Undergraduate and Master’s Research Fellows Program

Program Information

Through the three initiatives listed below, PDRI-DevLab is building a cohort of Undergraduate and Master’s students working to build a better future through rigorous social science. Throughout the year, these students work with faculty on methodologically rigorous, impactful research.

  • Program 1: PDRI-DevLab Research Fellows – This fellows program is managed directly under the PDRI-DevLab. We accept applications for undergraduate and Master’s research fellows on a rolling basis. These are paid research fellowships on a broad array of research projects. The students are matched to projects based on skills, interests, and available funding. Interested students should apply here. 

The PDRI-DevLab has limited funding for research fellows, but there are student-driven grants that can be applied for through the Center of  Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF). Students who secure their own funding and are interested in working with PDRI-DevLab should submit an application for a Research Fellows position using the link above and note in their application that they have secured funding.

  • Program 2: Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) – The PDRI-DevLab collaborates with PORES  to provide students with research fellowships during the academic and summer semesters. This fellowship pairs students with PDRI-DevLab faculty who are conducting research that involves applications of data science and data analytics.
  • Program 3: Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM) – The PDRI DevLab collaborated with the Center of  Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF). on the PURM program during the Summer 2023 semester and just completed the selection program for the Summer 2024 semester. PURM provides students completing their first or second undergraduate year the opportunity to spend a summer conducting cutting-edge research under the guidance of a standing Penn faculty member.

Click here to review the complete list of Faculty Projects.

PDRI-DevLab Summer Fellowship

Student Research Fellows who engage with our projects during summers on a full-time basis are part of PDRI-DevLab Summer Fellowship program, which aims to build a community of undergraduate, predoctoral and postdoctoral students who work with faculty on methodologically rigorous, impactful research. To that end, the program has the following components:

  • Weekly project meetings for each of the project teams.
  • A brown bag series on `New Research, Tools and Methods for International Development’, which will cover everything from current research projects to new tools for research in international development to fundamental issues in research design. Presenters will include faculty, PhD students, as well as predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows.
  • Research presentations by Summer Fellows, for which in the middle of the program, project teams will put together a ~30 minute presentation about their work.

Fall 2024 Fellows

Tianyi Zhou (PDRI-DevLab)

Paavani Arora (PDRI-DevLab)

Caroline Bach (PDRI-DevLab)

Naimah Bilkiss Haman (PDRI-DevLab)

Max Nothackar (PDRI-DevLab)

Sylvia Lam (PDRI-DevLab)

Vrinda Agarwal (PDRI-DevLab)

Camellia Bui (PDRI-DevLab)

Wagiha Mariam (PDRI-DevLab)

Olubukols Alliyu (PORES)

Rohan Kapoor (PDRI-DevLab)

Victor Silva (PDRI-DevLab)

Dina Zhanybekova (PDRI-DevLab)

Bedansh Pandey (PORES)

Raymond Liu Ao (PDRI-DevLab

Megan Zhang (PDRI-DevLab)

Fall 2023- Summer 2024 Fellows

Paavani Arora (PORES)

Caroline Bach (PORES)

Naimah Bilkiss (PURM)

Tianyi Zhou (FELS/PDRI-DevLab)

August Crane (PURM)

Ria Rege (PDRI-DevLab)

Sierra We (PORES)

Megan Zheng (PURM)

Anya Sinha (CURF)

Riya Sinha (CURF)

Fall 2022- Summer 2023 Fellows

Paavani Arora (PURM)

Caroline Bach (PURM)

Kate Barnes (PDRI-DevLab)

Ceci Duncan (PORES)

Arda Enifiyeci (PURM)

Jean Claude Lane (PORES)

Yasmin Abdul Razak (PORES)

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