Research Scientist

Role Overview

You’ll join Prolific’s Research Sciences team as an individual contributor Research Scientist. The role owns a dedicated research portfolio focused on pressing questions in online research, including data quality, online research methodologies, and the impact of AI on how research gets done.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead a dedicated research portfolio by designing and executing primary research on:
  • data quality
  • online sampling methodologies
  • effects of AI on online research (independently and with the wider team)
• Produce high-grade, publishable research suitable for leading academic venues and industry conferences, contributing to active debates and producing publications in high-IF journals.
• Build and manage external partnerships with academic and industry collaborators, turning collaboration opportunities into research outputs.
• Present and disseminate your work by representing Prolific at conferences/journals/industry events and partnering with marketing to maximize reach.
• Contribute to the wider sciences agenda, helping shape priorities around areas such as data quality, representativeness, synthetic data, and methodological innovation.

What Prolific is Looking For

• Core requirements:
  • PhD in a relevant quantitative field (e.g., psychology, research methodology, computational social science, statistics, economics, or similar)
  • Strong grounding in online research methods, including experience with at least some of:
    • online sampling methodologies
    • data quality assessment
    • non-probability sampling
    • synthetic data approaches
  • Demonstrated ability to lead research end-to-end, with a track record of publications, conference presentations, or comparable public outputs
  • Strong quantitative skills: experimental design, statistical analysis, and data interpretation
  • Proficiency with tools such as R, Python, and/or Qualtrics
  • A self-starter who can run a research program with limited hand-holding
  • High output and comfort working at pace
  • An ideas-first mindset: identify relevant developments and translate them into concrete research directions
• Location requirement: Based in the US East Coast or UK (East Coast Time Zone Only)

Nice-to-Haves

• Comfort collaborating broadly across the sciences team and building academic/industry partnerships toward measurable research outputs