing so in the future, and research interests
  • A reference letter from a J-PAL affiliate, your department chair, or another senior academic

Please email [email protected] with any questions.

Additional information on active Invited Researchers' eligibility

Use the filters below to identify all active Invited Researchers that are associated with each J-PAL initiative and regional office. Alternatively, download this PDF listing all Invited Researchers are their eligible initiatives and regional offices.

All invited researchers are eligible for the following initiatives and regional offices:

  • Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI)
  • Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI)
  • Digital Identification and Finance Initiative (DigiFI)
  • Gender and Economic Agency Initiative (GEA)
  • Governance Initiative (GI)
  • Innovation In Government Initiative (IGI)
  • Jobs and Opportunity Initiative Brazil (JOI BR)
  • Jobs and Opportunity Initiative Global (JOI GL)
  • Learning for All Initiative (LAI)
  • Science for Progress Initiative (SfPI)
  • Crime and Violence Initiative (CVI)
  • J-PAL Africa
  • J-PAL Middle East and North Africa
  • J-PAL South Asia

In addition, all researchers who are eligible for the Humanitarian Protection Initiative (HPI) are also eligible for the Displaced Livelihoods Initiative (DLI) and vice versa.

Finally, when a researcher is eligible to work with a regional office, they are eligible for all of the initiatives housed at that office.

Explore Invited Researchers

Golvine de Rochambeau

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Sciences Po

Stanislas Dehaene

J-PAL title
Professor (of Experimental Cognitive Psychology)
Organization Name
College de France

Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz

J-PAL title
Director of the Developmental Brain Imaging Lab
Organization Name
INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging unit, NeuroSpin Center

Solène Delecourt

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Solène Delecourt

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Banu Demir Pakel

J-PAL title
Associate Professor of Economics
Organization Name
Bilkent University

Ellora Derenoncourt

J-PAL title
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Organization Name
Princeton University

Tatyana Deryugina

J-PAL title
Associate Professor of Finance
Organization Name
Gies College of Business

Manasi Deshpande

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor of Economics
Organization Name
University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Moira Dillon

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
New York University

Cauê Dobbin

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Georgetown University

Kirk Doran

J-PAL title
Henkels Family Collegiate Chair and Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of Notre Dame

Arin Dube

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Mark Duggan

J-PAL title
Professor of Economics
Organization Name
Stanford University

Thad Dunning

J-PAL title
Robson Professor in Political Science
Organization Name
University of California, Berkeley

Valentina Duque

Organization Name
American University

Fred Dzanku

J-PAL title
Senior Research Fellow
Organization Name
Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER)

Ryan Edwards

J-PAL title
Associate Adjunct Professor
Organization Name
Arndt-Corden Dept. of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU

Johan Egebark

J-PAL title
Research Associate
Organization Name
Uppsala University

Dennis Egger

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of Oxford

Sarah Eichmeyer

Assistant Professor of Economics

Bocconi University

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Bocconi University

Claes Ek

J-PAL title
Senior Lecturer
Organization Name
University of Gothenburg

Florian Englmaier

J-PAL title
Professor for Organizational Economics
Organization Name
LMU Munich

Ruben Enikolopov

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (GSE)

Keith Ericson

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Boston University (BU)

Javier Espinosa

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
Rochester Institute of Technology

Fernanda Estevan

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
Sao Paulo School of Economics - FGV

Gabrielle Fack

J-PAL title
Professor of Economics
Organization Name
Paris Dauphine university

Robert Fairlie

J-PAL title
Professor
Organization Name
University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC)

James Fearon

J-PAL title
Professor
Organization Name
Stanford University Department of Political Science

Lisa Feigenson

J-PAL title
Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Organization Name
Johns Hopkins University

Mayara Felix

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Yale University

Lia C.H. Fernald

J-PAL title
Associate Professor, Public Health Nutrition
Organization Name
UC Berkeley School of Public Health

Thiemo Fetzer

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
University of Bonn/University of Warwick

Nathan Fiala

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of Connecticut (UConn)

Sergio Firpo

J-PAL title
Instituto Unibanco Professor of Economics
Organization Name
Institute of Education and Research (INSPER)

Ram Fishman

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Tel Aviv University International

Anne Fitzpatrick

J-PAL title
Assistant Professsor
Organization Name
The Ohio State University

Brahm Fleisch

J-PAL title
Professor of Education Policy
Organization Name
University of the Witwatersrand

Patrick Fowler

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
Washington University in St. Louis, Brown School

Dania Francis

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor of Economics
Organization Name
University of Massachusetts, Boston

Chiara Franzoni

J-PAL title
Full Professor; Director of the Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Polimi Graduate School of Management
Organization Name
Politecnico di Milano

Matthew Freedman

J-PAL title
Professor
Organization Name
University of California, Irvine

Willa Friedman

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor, Economics
Organization Name
University of Houston

Caroline Fry

Organization Name
University of Hawaii at Manoa

Lucie Gadenne

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of Warwick

Alberto Galasso

J-PAL title
Professor of Strategic Management, Rotman Chair in Life Sciences Commercialization
Organization Name
University of Toronto

Ina Ganguli

Professor of Economics

University of Massachusetts Amherst

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of Massachusetts, Amherst