Research Associate Program

The research associate (RA) program at the Boston Fed is a two-year program designed for recent college graduates with a bachelor’s or master’s in economics, math, statistics, or a related field. RAs work with economists in the Bank’s Research Department on a variety of projects. They provide support for ongoing analysis of the New England, U.S., and global economies and monetary policy, as well as of bank regulation, the payments system, and financial markets.

Working as an RA for the Boston Fed can be a valuable step along your career path. If you want to gain meaningful work experience, expand your career options, and serve the public, we encourage you to apply for the program.

• Assist economists with time-critical analysis of current economic data for important monetary policy work. This includes gathering and interpreting data and preparing material that will be used for briefings on regional and national economic conditions.
• Perform data collection, statistical and econometric analysis, and literature reviews. RAs may also coauthor articles and prepare presentations in support of scholarly research projects.

• Review, organize, and analyze economic and financial data.
• Write programs using statistical software such as STATA, MATLAB, R, Python, or SAS.
• Conduct economic research for policy memos and articles intended for publication in academic journals, on bostonfed.org,and in business periodicals.
• Conduct literature reviews and prepare written summaries of data analysis for economists.
• Prepare charts and tables using spreadsheet and graphic software packages.
• Design programs to analyze data, perform statistical tests, and run regressions. Update and maintain data series regularly used by economists.
• Proofread and fact-check articles and papers.

• A bachelor’s in economics, math, statistics, computer science, international relations or a related field with aconcentration in economics
• Strong analytical, communications, and organizational skills
• Experience with statistical software packages and knowledge of statistics and econometrics
• Previous economic research experience or involvement in an independent research project is helpful, as well asfact-checking and proofreading papers, reports, and memos

RAs are presented with tremendous opportunities for professional and intellectual development. These experiences build knowledge of economics as well as analytical, quantitative, and writing skills that can be used to pursue advanced studies in a variety of fields.

RAs have access to numerous training opportunities. Through our in-house program, they can learn how to use MATLAB, Stata, SAS, R, and Python. The Bank's generous tuition-reimbursement program and flexible work schedules encourage RAs to take advantage of the excellent academic institutions in Greater Boston. Each year, RAs enroll in a variety of graduate courses at Harvard University, MIT, Boston University, and other local universities.

RAs are invited to attend weekly in-house seminars, where prominent economists present their research and receive feedback. These seminars educate RAs on a broad range of current economic research and expose them to the scholarly peer review process.

RAs have access to a vast library of books, periodicals/journals, newspapers, and data sets through our Economic Research Information Center.

The Boston Fed prides itself on its collegial and supportive environment. RAs assist each other in developing their analytical and programming skills, and they play a central role in helping the Bank achieve its goals and objectives.

In addition to the previously noted benefits, the…