Overview

The International Policy Research Assistantship (IPRA) program provides Ford School students the opportunity to build practical skills while supporting new and ongoing faculty research.  IPRA is administered by the Ford School's International Policy Center (IPC) and made possible through the generosity of the Weiser Family.  

Prof. William Axinn seeks in-residence Ford School of Public Policy BA majors or MPAs/MPPs to serve as part-time research assistants for the Fall 2026 term.  The selected candidates may be asked to continue work during the Winter 2027 term, contingent upon funding availability and successful completion of Fall 2026 research tasks and IPC reporting requirements.

Selected students will carry out research activities for the Institute for Social Research's (ISRs) Society, Population, and Environment (SPE) initiative and/or Survey Research Center (SRC).

• SPE conducts research on a wide range of global health issues, including child health, mental health, vaccination programs, elderly health (including dementia), and health during the transition into adulthood.  SPE projects span four continents, with current activities in Nepal, Kenya, Uganda, Mali, Ukraine, and the United States.  One of SPE's cornerstone programs is the Chitwan Valley Family Study (CVFS) in Nepal.  
• SRC conducts research integrated with state-of-the-art data collection and analysis, developing social and behavioral research methods, and training leaders in survey and data science. One of SRC’s newest initiatives is the World Mental Health (WMH) survey consortium.

In their support of Prof. Axinn’s research, the students will carry out research activities for the CVFS and/or WMH survey consortium.

Work Location

The work location for this position will be at the SPE/SRC offices located at ISR. 

Start Date

The tentative start date will be Monday, September 14. 

• Assisting the project team in the preparation of both research papers reporting high priority new findings and proposals for new research on emerging issues; 
• Creating data tables, figures, and graphs, conducting literature searches, proofreading manuscripts, and checking references;
• Preparing new data from various countries for public release to other scientists to support their research using the data the program team creates; 
• Cleaning datasets and creating and updating codebooks;
• Assisting with updating the CVFS and/or WMH websites;  
• Completing other duties, as assigned. 

• Current and incoming (in-residence) Ford School BA majors and MPA/MPP students in good standing. PhD students and non-Ford School students are ineligible for this opportunity. Please note that the Ford School may provide academic standing-related information to faculty supervisors prior to making hiring decisions;
• Students may only serve in one (1) IPRA position during a given term;
• Availability to work between 10 and 20 hours per week on a regular schedule determined by Prof. Axinn and the students at the beginning of the semester;
• Demonstrated interest in global social and/or health research;
• Prior experience conducting literature reviews and/or data analyses preferred, but not required;
• Prior experience using research-relevant software, including Zotero, preferred, but not required.

• $16 - $20 per hour, depending on experience.

• If hired, the students must agree to prepare a brief narrative report for IPC each term, detailing IPRA tasks and skills acquired. IPC may share this narrative report information publicly and with the Weiser Family, an IPRA donor, to demonstrate program impact.

• Current and incoming (in-residence) Ford School BA majors and MPA/MPP students in good standing. PhD students and non-Ford School students are ineligible for this opportunity. Please note that the Ford School may provide academic standing-related information to faculty supervisors prior to making hiring decisions;
• Students may only serve in one (1) IPRA position during a given term;
• Availability to work between 10 and 20 hours per week on a regular schedule determined by Prof. Axinn and the students at the beginning of the semester;
• Demonstrated interest in global social and/or health research;
• Prior experience conducting literature reviews and/or data analyses preferred, but not required;
• Prior experience using research-relevant software, including Zotero, preferred, but not required.