Project Staff Member (Post Doc): Institute for Ecological Economics at Vienna University of Economics and Business

 

The Institute for Ecological Economics at the WU Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business) is currently inviting applications for a third-party-funded Project Staff Member postdoc to work on the project “Systemic risk assessment in the next phase of the energy transition” (financed by the Anniversary Fund of the OeNB, Austria’s central bank). The position is intended to start as full-time, 40 hours/week, but part-time hours may also be discussed as a possibility.

Would you like to make a major step forward in your academic career? WU Wien offers ideal conditions to help you achieve that goal. WU Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business) is the second-largest business university in the European Union and is centrally located at the heart of Europe, with roughly 21,800 students and over 2,400 employees working in teaching, research, and administration.

WU’s modern campus, right next door to Vienna’s expansive Prater Park, offers impressive, award-winning architecture and an excellent working environment. The Institute for Ecological Economics at WU Vienna is a leading institution in the areas of ecological economics, ecological macroeconomics, global resource use and climate and sustainability finance, with a young, international, dynamic and convivial crowd of
academics and administrative staff.

 

The research project:

The research project aims to contribute to the need for a new round of modelling approaches incorporating novel phenomena that are likely to shift the context in which the next phase of the energy transition will occur. In particular, these novelties include geopolitically linked shifts in the global trade regime, the new wave of green industrial policy and the return of inflation as a macroeconomic constraint.

The approach of the project will be informed by perspectives in political economy and the social sciences more broadly for understanding path-dependent institutional change and will attempt to build the modelling and scenario analyses on top of these foundations. The principal result of the research project will be the attempt to trace concomitant institutional and economic change in a non-equilibrium framework related to the next phase of the global energy transition. In particular, efforts will focus on: 1) developing a dynamic integrated model that is robust to interactions between the macroeconomic environment, technological development and diffusion, environmental resource bottlenecks and shifts in the global trade regime; 2) calibrating the model to produce internally coherent and realistic transition pathways; 3) using these pathways to assess financial and other policy scenarios in multiple contexts in order to provide more adaptable and context-dependent assessment tools.

 

Your responsibilities:

• • You will be concentrating fully on research

• • You will also be able to develop your own independent research within the broad scope of the research project

• • As this position is grant-funded, there are no teaching obligations but teaching options exist if you are interested.

Your profile:
The successful applicant:

• • has a solid academic qualification (PhD or equivalent) in economics or related social sciences (PhD candidates close to completion may also be considered)

• • Possesses a proven interest in the topics of (and/or) social-ecological transformation and the low-carbon transition, monetary policy and financial regulation, institutional complementarities and institutional change in modern economies, the political economy of geopolitics and trade

• • has established a solid reputation as a researcher and is well connected in the international academic community (e.g. good collaboration network, international conference participation, conference/workshop organization)

• • has a promising pipeline of well-developed papers

• • has clear ambition to publish in highly ranked journals

• • is acquainted with and/or open to working with one or several of the following approaches to economics: ecological economics, post-Keynesian economics, institutionalist economics (e.g. regulation theory, social structures of accumulation, diversity/varieties of capitalism, etc.), and other political economy approaches

• • • possesses one or several of the following skills:
      
      • good data analytics skills (e.g. econometrics, geometric analysis of data, etc.) and an interest in applying these skills in the context of high-quality academic research.
      • good knowledge of coding and experience in coding economic models
      • is familiar with stock-flow consistent modelling (also ABM-SFC) and has an interest in applying these skills in the context of high-quality academic research.
      • qualitative research methods from other social sciences and has an interest in applying these skills in the context of high-quality academic research.

• has excellent English language skills, particularly in writing

• German language skills are a plus but not a requirement (daily working language is English)

Required submission material:

• • C.V.

• • Cover letter with motivation

• • Research sample (published or submitted article, working paper, PhD or book
    chapter)

• • Any additional relevant piece of research to the project

Questions and applications should be directed to the project lead investigator, Dr. Steven Knauss (steven.knauss@wu.ac.at). The minimum gross monthly salary for a postdoctoral position is €4,752 (full-time employment, paid 14 times per year). This salary may be adjusted based on job-related prior work experience. In addition, we offer a wide range of attractive social benefits. The position is initially for 18 months, with an anticipated start date around March 1, 2025 (flexible by a few months in either direction), and may be extended depending on the project budget. The workplace is located in Vienna, Austria.

If you are interested in a job with diverse responsibilities in a pleasant and stimulating work environment, please submit your application by December 10, 2024.