This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP)
program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic
institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the
recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on
scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins
the scientific research of the collaboration.
The position is in the Applied Economics Office (AEO), a part of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at NIST,
which provides economic products and services through research and consulting to industry and
government agencies in support of productivity enhancement, economic growth, and international
competitiveness, with a focus on improving the life-cycle quality and economy of constructed facilities
and manufacturing processes that support social and economic functions. The AEO is integrated within
EL’s major research thrusts: sustainability, energy conservation, community resilience planning,
manufacturing, fire, smart grid, building construction, and safety. The AEO delivers high quality research
and tool development that informs and assists stakeholders in their decision-making processes.
AEO is searching for researchers in the field of decision science with experience in one or more of the
following disciplines:
• Data analysis
• Community planning
• Survey methods and design
• Behavioral science / economics / sociology
• Software design and development
• Supply chain analysis
• Systems / network / simulation modeling
The research associate will collaborate with NIST researchers and NIST’s external collaborators on projects
related to circular economy with a focus on the plastics recycling ecosystem.
Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, assisting in at least one of the following:
- Development of decision frameworks for community level choices
- Design and execution of data collection instruments
- Statistical analysis of collected survey data
- Assessment of research and data gaps
- Developing decision-support tools for homeowners, communities, industry, and/or government agencies to make more efficient, sustainable, resilient, and/or circular choices
- Draft research slide decks, reports, and/or journal articles
Qualifications
- PhD in Decision Science, Economics, Behavioral Science, Psychology, Sociology, Engineering, or related field
- Research experience in at least one of the following topics: plastics, recycling, community planning
- Experience with data analysis software package(s) (e.g., R, Stata, SAS, SPSS, python)
- Experience in solving complex problems
- Excellent writing and communication skills
Please upload the following (preferably in a single PDF) with your application:
- Job Description
- Cover Letter
- CV/Resume
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Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research
Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial
assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree
holders, postdocs, and faculty.
PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities
to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education
in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences,
chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale
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