The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley and the Global Poverty Research Lab (GPRL) at Northwestern University are seeking motivated graduate students (who have completed a Master’s degree or who are enrolled in a PhD program) and early-career researchers (including PhD graduates and postdocs) to join DEVIDENCE, an ambitious project to synthesize academic research in international development.

This is an opportunity for individuals from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) who are interested in strengthening their capacity in experimental design & econometrics while collaborating with DEVIDENCE on extracting results and study-level information from published academic studies. The fellowship includes financial compensation and offers virtual trainings and materials on experimental design, data collection, interventions, and empirical specifications, as well as guest lectures from leading researchers in development economics, including Dean Karlan and Chris Udry from GPRL and Edward Miguel from CEGA, on topics including meta-analysis, evidence to policy translation, and research transparency.

About the DEVIDENCE Fellows Program

Research Development

The DEVIDENCE project is an effort to build a relational database of evidence from randomized evaluations in development economics. It leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to extract information on treatment effects, experimental design, sampling, compliance, attrition, study context, cost effectiveness, and publication information from published research papers. We are looking for researchers to validate and refine this extracted data, checking the accuracy of LLM extracted data, and to conduct additional work identifying important information contained within papers. This work focuses specifically on reviewing publications of studies that have used randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and impact evaluation methodologies. You will have the flexibility to sign up to validate and code information from papers through our dedicated portal, allowing you to contribute at your own pace.

Work Experience

This program offers the opportunity to engage with research in international development and to explore how large language models can be deployed as tools for researchers working on meta-analyses, evidence reviews, and the research-to-policy pipeline. The initial set of papers spans entrepreneurship, education, nutrition, and agriculture, with DEVIDENCE expanding into additional topic areas as the project grows.

This is a fully remote, mostly asynchronous opportunity. After completing a synchronous virtual training, fellows have the flexibility to sign up to validate and code information from papers through our dedicated portal, allowing you to contribute at your own pace. Throughout the program, fellows will also take part in ongoing synchronous lectures and weekly cohort meetings to discuss questions, challenges, and strategies for encoding complex studies using the DEVIDENCE schema. Fellows who successfully complete the training and work-experience components will receive a certificate of completion. 

Compensation

This fellowship is designed as a 6-month engagement, with the possibility of extension. Over this period, DEVIDENCE fellows will successfully process data from at least 75 academic papers, allowing for 1,000 papers total to be completed by the end of the first cohort (2026–2027). Fellows in the initial cohort will be compensated for the amount of data validation they complete on a per-study basis, and are eligible to receive a stipend of up to $3,000 USD for their time over the first six months. For anyone who is in the U.S. on a U.S. visa, please check with your academic office to see if you are eligible to receive financial compensation. 

Who Should Apply

We are looking for individuals who are passionate about rigorous research methods and international development. Ideal candidates include:

• English fluency (all papers are written in English).
• Early-career researchers who have completed at least a Master’s Degree. Current PhD students and recent PhD graduates are welcome to apply; we are looking for applicants who already have had some entry-level training in econometrics and impact evaluation design.
• Individuals with a strong understanding of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and impact evaluations. While the majority of the papers currently being processed by this project are in economics, we welcome social science researchers from multiple disciplines.

Deadline to submit papers is Sunday, December 13, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST. PacDev 2027 will take place on Saturday, March 13, 2027. It will be hosted by the University of British Columbia.

When submitting your paper, you will be asked to include the following:

• Title
• Author and co-author(s)’s name(s)
• Paper abstract
• Paper to upload as pdf file

Full papers and extended abstracts will be reviewed. If your paper is not selected for a presentation, it may be considered for the poster session. 

PacDev welcomes paper submissions in all research topics in development economics. Priority will be given to full papers, but extended abstracts will also be considered. Submissions from junior researchers are encouraged, including submissions for a Junior Researcher poster session that is open to doctoral students in their third year or below, masters students and graduates, and advanced undergraduates.

Please submit via this site by December 13, 2026. You will be notified of a decision by January 16, 2027.