Future of Scientific Discovery Emerging Scholars

MERCATUS CENTER INC•Arlington, VA

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Applications are now being accepted for two Future of Scientific Discovery Emerging Scholar positions at the Mercatus Center. These are full-time, one-year positions, based in Arlington, Virginia, running from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027. The two scholars will join Mercatus’s Emerging Scholars Program and will work alongside the broader cohort while focusing on questions related to science, scientific institutions, and technological change. The Emerging Scholars Program is designed to identify rising classical liberal thinkers and help them become stronger public communicators and contributors to major policy and cultural debates. For this track, Mercatus is seeking candidates who can examine the future of scientific discovery through the lens of institutional design, incentives, governance, and human flourishing. Possible areas of focus include AI and emerging technology policy, science funding structures, regulatory design, innovation ecosystems, and discipline-specific scientific domains.

Requirements

Substantial expertise in the area they plan to study.
Background needed to speak credibly to technical and policy audiences.
Prepared to pursue a research agenda connected to one or more of the following themes: The institutions and norms around science research, including funding, regulatory and incentive structures; The effects and implications of AI and emerging tools on research in in the sciences (biological and physical); Communicate new scientific frontiers opened by new discoveries, instruments and frameworks; Explore questions relating to the moral and civic implications of accelerating discovery for individuals, and for society.

Nice To Haves

Rising classical liberal thinkers.

Responsibilities

Develop a substantial research project.
Produce regular public-facing writing or multimedia content during the year.
Participate in a weekly work-in-progress seminar.
Participate in a policy discussion group.
Participate in regular one-on-one meetings with program leadership.
Complete an intensive ten-week communications training sequence covering writing, branding, public speaking, media skills, podcasting, design, and related forms of public communication.
Seek additional mentorship as their work develops.