Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Support Identifying and Developing Mathematical Talent among Youth

To support research on the development of mathematical talent in students, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), pending approval of support from the Agency Fund, plans to offer up to four non-resident dissertation fellowships for the 2025–2026 academic year. These fellowships are open to doctoral students in economics and economics-adjacent fields  such as public policy, at US and Canadian universities, who will have advanced to dissertation candidacy by the start of the fellowship period. The dissertation research must focus on issues related to identifying and developing mathematical talent among youth. 

Each fellowship will provide four types of support:

  1. Financial support in the form of a $37,500 stipend and up to $13,000 in tuition assistance to reduce the need for recipients to work as teaching assistants and free up more of their time for independent research. Each fellow will also have access to a research support fund of $3,000 which could support expenses such as field work. 
  2. Connection to a group of peers with similar research interests to build a network of potential collaborators. 
  3. Assignment of a faculty mentor with expertise in this research field. The mentor will supplement the advising resources available to students at their home institutions. 
  4. An invitation and financial support to participate in the NBER Summer Institute Innovation/Productivity meeting in Cambridge, MA in July 2026. 

Potential fellows may approach the subject of mathematical talent development from a number of perspectives. Projects that involve original data collection, descriptive work, quasi-experimental data analysis as well as randomized controlled trials fall within scope of this initiative. Potential fellows whose research involves randomized evaluations may also be interested in applying for support from J-PAL’s Science for Progress Initiative. Fellows must attest that their research is their primary activity for the fellowship year and receive prior approval for any work as a research assistant or teaching assistant that will be carried out during the fellowship year. 

Each applicant should assemble the following materials in a single PDF:  

  1. A cover letter of no more than one page summarizing the applicant’s background and providing the names and e-mail addresses of two references.
  2. A curriculum vitae.
  3. A research proposal of no more than one page. It will be judged by its technical quality and by its relevance to either (1) work related to uncovering hidden math talent in low- and middle-income countries, or (2) work investigating mechanisms for supporting exceptionally talented youth in the navigation of their potential.

These materials should be uploaded by visiting the Job Openings for Economists posting for these fellowships; it should be live by early November. Please upload materials no later than 11:59 pm (ET) on Monday, January 5, 2025. Applications that are not complete by the deadline will not be considered. The NBER encourages applications from women, students who are members of groups that have historically been under-represented in the economics profession, individuals with disabilities, and veterans.

Applications will be evaluated by a review committee consisting of Ruchir Agarwal (IMF), Ina Ganguli (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Patrick Gaule (University of Bristol), Eddie Mandhry (Schmidt Futures), Paul Niehaus (University of California, San Diego and NBER), and Heidi Williams (Dartmouth College and NBER).

Fellowship awards will be announced by March 2025. Please direct questions about this fellowship program to Abbie Murrell (murrella@nber.org).