Research & Development Associate

The University of Toronto and the Investigative Journalism Foundation are thrilled to be hiring U of T students to work full time (35 hours per week) over the summer (May to August 2026 inclusive).

Students will work with both U of T faculty and IJF staff to fulfill both academic and IJF duties, as part of a small team. These positions are funded by a combination of SSHRC, NSERC, and MITACs grants, so you must be a continuing U of T student or graduating in the June convocation to be eligible. We are looking for a mix of undergraduates and graduate students, and there are multiple positions available. Pay is $25/hour for undergraduates and $30/hour for graduate students.

You will be assigned to a U of T supervisor and that will determine the specifics, but in general, the academic task will involve writing a paper for an academic journal and open-sourced code with associated documentation. Students will be fully involved in all aspects of this and will receive recognition appropriate to their contributions. This includes the potential for co-authorship, co-creator status, etc. Students will be expected to work independently, show considerable initiative, and take ownership of their project. U of T faculty supervisors include: Chris Cochrane and Rohan Alexander.

You will be assigned to a permanent IJF member of staff and that will determine the specifics, but some illustrative IJF duties could include: visualization of data for news stories; software development; grant writing and prospecting for funding; work with the marketing team.

You should expect to work 10-15 hours on your IJF task and 20-25 hours on your academic task each week, but the mix will depend on deadlines.

Various skills that will be handy include (you don't need to have all of these to be a strong candidate; highlight and focus on your strengths. In particular, please do not let inexperience with a programming language put you off – if you do not have experience, we will provide training before the summer):

• Experience, or enthusiasm for, using Python or R or a similar open-source language.
• Enthusiasm for open science and reproducibility.
• Experience, or enthusiasm for, LLMs.
• Excellent written and communication skills.
• The ability to work in a self-directed manner with minimal supervision.

You will be expected to work from the IJF office (192 Spadina Ave) on Wednesdays and to work from an office at UTSC on Mondays. Outside this you are welcome to work from home if you like.

By 9 January 2026 please submit:

1. a cover letter that is no longer than one page (please do not use AI to write this),
2. a CV (please include a link to your GitHub repo if you have programming experience), and
3. an unofficial transcript,

to: https://theijf.applytojobs.ca/technical/43194

If you have any questions please email: [email protected].