Pathways to Research and Doctoral Careers

Pathways to Research and Doctoral Careers (PREDOC) is a consortium of universities and research institutions that aims to foster a talented, diverse, and inclusive population in the quantitative social sciences.

PREDOC’s strategy is to leverage the booming market of full-time pre-doctoral research assistantships (“pre-docs”), working with our partners to expand the talent pool; reduce informational frictions; scout for talent; and engage, mentor, and educate students from any background. Our goal is to help pre-doc and PhD programs identify and admit those who are likely to move the quantitative social sciences forward, while simultaneously supporting those nascent scholars on their way to a research career.

Here's who we are and what we do at a glance.

Learn more about the pathway to a pre-doc with this video.

Our Impact

40

Members

400+

Open pre-doc positions in academic year 2021

3800

Average visitors each month

130K+

Visits since October 2020

Overview of the Consortium

PREDOC is committed to cultivating research environments and workplaces that are diverse and inclusive. We actively recruit and mentor pre-docs who bring new perspectives to our academic disciplines and strengthen our ideas. Our practices include:

Proactively reaching out to, mentoring, and recruiting individuals who are underrepresented in our fields.
Expanding our engagement with diverse populations to increase and diversify the pool of pre-doctoral candidates.
Establishing academic and professional development opportunities, including mentorship programs, research assistantships, and courses.
Counseling hiring managers on best hiring practices.
Establishing program-wide mentoring, as well as academic and professional development opportunities, for current pre-docs.

While consortium institutions are primarily business schools and economics departments, we welcome interest from individuals with a wide range academic backgrounds. The faculties at PREDOC institutions include economists, computer scientists, statisticians, psychologists, engineers, and sociologists, to name only a few fields. We are eager to engage with anyone interested in quantitative research in the social sciences.