PREP0004102 Decision Science for a Circular Economy Postdoctoral Researcher

PREP Research Associate

Opportunity No.: PREP0004102

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (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, and 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, 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: energy conservation, community resilience planning, manufacturing, fire, building construction, and safety. The AEO delivers high quality research and tool development that informs and assists stakeholders in their decision-making processes.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Decision Science for a Circular Economy Postdoctoral Researcher

Project Description:

The sponsor is seeking an experienced postdoctoral researcher to produce rigorous, publication-quality research on consumer perceptions and preferences in two projects that focus on the circular economy. This role requires deep expertise in advanced survey methodologies, experimental design, and statistical modeling. The ideal candidate has a strong research publication record and experience managing large-scale surveys data. The two projects the post-doctoral associate will support are focused on consumer preferences for battery electric vehicle information and consumer preference for circular plastic products.

Key responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, leading the following activities: 

• Design and implementation of quantitative research studies, including stated preference surveys and conjoint experiments.
• Apply advanced discrete choice models, latent class models, clustering techniques, to uncover heterogeneous preferences and segment-specific insights.
• Translate complex statistical outputs into clear, decision-relevant metrics such as willingness-to-pay, demand elasticities, and adoption likelihoods.
• Ensure analytical rigor consistent with peer-reviewed academic standards.
• Author and co-author peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers and technical reports.
• Work collaboratively with an inter-disciplinary team of researchers.

Desired Qualifications: 

• Must be US citizen
• Ph.D. in Economics, Engineering, or a related quantitative field
• Experience conducting applied survey research and quantitative analysis
• Demonstrated expertise in:
  • Survey design and implementation
  • Conjoint analysis and discrete choice modeling
  • Segmentation and clustering methods
• Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals
• Proficiency in R and statistical modeling tools (e.g., Mplus, SPSS); experience with GIS or visualization tools is a plus
• Experience coding surveys in survey down or similar open-source survey tool
• At least 3 peer-reviewed publications
• At least one first authored peer-reviewed publication using survey data
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Self-driven and capable of working independently with minimal supervision

Other Details:

• Full-time: the participant is expected to work 40 hours a week
• Location: the participant will work at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus.
• Duration: this is expected to be a one-year position. Extensions are sometimes granted depending on the availability of funds.
• For questions related to the research project or the nature of the work in this position, please contact Dr. Christina Gore (christina.gore@morgan.edu). For questions related to the online application or NIST PREP more generally, please contact msu-nistprep@morgan.edu.

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Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

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 science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate the administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use the information you submit for the purpose stated.