PhD Candidate in the Energy Transition (f/m) - Ref: 25-27

The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)

is recruiting a

PhD Candidate in the Energy Transition (f/m)

• Ref: 25-27
• Fixed-term working contract at LISER for 36 months (extendable up to 48 months maximum)
• Full-time, 40 hours/week
• Department: Living Conditions (LC)
• Registration in the PhD program at the University of Luxembourg
• Work location: Belval (Luxembourg)
• Deadline to submit applications: 14th September 2025

Project description

The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) is pleased to invite applications for a fully funded PhD position within the National Centre of Excellence in Research on Data-Driven Energy Transition (NCER D2ET) Project. The successful candidate will be hosted at LISER and enrolled in a recognised doctoral programme at the University of Luxembourg. The anticipated start date is flexible, ideally by November 2025.

The position is embedded in Work Package 1 (WP1): Social Acceptability and Distributional Impact, which LISER (PI: Dr. Denisa M. Sologon) leads over the course of this programme.

The PhD candidate will play a key role in developing the Green-EUROMOD framework for Luxembourg, a microsimulation tool that links the pan-European tax-benefit microsimulation model, carbon pricing, household consumption, and emission patterns to assess the distributional, welfare and poverty impacts of climate policies.  The project also incorporates the behavioural and socio-psychological aspects of energy policy and envisages cross-national comparative studies on the energy transition, focused on the Grand Region and beyond.

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 Green-EUROMOD for Luxembourg, building on the European Framework ;
• Model the distributional effects of carbon taxation and alternative revenue recycling mechanisms using microsimulation tools adapted to Luxembourg’s institutional and demographic context ;
• Identify and profile households at risk of energy poverty, and evaluate the impact of climate policies and their interaction with the tax-benefit system on their welfare ;
• Conduct comparative studies across EU countries to place Luxembourg’s transition in a broader perspective of fairness and effectiveness ;
• Investigate the determinants of social acceptability of energy policies and infrastructures.

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

Your profile

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

• A Master’s degree in economics, public policy, socio-economics, applied econometrics, or a related discipline ;
• Demonstrated interest in distributional analysis, energy poverty, or environmental taxation ;
• Experience with household survey data (e.g. EU-SILC, HBS, HFCS) ;
• Familiarity with microsimulation modelling and econometric analysis ;
• A strong interest in interdisciplinary research, combining quantitative methods with insights from behavioural economics or social psychology.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

LISER particularly encourage female applicants to apply

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).

Deadline to submit applications: September 14th, 2025

Would you have any work-related question, please contact Dr. Denisa M. Sologon at denisa.sologon@liser.lu

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