Research Opportunities
I periodically recruit paid research assistants to support original data collection, computational research, and the development of shared research infrastructure. Openings are tied to particular projects, so the balance among source research, structured coding, programming, multimodal data processing, and database work varies over time.
I welcome inquiries from students and early-career researchers whose interests or skills align with one or more of the areas below. A strong applicant does not need to match every category. For an overview of the substantive agenda, see my Research page; for the underlying datasets and methods, see the Data page.
Current projects
Where Research Assistants Contribute
My current projects examine political elites across national and international institutions while developing new systems for collecting, validating, and sharing political data.
Comparative Political Elites Data
Constructing and harmonizing longitudinal biographies of political elites, including careers, education, political affiliations, family ties, and institutional positions. Current modules cover China, the United States, OECD governments, Russia, Southeast Asia, and international organizations.
AI-Assisted Data Construction
Developing and evaluating source-linked workflows that use large language models to discover evidence, synthesize fragmented documents, execute complex codebooks, and support expert adjudication and consistent recoding.
Multimodal Political Measurement
Using official portraits, speech audio, and political video to study perceived appearance, vocal delivery, facial affect, and the performance of authority and conflict. This work may involve image, audio, video, transcript, and biographical data.
Risk-A-Lab Data Intelligence
Building and maintaining Risk-A-Lab Data Intelligence, a shared infrastructure for dataset discovery, documentation, visualization, and reuse. Research assistants may contribute to database quality control, metadata, documentation, and platform content.
Responsibilities
Typical Research Tasks
Source Research and Structured Coding
Locating authoritative sources, resolving identities, archiving supporting evidence, and coding biographical or institutional information according to a detailed codebook.
Data Cleaning and Validation
Standardizing names, organizations, positions, and dates; merging records across sources; detecting inconsistencies; auditing model-produced outputs; and documenting coding decisions.
Programming and Computational Research
Writing or reviewing Python or R code, managing structured data, testing APIs or LLM workflows, and supporting the processing and validation of image, audio, video, or text data.
Documentation and Reproducibility
Preparing metadata, data dictionaries, source documentation, replication materials, and clear records of how datasets and derived measures were produced.
The task mix differs across projects. Some roles emphasize substantive source research and language skills; others require stronger programming or data-management experience. I aim to provide clear task definitions, project context, appropriate onboarding, regular feedback, and reproducible research practices.
Candidate profile
What I Look For
The most important qualities are intellectual curiosity, reliability, careful attention to evidence, and a willingness to document work clearly. Relevant backgrounds may include political science, international relations, public policy, economics, sociology, history, area studies, statistics, data science, or computer science.
- For source-research and coding roles, strong reading skills, substantive regional knowledge, and relevant language abilities are especially valuable.
- For computational roles, experience with Python, R, Git, data management, web data, LLM tools, or image/audio/video processing may be useful.
- For all roles, accuracy, consistency, and responsiveness to feedback matter more than familiarity with every tool at the outset.
A serious interest in research is essential. Plans for an academic career are welcome, but they are not required for every position.
Application
How to Apply
Please email yangsp@pku.edu.cn with the subject line Research Assistant Inquiry – [Your Name]. Include:
- a current CV;
- a brief statement describing your research interests, relevant substantive or technical skills, language abilities, and the project area that interests you most;
- your expected availability and preferred period of involvement; and
- an optional work sample, research paper, coding sample, or GitHub link when relevant.
All research-assistant positions are paid. Openings depend on current project needs and available funding, and there is no standing application deadline. Scope, schedule, compensation, supervision, and expected outputs will be agreed upon before work begins. Contributions will be credited appropriately; authorship follows substantive intellectual contributions and disciplinary norms.