The Professorship for Business and Personnel Economics together with the Swiss Leading House
"Economics of Vocational and Professional Education and Training VPET-ECON" offers a position for
a PhD student (research assistant) in Economics of Education for three to four years starting in the fall
term 2025 or by agreement.
Your tasks:
You will work on empirical projects on economics of education and personnel economics. The projects
are linked to the Leading House VPET-ECON and the Professorship for Business and Personnel
Economics. You will have access to an excellent national and international network of scholars and
alumni in research and practice, and you will work in a dynamic team with a great support culture.
You participate in the international course program for doctoral students in Economics of Education and
successfully complete it during your dissertation period. This includes a variety of professional
development activities and ample opportunities to participate in international conferences. You will also
participate in organizational tasks such as organizing international workshops or conferences and/or participate in teaching activities.
Your qualifications and interests:
- University master degree with very good results, preferably in business administration or economics but also other empirically oriented social sciences such as sociology, political sciences, or psychology.
- Interest in economics of education and/or personnel economics
- Very good econometric knowledge and experimental methods and/or an interest in expanding existing knowledge (e.g. also in Machine Learning or GenAI)
- Experience in data analysis with statistical programs such as STATA, Python, or R
- Commitment and independent working style
- Ability to work in a team
- Basic knowledge of German, very good knowledge of written and spoken English
Our offer:
- Interesting dissertation topics as part of your project work
- Participation in a structured doctoral program in economics of education
- Competitive salaries in accordance with cantonal guidelines (salary level 17.03, https://www.uzh.ch/de/about/work.html#0-0)
- Financial support for participation in international conferences and workshops
Your application:
Interested? Please send your complete application documents (letter of motivation, curriculum vitae,
academic certificates and references) in one document by e-mail to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. U. Backes-Gellner (backes-gellner@business.uzh.ch). Document review will start immediately and continue until the
position is filled.
Information about the professorship, the Leading House, and the doctoral program can be found at
For further information, please contact Dr. Patricia Palffy (patricia.palffy@business.uzh.ch).