Research Scientist (TxBSPI) Full-time

Research Scientist (TxBSPI)

The Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute (TxBSPI) is an interdisciplinary research institute committed to discovering and disseminating solutions that reduce barriers to economic mobility and well-being—starting in Texas and expanding globally. Our flagship projects focus on K-12 and post-secondary education, workforce development, and a growing range of topics including physical and mental health, political participation, and criminal justice.

The Research Scientist will work closely with Dr. David Yeager to advance the scientific goals of the institute and disseminate findings through peer-reviewed journals, policy briefs, and other scholarly outlets. This position is currently funded for one year from start date and may be renewed based upon availability of funding, work performance, and progress toward research goals.

Responsibilities include:

• Leading and co-authoring peer-reviewed journal articles, reports, and policy briefs derived from existing NSF-funded studies and longitudinal datasets.
• Collaborating with Dr. Yeager and the research team, including data scientists, on study design, analysis plans, and interpretation of findings to ensure rigor and publication readiness.
• Guiding the analysis process; providing insight on modeling strategies, interpretation, and data visualization to support manuscripts.
• Providing mentorship and guidance to junior researchers, postdocs, and graduate students in scientific writing, data interpretation, and research methods.
• Facilitating workshops and trainings on research best practices and manuscript preparation.
• Contributing to project management activities, including organizing team meetings, reviewing protocols, and supporting project timelines.
• Performing additional related duties as assigned.

Required qualifications include:

• Ph.D. in Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Education, Population Studies, Epidemiology, Neuropsychology, Computer Science, or related field.
• Demonstrated record as an independent researcher with peer-reviewed publications.
• Expertise in quantitative research using large population-representative datasets, including multiple modeling strategies.
• Strong experience authoring journal articles and technical reports.
• Proficiency in Stata; familiarity with R or Python is a plus.
• Minimum of five years of relevant research experience.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Research experience in education, inequality, cognition, or intervention design.
• Extensive experience with longitudinal studies and large-scale, population-representative datasets.
• Experience working in interdisciplinary, collaborative research projects in academic or applied settings.
• Strong collaborative skills and experience mentoring junior researchers.
• Highly motivated by leading publications and advancing a research agenda through writing.

Salary range is $65,000+ depending on qualifications.

Required materials include:

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest