Researcher - MIT AI Risk Initiative Technical Associate
MIT FutureTech is an interdisciplinary MIT research group studying technical and economic progress in computing and AI.
About MIT FutureTech
Based at MIT CSAIL, FutureTech researches how advances in computing and AI affect scientific progress, productivity, and economic prosperity. Its work combines computer science, economics, and management, and includes public AI-risk data resources and research outputs.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will contribute to applied research on AI risks, mitigations, organizational responses, and gaps in practice. You will review and synthesize evidence; collect, clean, classify, and analyze qualitative and quantitative data; support surveys and expert engagement; and prepare research publications, datasets, visualizations, and decision-support materials. You will manage assigned research tasks, maintain accurate documentation, coordinate project inputs, communicate findings, and participate in research meetings and collaborative projects under regular guidance.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in an applied social science, public policy, computer science, relevant field, or equivalent research experience
- Research experience through coursework, a thesis, assistantships, internships, or professional projects
- Research methods knowledge, including literature reviews, data collection, and qualitative or quantitative analysis
- Ability to work with structured data using Excel, Google Sheets, or statistical software
- Analytical and critical-thinking skills
- Written communication skills
- Attention to detail and organizational skills
- Ability to manage tasks, meet deadlines, and work collaboratively
- Willingness to learn new methods, tools, and subject matter
Responsibilities
- Conduct literature searches, evidence reviews, and structured assessments of AI risks, mitigations, and organizational responses
- Support systematic reviews through searching, screening, data extraction, coding, and quality assurance
- Collect, clean, classify, and analyze qualitative and quantitative data
- Develop and maintain research protocols, codebooks, datasets, and documentation
- Identify patterns, gaps, and emerging findings in research evidence
- Support the design, administration, and analysis of surveys
- Recruit survey participants, manage survey data, and conduct follow-ups
- Analyze surveys, interviews, and other expert input
- Contribute to research papers, reports, briefs, presentations, and publications
- Prepare research summaries for academic, policy, and practitioner audiences
- Maintain structured datasets, taxonomies, and decision-support tools
- Prepare tables, figures, visualizations, and research communication materials
- Support engagement with researchers, policymakers, industry representatives, and other stakeholders
- Prepare materials for external meetings, briefings, workshops, and presentations
- Gather and synthesize stakeholder feedback
- Manage assigned research tasks, milestones, and deliverables
- Maintain research records and document methods and decisions
- Track project progress, prepare updates, and coordinate contributor inputs
- Communicate research challenges, uncertainties, and improvement opportunities
- Attend lab meetings, share updates, and contribute feedback on related projects
- Collaborate on research-quality improvements and new ideas
Hiring Process
Short test task → interviews → potential paid work trial. Selected candidates are first interviewed via Zoom.