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)
  • Crime and Violence Initiative (CVI)
  • Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI)
  • Digital Identification and Finance Initiative (DigiFI)
  • Displaced Livelihoods Initiative (DLI)
  • European Social Inclusion Initiative (ESII)
  • Gender and Economic Agency Initiative (GEA)
  • Governance Initiative (GI)
  • Humanitarian Protection Initiative (HPI)
  • 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)
  • J-PAL Africa
  • J-PAL Europe
  • J-PAL Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
  • J-PAL South Asia

Please note that 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

Emily Oster

J-PAL title
Professor of Economics
Organization Name
Brown University Departments of Economics and Community Health

Sebastián Otero

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor of Economics
Organization Name
Columbia University

Stephanie Owen

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Colby College

Nkechi Owoo

J-PAL title
Researcher
Organization Name
University of Ghana

Lindsay Page

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
Brown University

Daniel Paravisini

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Susan Parker

J-PAL title
Professor
Organization Name
University of Maryland School of Public Policy

Marcella Peña Garay

J-PAL title
Professor of Cognitive Sciences and Psychology
Organization Name
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC Chile)

Marcela Perticará

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
Universidad Diego Portales

Amber Peterman

J-PAL title
Research Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)

Stephanie Casey Pierce

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow at the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy
Organization Name
University of Tennessee

Jacquelyn Pless

J-PAL title
Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
Organization Name
MIT Sloan School of Management

Maria Polyakova

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Stanford University

Vladimir Ponczek

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
Sao Paulo School of Economics (EESP)

Nolan Pope

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
University of Maryland, College Park

André Portela Souza

J-PAL title
Director
Organization Name
CLEAR Lusophone Center for Brazil and Africa

Daniel Posner

J-PAL title
James S. Coleman Professor of International Development
Organization Name
UCLA Political Science

Victor Pouliquen

J-PAL title
Senior Lecturer
Organization Name
University of Essex

Nishith Prakash

J-PAL title
Professor of Public Policy and Economics
Organization Name
Northeastern University

Soledad Artiz Prillaman

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

Nancy Qian

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor of Economics
Organization Name
Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

Atonu Rabbani

J-PAL title
Professor, Mushtaque Chowdhury Chair in Health and Poverty
Organization Name
BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University

Pia Raffler

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor of Government
Organization Name
Harvard University

Fernanda Ramirez-Espinoza

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Pontific Catholic University

Alejandra Ramos

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Trinity College Dublin

Diego Ramos

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Dartmouth College

Steven Raphael

J-PAL title
Professor of Public Policy
Organization Name
University of California, Berkeley

Nico Ravanilla

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
University of California San Diego (UCSD)

Saravana Ravindran

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
National University of Singapore (NUS)

Budy Resosudarmo

J-PAL title
Professor
Organization Name
Australian National University (ANU)

Deborah Rho

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
University of St. Thomas, Minnesota

Marjorie Rhodes

J-PAL title
Professor of Psychology
Organization Name
New York University

Emma Riley

Assistant Professor

University of Michigan

J-PAL title
Junior research fellow
Organization Name
University of Michigan

Todd Rogers

J-PAL title
Professor of Public Policy
Organization Name
Harvard Kennedy School

Maria Fernanda Rosales Rueda

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
University of Delaware

Evan Rose

J-PAL title
Saieh Family Research Fellow, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor
Organization Name
The University of Chicago

Matt Ross

J-PAL title
Associate Professor of Public Policy & Economics
Organization Name
Northeastern University

Azzurra Ruggeri

J-PAL title
Leader of the Max Planck Research Group iSearch - Information Search, Ecological and Active Learning Research with Children
Organization Name
Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Remidius Ruhinduka

J-PAL title
Research Fellow and Lecturer
Organization Name
University of Dar es Salaam (Mkwawa Campus)

Devesh Rustagi

J-PAL title
Assistant professor
Organization Name
University of Warwick

Juan Saavedra

J-PAL title
Visiting Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University
Organization Name
University of Southern California (USC)

Santiago Saavedra

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario

Adrienne Sabety

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor
Organization Name
Stanford University

Joyce Sadka

J-PAL title
Chair of the Department of Law; Full time professor
Organization Name
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)

Sally Sadoff

J-PAL title
Assistant Professor,
Organization Name
University of California San Diego (UCSD)

Raffaella Sadun

J-PAL title
Associate Professor
Organization Name
Harvard Business School (HBS)

Emmanuel Saez

J-PAL title
Professor of Economics, Director of Center for Equitable Growth
Organization Name
UC Berkeley Department of Economics

Gumilang Aryo Sahadewo

J-PAL title
Research Fellow
Organization Name
Universitas Gadjah Mada