Predocs at IRLE

A cohort of emerging social sciences researchers at UC Berkeley

Each year IRLE hosts predoctoral scholars working with affiliated UC Berkeley faculty members across a variety of social sciences disciplines. For these early stage researchers, we provide workspaces, an intellectual home, and a place for them to interact on issues related to labor, employment, and economic opportunity. 

UC Berkeley faculty interested in promoting a predoc opportunity through IRLE can email us at irle@berkeley.edu.

Check below for new predoc opportunities and to learn about our current cohort of scholars.

Current predoc opportunities

  • Research assistant for Jesse Rothstein (Goldman School and Economics), faculty director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education and the California Policy Lab at IRLE

2025-2026 Cohort

Formal portrait of Sanghwa Ahn

Sanghwa Ahn

BA Economics, Seoul National University Supervisor: Nano Barahona, Economics

My primary research interests lie in empirical industrial organization, as well as health and environmental economics.

Mckenzie Diep smiling outside of a university building

Mckenzie Diep

BA Urban Studies and Economics, UC Berkeley Supervisor: Antoine Levy, Fisher Center for Real Estate + Urban Economics

My research focus is on urban and labor economics. I’m interested in improving the spatial distribution of wealth and resources and ultimately tackling barriers to upward mobility for underserved communities.

Michael Garcia standing smiling in front of foliage

Michael Garcia

BA Economics, UC Berkeley Supervisors:Jake Grumbach and Steve Raphael, Goldman School of Public Policy and IRLE

My passion is to understand how institutional factors determine individual outcomes and societal issues, specifically the economics of crime and corrections, racial inequality, educational attainment, academic performance, labor market trajectories, and causes of poverty.

Teddy Maginn

BA, Economics and Applied Mathematics, University of Notre Dame Supervisor: Laura Weiwu, Fisher Center for Real Estate + Urban Economics

I study housing markets, neighborhood and demographic change, and place-based policy, with particular interest in understanding the causes and consequences of poverty in the United States and how place-based interventions can address them.

Youg Sanghvi smiling outside at dusk

Youg Sanghvi

BA Economics, University of Southern California Supervisor: Tamma Carleton, Agricultural & Resource Economics

I’m interested in the intersection of environmental and development economics and how policy can be shaped to mitigate climate impacts and boost resilience. I’m also interested in broader questions of inequality and institutional pre-distribution solutions to it.

Annabella Stoll-Dansereau smiling

Annabella Stoll-Dansereau

BA Economics, University of British Columbia Supervisors: Matt Backus and Sarah Moshary, Haas

My research interests lie in industrial organization, organizational economics, and innovation. As a predoc, I worked on projects involving firm conduct testing, demand estimation, and developing the codebase for an experimental study. Going forward, I am particularly interested in using empirical methods to study firm innovation strategies.

Astrid Tonnet smiling against a gray wall.

Astrid Tonnet

BA Economics, Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay Supervisor: Chenzi Xu, Economics

My research focuses on sovereign debt and sovereign risk in financial markets. I am currently studying historical banking crises using archival and macroeconomic data to understand their dynamics and consequences.

Yachi Tu

BA Finance, Fudan University Supervisor: Chenzi Xu, Economics

I am interested in international trade, macroeconomics, and financial economics.