BITS Pilani Recruitment 2026 – Apply Online for 01 Field Investigator (ICSSR Project) Post

The Field Investigator will join the Department of Economics at BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, working under Principal Investigator Prof. Rajesh Barik alongside co-PIs Prof. Rudra Prasad Pradhan, Prof. Hemant Rathore, and Prof. Jestin Johny. The project, funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), investigates 'India’s Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) Welfare Gain Analysis: A Computational Framework using Terms of Trade & AI/ML-based Automation'. Daily work involves trade dataset processing, secondary empirical data curation, literature synthesis, econometric estimation, and testing computational algorithms for trade welfare gain models. The campus provides computing facilities, state-of-the-art labs, and hostel accommodation (subject to availability).

The position is purely contractual for up to 2 years, co-terminus with the ICSSR project. Importantly, the selected candidate will have the opportunity to apply for the Ph.D. program at BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus subject to institute Ph.D. admission criteria.

Project appointments do not follow an administrative promotion cadre. However, working on an ICSSR-funded computational economics project at BITS Pilani serves as a springboard for doctoral research (Ph.D.) or careers as research associates, quantitative economic analysts, or policy fellows at premier think tanks (such as ICRIER, RIS, EXIM Bank, or NITI Aayog).