IIMA Research Associate (Atlas VC) 2026

IIM Ahmedabad has released a notification for 1 Research Associate position under the Agro Value Chain Trade-off Atlas project. Candidates with a Master's degree in Economics, Development Studies, Management, or related fields can apply by email. Last date to apply is 25 March 2026. This is a contract position for approximately 6 months starting April 2026. Salary will be decided based on your qualifications and experience.

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) Research Associate Recruitment 2026 - Atlas VC Project

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), one of India's top business schools, is looking for a Research Associate to work on the Agro Value Chain Trade-off Atlas for India project. This project focuses on mapping, governance, and sustainability of agricultural value chains in India. The position is under Prof. Sukhpal Singh and will be based on the IIMA campus in Ahmedabad. If you have a background in economics, development studies, or management with hands-on experience in qualitative research and data coding, this could be an excellent opportunity for you.

Who Can Apply?

Required Qualifications:

• Education: You must have a Master's degree in Economics, Development Studies, Management, or a related field
• Value Chain Knowledge: You should be familiar with value chain analysis and private governance concepts such as standards, audits, due diligence, and traceability
• Research Skills: You need demonstrated experience with qualitative coding and working with coding manuals
• Data Skills: You should be able to extract and structure evidence from academic and grey literature, and convert qualitative findings into quantitative data points
• Attention to Detail: Ability to maintain clean datasets and proper audit trails is essential

Desirable Skills (Good to Have):

• Knowledge of decent work, labour governance, and gendered dynamics in value chains
• Familiarity with environmental indicators (water, soil, biodiversity, carbon) and sustainability standards or ESG reporting
• Comfort with digital platforms, data governance, and concepts like algorithmic control and digital divides
• Experience validating NLP or RAG outputs, or similar quality assurance work

Salary

• Salary will be decided as per your qualifications and relevant experience
• The position is on the IIMA campus in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Selection Process

Selection will be based on your application and relevant qualifications:

1. Application Screening: Your CV and application will be reviewed against the required qualifications and experience
2. Interview: Shortlisted candidates may be called for an interview with the project team

How to Apply

1. Prepare your CV highlighting your qualifications, research experience, and relevant skills
2. Send your application by email to harshad@iima.ac.in
3. Make sure to apply before 25 March 2026
4. You can also check the IIMA careers page at iima.ac.in for more details

Important Dates

• Notification Date: March 2026
• Last Date to Apply: 25 March 2026
• Expected Joining: April 2026
• Contract Duration: Approximately 6 months

• Build and manage a large-scale evidence base consisting of over 3,000 documents for the Trade-off Atlas
• Produce a high-quality human-coded subset of 50 research papers using established coding manuals
• Validate and cross-check RAG-generated outputs produced by another Research Associate on the project
• Convert qualitative coding into structured quantitative datasets suitable for analysis and visualisation
• Maintain clean datasets with proper documentation and audit trails throughout the project
• Extract and structure evidence from academic and grey literature sources
• Support the development of analysis-ready Atlas datasets by transforming coded qualitative material into quantitative variables