The CRA Life Sciences Symposium is a highly selective program designed to introduce PhD, Postdocs, & M.D. students to a career in life sciences consulting. We seek participants pursuing a PhD in the physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences, or a closely related field, or M.D.

Through workshops, panel discussions, and interactive case studies, you will learn about life in consulting and how you can put your PhD to great use at CRA. Click here to watch a short video about the program.

Apply for the opportunity to:

• Learn about the variety of consulting projects that CRA engages in across our clients;
• Discover how skills developed during your PhD and M.D. programs are translated to help solve problems facing our clients in the life sciences industry;
• Engage in complex problem-solving exercises with bright minds; collaborate; research; conduct insightful analysis and deduction;
• Immerse yourself in CRA’s learning culture and participate in training workshops to enhance your skills;
• Discover what CRA looks for when recruiting and selecting top candidates;
• Network with hiring managers, experienced consultants with advanced degrees from a variety of disciplines, and fellow participants.

Program logistics

• The three-day intensive program will take place in our Boston headquarters on August 3-5, 2026; 
• CRA will pay for lodging and travel expenses within the US and from Canada.

Eligible participants are:

• Pursuing a PhD or postdoc in the physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences, or a closely related field, or M.D.;
• Aiming to pursue a full-time consulting career in 2027;
• Seriously considering a career in life sciences consulting;
• We encourage applications from across the US and Canada.

To apply

To be considered, please submit a resume, a cover letter, and a paper or abstract, if you have one. The writing sample should focus on your research interests; your cover letter should explain your interest in life sciences consulting and CRA.

Selected applications will advance to a virtual interview that will focus on your previous experience, your interest in consulting, and fit with the team. This application and interview process is solely for your attendance at the Life Sciences Symposium.

The Symposium is meant to be a learning experience as well as an evaluation of your candidacy for a full-time role. After the Symposium, selected attendees will be invited to interview for a full-time role; we will be recruiting for full-time positions for our offices in Boston, Chicago, New York, Oakland (CA), Summit (NJ), Washington (DC) and Toronto.

The closing date for applications is Friday, May 29, 2026. 

About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates is a leading global consulting firm that provides economic, financial, and business management expertise to major law firms, corporations and governments around the world. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its combination of industry experience and rigorous, fact-based analysis that provide clients with clear, implementable solutions to complex business concerns.

CRA’s Life Sciences practice helps pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics and medical device companies achieve optimum performance across key aspects of their business, including innovation, commercial success, organization, and reputation, all for the long-term benefit of patients, clinicians, employees, and shareholders. We work with life sciences businesses directly as well as with their legal counsel, industry associations, government organizations, and advocacy groups from the earliest stages of research into new therapy areas, through product development, to the delivery of products that will achieve commercial success and fulfill the expectations of our clients and their key stakeholders. Click here to find out what consultants do at CRA and hear from recent PhD hires why they chose to join.

Our Commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River Associates is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Virtu is looking for a detail-oriented quantitative researcher to join our Financial Engineering team in Boston. The emphasis of this position is on the research, development and maintenance of our industry-leading mathematical/statistical products, making them available for our clients.

The successful candidate joins a strong team that conducts trading-related research and development by applying principles of scientific computing and analytical and programming skills using modern state-of-the-art tools and software. The emphasis of this position is on the development, deployment and support of mathematical/statistical models for pre- and post-trade decision support as well as leveraging new technology to simplify QA, streamline model analysis and product support.  

We create actionable products that improve decision-making for equity, fixed income, FX, and other asset classes. Investors around the world have better trading performance because of the work we do every day. From traders to technologists and everyone in between, Virtuans are passionate about innovating, solving problems and making an impact to the bottom line. Our teams set the bar high and strive to provide best-in-class service to institutional investors around the world.

WE’LL TRUST YOU TO:

• Learn and be knowledgeable about our client execution data, analytics and models, lead new improvements and/or initiatives, and handle their support
• Develop re-usable common framework components that expose features of our analytics/model to internal and external clients, including integration of our new models into client-facing platforms
• Work with product managers, consultants and client services teams to understand, prioritize and effectively execute requirements
• Build robust production pipelines and automate validation and QA of new models and their applications
• Conduct critical comparison of alternative data sources and, if necessary, integrate them in the production pipeline
• Maintain and support existing research tools and products as well as audit new technologies and use-cases
• Apply advanced data processing techniques to enhance expert knowledge in measuring and analyzing realized transactions costs of Virtu’s peer clients

 WHAT YOU BRING WITH YOU:

• PhD degree in a quantitative field (e.g., mathematics, physics, statistics and operations research)
• 2+ years industry or relevant PhD or PostDoc experience
• Self-driven, detail-oriented and capable of formulating and solving problems independently
• Experience with C++ and Python is required
• Experience with scalable and modular software development and deployment as well as in depth knowledge of algorithms and data structures
• Interest in developing and owning business applications of our models/analytics
• Capability to support the existing production environment and nimble enough to navigate predecessors’ code
• Ability to effectively use the Linux platform for development and high-throughput data processing
• Previous experience with statistical and optimization techniques is preferred
• Hands-on experience with intraday financial data and analytics is preferred
• Familiarity with Kx/q is a plus

YOU’RE JUST RIGHT FOR VIRTU IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR:

• A smaller collegiate team environment
• A tech-savvy company on the cutting edge of innovation
• Direct exposure to the decision makers and senior leaders on all sides of the business
• Teams that are passionate about continually learning, improving and raising the bar
• A community that values hard work as well as work-life balance
• A company that is committed to giving back to the surrounding communities

YOU’RE JUST RIGHT FOR VIRTU IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR:

• A smaller collegiate team environment
• A tech-savvy company on the cutting edge of innovation
• Direct exposure to the decision makers and senior leaders on all sides of the business
• Teams that are passionate about continually learning, improving and raising the bar
• A community that values hard work as well as work-life balance
• A company that is committed to giving back to the surrounding communities

Salary Range: $170,000 - $210,000 (salary range is exclusive of bonuses, benefits or other categories of compensation)

Virtu Financial is an equal opportunity employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace, welcoming you for who you are and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.