Fully funded PhD candidate (f/m) in Behavioral Science (economics, psychology) - Ref: 21-28

Updated: over 2 years ago
Deadline: The position may have been removed or expired!

The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) is recruiting

 a fully funded 

PhD candidate (f/m) in Behavioral Science (economics, psychology)

• Ref: 21-28

• Fixed-term working contract 36 months (extendable up to 48 months if required), in the framework of the new 3E-Doctoral Training Unit (DTU) on ‘Experiments, Ethics and Economics’

• Enrolment at the University of Luxembourg (Doctoral School in Economics and Finance (DSEF) or the Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences (DSHSS))

• PhD co-supervision by two members of the 3E consortium

• Deadline for application: 15th December 2021

• Start date: to be determined

LISER invite highly qualified and motivated applicants for a PhD position within the framework of the new doctoral training unit (DTU) on ‘Experiments, Ethics and Economics’ (3E), funded by the PRIDE scheme of the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR). The successful candidate will be working on the topic ‘Identify efficient ways to create a corporate-created identity to tackle discrimination and counter-productive behaviours in firms’ under the supervision of Dr. Ludivine MARTIN.

Description of the project

This project will examine the effectiveness of corporate-created identity in reducing discrimination and unethical behaviours between co-workers. The starting point of the project is the notion that modern organizations rely heavily on teamwork and collaborations between diverse and heterogeneous workforces, for instance in terms of nationalities and languages. An important question in diverse workplaces is how to align the behaviour of heterogeneous employees with the objectives of the firm. In practice, managers often use formal monetary incentives, but increasingly so, they also rely on informal institutions, such as corporate culture. These informal institutions aim to provide a common organizational identity to members of the same firm, in order to reduce the perceptions of diversity in objectives and values within the firm. As more and more teamwork collaborations are virtual, the project will also explore the role of the use of digital tools in the identity creation process.

Your role

• Prepare a doctoral thesis on the proposed theme;

• Contribute to co- and single-authored publication endeavours of the project team;

• Participate in activities and management of the project, including the training and seminars, public outreach activities, site visits, stakeholder workshops, social media communication etc.

We offer

• An exciting multi-disciplinary and international research environment with ample opportunities to exchange with scholars from related disciplines at LISER and at the University of Luxembourg;

• Work in the context of a multidisciplinary dissertation supervisory committee (DSC);

• Work in a project team with several other Doctoral candidates and postdoc researchers;

• A work contract with full social security coverage at LISER;

• A highly competitive salary for the full-time PhD position for a period of maximum of 4 consecutive years, plus a generous annual training budget;

• A tailor-made scientific training programme with a wide range of courses and seminars offered by the consortium partners;

• A package of mentoring, training and career development.

Your profile

• Outstanding Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Economics or Psychology;

• Excellent quantitative skills and hands-on experience working with data (e.g. Stata, R, Python);

• Some coding/programming skills (e.g. Otree, Ztree, Python);

• Excellent writing skills, for both scientific and more policy-oriented articles are required;

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills;

• Experience with laboratory experiments is considered as an asset;

• Fluency in English (both spoken and written); fluency in either French or German is considered as an asset.

Application process

Please submit the following documents via https://jobs.liser.lu/jobs :

• A letter of application outlining your thematic interest, motivation and profile, including how you address the requirements laid out for this specific position;

• A CV;

• Copies of relevant degree diplomas, especially Master degree that prepares to academic research and related transcripts;

• At least one letter of recommendation preferably by the promoter of your MA/MSc thesis (to be uploaded with the application documents or sent separately to [email protected]);

• A relevant research paper (e.g. a working paper or your MA/MSc thesis).

Closing date for applications: December 15th, 2021 at midnight CET

Students graduating over summer 2022 are also encouraged to apply.

Female applicants are particularly encouraged to apply.

More about 3E

3E gathers an inter-disciplinary consortium of economists, psychologists and social scientists from the following five institutions (Names of the core team members at each institution are listed in parentheses):

• Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research – LISER (Daniele Nosenzo , Marc Suhrcke, Ludivine Martin, Ernesto Reuben )

• Institute for Health and Behaviour – IHB (Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences - FHSE, Uni.lu) (Claus Vögele)

• Institute of Cognitive Science and Assessment – COSA (Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences - FHSE, Uni.lu) (Christine Schiltz, Vincent Koenig)

• Department of Finance (Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance - FDEF, Uni.lu) (Tibor Neugebauer)

• Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management – LCL (Department of Economics and Management, FDEF, Uni.lu) (Benny Mantin)

The project consists of an interdisciplinary consortium of social scientists who use scientific experiments involving human subjects in their research. Besides the focus on experimental research, 3E highlights the tensions between ethics and economics. Most economic decisions have moral implications, as they impact on people or the environment. In particular, business culture and market behaviour often seem to conflict with morality and ethics. At a time of public concern about unsustainable economic development and growing inequality between individuals, we take a closer look at how morality impact people’s decision making in economic situations. This research is important in terms of science, but also has the potential to critically inform public policy, as effective policies cannot be designed without a thorough understanding of the nature and mechanisms of human social behaviour.

Collaboration between supervisors from different institutions will be systematically encouraged within the consortium to reinforce the inter-institutional links and the exposure of students to different perspectives. Hence, the successful candidates will benefit from expertise and knowledge offered by several members of the consortium and other staff in the respective institutions. 3E builds on the Doctoral Programs of LISER, the Doctoral School of Economics and Finance (DSEF) and the Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences (DSHSS).

About 3E Partners

LISER is a publicly funded research institute located in Luxembourg. LISER is devoted to applied empirical research in economic, social and spatial sciences. Interdisciplinarity is a key element for stimulating scientific innovation. The Institute attracts researchers from all over the world, and high-level doctoral training is a vibrant part of its activities. The Institute‘s staff consists of about 170 employees (including a survey/data centre and an experimental lab), including about 90 researchers, active in the fields of economics, sociology, and geography. The working languages at the Institute are English and French.

Founded in 2003, the University of Luxembourg is the only public university of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Structured around three faculties and three interdisciplinary centres, the University of Luxembourg is a modern institution with a personal atmosphere which aspires to be one of Europe’s most highly regarded universities with a distinctly international, multilingual and interdisciplinary character. It aims at fostering the cross-fertilisation of research and teaching, is relevant to its country, known worldwide for its research and teaching in targeted areas, and becomes an innovative model for contemporary European Higher Education. According to the Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings in 2020, the University of Luxembourg ranks 12th worldwide.

About Luxembourg

Luxembourg with its > 600,000 inhabitants is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and provides a stimulating mixture of modern culture and tradition in the very heart of Europe. Contemporary urbanity of its capital lies in close vicinity to a rich nature. In addition to excellent health, education (public, private and high level international schools) and recreational services, the community offers a rich variety of cultural activities typical of a major university environment, including museums, music, art and theatre. The official languages are French, German and Luxemburgish. Information for foreign researchers interested in Luxembourg research is accessible via the national EURAXESS platform.

LISER is an Equal Opportunity Employer



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