The Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Augsburg is opening a position as

PhD student (f/m/d)

for 75% of the regular working hours in environmental economics in the research project “Designing Early Warning Systems for Approaching Tipping Points”, led by Prof. Dr. Florian Diekert. The project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) studies how early warning systems can improve decision-making in socio-ecological systems that exhibit tipping points. It combines economic theory and experiments to develop and test design principles for warning systems that differ across decision environments ranging from one-shot to dynamic settings and from single-agent to strategic multi-agent interaction. The PhD student will conduct economic experiments supervised by Prof. Dr. Florian Diekert in Augsburg and collaborate closely with the project’s theoretical team led by Prof. Dr. Daniel Heyen at the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau. The position is expected to start on September 15, 2026 (or as mutually agreed).

The position is a three year, fixed-term, contract with envisioned continuation as a fixed-term employment for academic qualification. If personal and tariff requirements are fulfilled, salary follows the collective agreement for civil servants on a contractual basis in the public sector according to Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L.

Tasks

• Completion of your own qualification (PhD dissertation)
• Active member of the working group in research, teaching, and organization.
• Design, planning, and execution of economic experiments, statistical analysis, and transfer of scientific findings to fellow researchers, policy makers, and the general public

We offer

• You will be part of a dynamic, interdisciplinary and cooperative team in an excellent work environment.
• You will contribute to topical research on climate resilience
• You will be strongly supported in your own research endeavors

Your profile

• Self-starter who has team spirit and is diligent
• MSc degree or equivalent in economics or a related field (if your degree is not completed yet, indicate your expected completion date) with a documented expertise in environmental economics and/or mechanism design
• Keen interest in theoretical work combined with experience with empirical analyses and economic experiments
• Written and oral proficiency in German and English, further languages are an asset

Required qualification has to be proven by relevant certificates. If personal and tariff requirements are fulfilled, salary follows the collective agreement for civil servants on a contractual basis in the public sector according to Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L.

The University of Augsburg promotes the professional equality of women. Female candidates are explicitly invited to submit their application. The University of Augsburg stands up for compatibility of family and professional life. For more information, please contact the woman’s representative office. Severely disabled applicants are given preferential consideration in the event of equal qualification.

Interested? Please send a letter of motivation, your CV, two reference letters or names of references that could be contacted, and certificates as a single pdf file by

June 15, 2026

by e-mail to regina.papp@uni-a.de. For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the project lead, Florian Diekert ( florian.diekert@uni-a.de). We look forward to see your application!

This English translation of the job advertisement is provided to help you understand the original German one.

Please note that only the German version of the job advertisement is legally binding, which can be found on the website: /de/jobs-und-karriere/stellenangebote.