Teaching and Research Associate

ISSET focuses on theoretically grounded empirical analyses. It aims at understanding contemporary transformations with a focus on their spatial and social-ecological dimensions. Contemporary ecological (e.g., climate change and biodiversity loss), geopolitical and geoeconomic (e.g., rise of the Global South and militarization) and socio-political transformations (e.g., crises of liberal democracy, inequality and social cohesion) are always time-space specific. They shape and are shaped by context-sensitive forms of policies, multi-level governance, regulations, institutions, and discourses. ISSET explores innovative governance models for “transformation by design” by investigating democratic forms of multi-level planning that link top-down and bottom-up approaches. 

In cooperation with the International Karl Polanyi Society, it aims at contributing to an inter- and transdisciplinary social science of economics by linking economics and other social sciences. Researchers at the institute endorse a broad understanding of economies as social-ecological provisioning systems and economics as a discipline that investigates the production, distribution, and consumption of infrastructures, services, and commodities that satisfy, primarily, human needs. 

This position will be allocated to the research unit “Transformative Urban and Regional Economics”. This unit focuses on the spatial (territorial and relational) dimensions of economic transformation (local innovation systems, green economy) and of social-ecological provisioning systems (transportation systems, supply chains, energy, housing, education, work). It explores the potential and need to transform local economies through avenues like innovation, land use policies, planning, and governance. It aims at predicting and evaluating the diverse impacts of such transformations using state-of-the-art modeling frameworks. As direct consequence of local variation in economic structure and of social-ecological provisioning, this unit emphasizes that effective urban and regional development strategies usually require place-based policy responses and context-sensitive forms of governance, often incorporating both bottom-up and top-down elements.

While the successful candidate will be open to multiple theoretical perspectives, we seek candidates with a background in spatial economics (e.g. transport economics, urban economics) or related social science disciplines. Candidates are expected to be interested in, open to, and able to connect their research with other researchers in the research unit, as co-publications are envisaged, and the emerging research unit is intended to be shaped collaboratively.