Careers & Fellowships
Join us in working toward more equal, inclusive, multiracial, and multiethnic democracy.
The Ash Center is a global and values-driven community that believes diverse perspectives are paramount to better understanding and addressing real-world problems. In fostering an environment of rigor, curiosity, and integrity, we value and respect different opinions, lived experiences, and diverse research and policy areas and approaches. We actively seek candidates who share our commitment and values.
Fellowship Opportunities
Allen Lab Fellowships
Research Fellowship: This fellowship is intended for emerging scholars, predoctoral students/ postdoctoral researchers within 5 years of degree conferred. Fellows will be in-person in Cambridge to work on a self-directed research project
Policy Fellowship: This fellowship is intended for faculty, mid-career practitioners, and policymakers with expertise and demonstrated interest in the research, development, and implementation of policy coinciding with the Lab’s research themes. Fellows will work on their own self-directed project. May be remote and part-time with expectation of several visits to campus per semester.
Reimagining Democracy Program Fellowships
Democracy Visiting Fellowship: The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation invites faculty, doctoral, and postdoctoral students to apply to its Democracy Visiting Fellowship Program and further their research on substantive democratic governance issues.
Staff Opportunities
There are no staff opportunities available at this time.
Student Opportunities
Summer Research Assistant on U.S. Protest Activity for Prof. Erica Chenoweth
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation seeks returning HKS students for the following summer Research Assistant Position.
As part of the Crowd Counting Consortium, the Nonviolent Action Lab at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, in partnership with the University of Connecticut, maintains the most complete and detailed near-real-time dataset on political protest activity in the United States. Research assistants will create structured data on protest events from news stories and social media posts for this open-access dataset and will assist faculty PIs Prof. Erica Chenoweth (HKS) and Prof. Jeremy Pressman (UConn) and Research Project Manager Dr. Soha Hammam with related research tasks as required. Candidates must demonstrate deep knowledge of data collection and analysis, exceptional time management skills, and willingness to approach problems with creativity and collaboration. We value attention to detail and a commitment to producing high-quality work. Students from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences are welcome to apply. The time commitment will be 20 hours per week.
Please send your resume and short statement of interest to soha_hammam@hks.harvard.edu.
Research Assistant, Health Information and Transparency
The Ash Center seeks a student research assistant to conduct research on health information and transparency. We are primarily interested in how individuals acquire health information – such as whether or not to vaccinate themselves or their children, diagnose their ailments, decide which therapies (if any) to pursue. Some such sources include their physician, public health agencies (governments), friends, Internet, and content creators. Are there patterns of information acquisition in which some individuals have developed strategies to acquire more reliable information while others have strategies that yield unreliable information? Secondarily, we are also interested in the changing nature of the generation of health information. For example, as changes in the federal level reduce confidence in the US CDC, state agencies and coalitions of state agencies are forming to provide alternative guidance. The research assistant would collect available primary sources in these areas, as well as review secondary literature. This research might also involve producing cases studies in specific areas.
To apply, please send submit a resume and cover letter to: jessica_creighton@hks.harvard.edu, indicating the position you are interested in.
Research Assistant, Transparency and Election Trust
Especially since the 2020 election, public trust in the integrity of elections has fallen and many doubt that elections are run fairly and reliably. One response to public distrust has been transparency. Election officials and others are seeking to increase trust by making many aspects of elections more transparent and by providing more information about elections. This can take the form of media spots in which election official or “trusted intermediaries” such as local fire-fighters or teachers explain elections operations. Some have developed mobile apps to track ballots. Some election officials provide tours of elections operations facilities – both in-person or virtually. Some have gone so far as to construct ballot counting facilities that have glass walls so that people outside can see what is happening inside during the counting process. The Ash Center seeks a student research assistant to conduct research on election transparency through literature reviews, interviews, and case studies. What are the range of transparency measures and which ones – if any – seem to increase trust in elections?
To apply, please send submit a resume and cover letter to: jessica_creighton@hks.harvard.edu, indicating the position you are interested in.
Research Assistant, Information and the Workplace
The Ash Center seeks a student research assistant to help develop research cases on how providing workers information can help them use rights provided them under employment and labor laws and learn about workplace risks. Research topics may include how the provision of information on pay, exposure to risks from heat, and workplace rights on labor standards affect workers in their jobs and in the labor market.
The RA will work closely with a small team of researchers investigating the dynamics of Americans’ access to information about risks in everyday life, rights guaranteed by law, essential services, and civic responsibilities. The RA will conduct desk research to inform case studies, which includes identifying news articles, academic literature (published and working papers), and information regarding data sources pertaining to workplace risk, rights, and programs.
To apply, please send submit a resume and cover letter to: jessica_creighton@hks.harvard.edu, indicating the position you are interested in.
Research Assistant, Information Use in a Democratic Society
The Ash Center seeks a pair of student research assistants to create a comprehensive inventory of the way people in their different roles (citizens, workers, consumers) access information about risks in everyday life, rights guaranteed by law, essential services, and civic responsibilities. Some examples include automobile safety, restaurant hygiene, workplace toxins, government benefit programs, and wildfire alerts. We also aim to develop an inventory of pathways that people use to access the major information areas (e.g. websites, social media) and obstacles encountered in obtaining, understanding and acting on information. The RAs will work closely with a small team of researchers investigating the dynamics of information access, including on workplace rights, public health, and elections. The position will include a mix of independent work and in-person meetings. The RAs will conduct desk research on the ways people access information, which involves identifying and cataloging academic and (non-academic) literature in a framework. They will also work collaboratively with the research team to identify the major information areas and sketch out information flows and obstacles.
To apply, please send submit a resume and cover letter to: jessica_creighton@hks.harvard.edu, indicating the position you are interested in.