PhD Candidate in Economics of Climate-Induced Migration (f/m) - Ref: 25-28

The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)

is recruiting a

PhD Candidate in Economics of Climate-Induced Migration (f/m)

• Ref: 25-28
• Fixed-term working contract at LISER for 36 months (extendable up to 48 months maximum)
• Full-time, 40 hours/week
• Department: Labour Market (LM)
• Registration in the PhD program at the University of Luxembourg
• Work location: Belval (Luxembourg)

Project description

The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) is pleased to invite applications for a fully funded PhD position in Economics of Climate-Induced Migration. The successful candidate will be hosted at LISER and enrolled in a recognised doctoral programme at the University of Luxembourg.

The project « Modelling climate migration» intends to develop state-of-the-art spatial models of the world economy, with a focus on climate-induced migration. Using pixelated data on economic, demographic and climatic factors, the goal of this project is to analyse future adaptation policies, as well as to quantify their economic and migratory consequences over the 21st century. Through a close collaboration with the United Nations, The World Bank and European Institutions, this project offers a unique exposure to high-level policy discussions, and supporting decision makers with quantitative findings from climate-migration models.

The successful applicant will be part of a dynamic research team and benefit from extensive collaboration with international partners and national policy stakeholders.

Your role

This PhD research will address the following core objectives:

• Contribute to the development of a dynamic spatial general equilibrium model of the world economy that includes climate shocks and their impact on global socio-economic dynamics, most importantly: migration movements ;
• Collect relevant data on global, regional and national migration flows over 2000-2020 ;
• Perform the calibration of a nested logit model describing migration decisions ;
• Identify damage function that map the extent of climate shocks to economic and non-economic losses ;
• Write three scientific papers and actively participate in dissemination of the results to scientific and non-scientific communities.

Your profile

We seek a highly motivated doctoral researcher with the following qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in economics, statistics, or econometrics ;
• Demonstrate strong theoretical, quantitative and econometric skills ;
• Experience with large-scale data sets (e.g. global migration matrices, census microdata, big data such as LinkedIN, Facebook etc) ;
• Familiarity with general equilibrium structural modelling and calibration of theoretical macroeconomic models ;
• Interest in topics related to conducted research: impacts of climate change, adaptation policies, migration politics ;
• Excellent written and spoken English, as well as easiness to provide technical and non-technical presentations of conducted research.

LISER particularly encourage female applicants to apply

What we offer

• A dynamic and international research environment with attractive working conditions and a stimulating work environment ;
• Flexibility in the organisation of the working hours and the possibility of teleworking ;
• Competitive remuneration according to the Collective Labour Agreement in force (meal vouchers, etc.) ;
• Investment in career support and development (trainings, seminars, participation to international meetings and conferences) ;
• 32.5 days of annual leave for a full-time contract.

The yearly gross salary for full-time employment is as follows:

1st year – 50’430 euros

2nd year – 52’890 euros

3rd year – 55’350 euros

How to apply

Please submit your complete application in English via https://jobs.liser.lu/jobs by including the following documents:

• Curriculum vitae ;
• Motivation letter ;
• Recent piece of research ;
• Copy of your last obtained diploma ;
• Two reference letters (to be uploaded with the application documents or sent separately to recruitment@liser.lu).

Please note that the position will remain open until filled. 

For administrative matters, please contact Mrs. Vanya Kirova at recruitment@liser.lu

Why LISER?

LISER is a publicly funded research institute located in Luxembourg and dedicated to applied empirical research in economic, social and spatial sciences. The Institute attracts top researchers from all over the world and high-level student training is a vibrant part of the Institute’s activities. LISER staff consists of approx. 200 employees, about 60% of the staff being researchers; mainly from the fields of economics, geography and sociology. The vision of the institute is to be a socio-economic research institute internationally recognised, focused on scientific excellence and societal impact, able to contribute through multi-disciplinary and intersectoral research, in an active and inclusive way to a sustainable and inclusive society at national and international level.

The institute is located on the new Belval campus in the south of Luxembourg (Cité des Sciences, Luxembourg), which hosts the University of Luxembourg and a substantial part of the country’s publicly funded research facilities, i.e. LISER, the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) cross-national data centre, the Luxembourg institutes of Health (LIH) and of Science and Technology (LIST). Information on research in Luxembourg is accessible via the national EURAXESS platform.

LISER is an Equal Opportunity Employer