The Economic Frontiers (EF) Program at IIASA is looking to recruit two research scholars with a strong background in mathematical and/or empirical modeling in the fields of environmental, energy or welfare economics to work on the projects JUSTCOAL and MULTIFUTURES.
The roles For the JUSTCOAL project, the selected candidate will study the local economic impacts of gradual versus disruptive coal transition. Expertise in mathematical modeling and/or empirical research on topics in energy and environmental economics is desirable. For the mathematical modeling, optimal control theory will be employed to study the dynamic process of long-term coal phase-out. Some knowledge of optimal control theory and numerical solution methods would be an advantage for the project.
As consortium partner for the Horizon Europe MULTIFUTURES project, EF will lead a work package on innovative modeling design, in which clusters of CGE, energy and integrated assessment models are built to study, in an integrative way, the role of technological and lifestyle changes as pathways of the new policy scenarios. Candidates with sound knowledge of life-cycle/overlapping generations modeling, including their calibration and numerical solution would be ideal for this project. Knowledge of Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and model integration would be an additional asset for this research.
Main tasks and responsibilities
- Contribute actively to the research of the two projects along with the development of modeling frameworks for the themes economics of disruptive changes and/or economics of equal life chances.
- Interact and collaborate with EF project partners (Technical University Vienna for JUSTCOAL, a European consortium for MULTIFUTURES), and represent the program at consortium meetings.
- Conduct cutting-edge research, publish findings in peer-reviewed journals, and engage in scientific conferences and workshops.
- Represent the program in capacity building through seminar and webinar contributions and serve as a supervisor for participants of the annual IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP).
- Actively engage with other researchers in EF and other IIASA programs, to establish joint research activities.
- In line with the team spirit that prevails at IIASA, the incumbent may occasionally work on other tasks assigned by their supervisors, that might not be directly related to this appointment but where the post holder has relevant experience and skills, and/or a shortage of immediate personnel capabilities requires such.
Requirements
- PhD degree in economics, management, public policy or other relevant disciplines; expertise and interest in mathematical and/or empirical economic modeling. Modeling and solution experience in environmental, energy or welfare economics would be an asset.
- Commensurate publication record in leading high-impact journals in economics or relevant related fields.
- Strong and demonstrated modeling skills and programming proficiency in MATLAB, Julia or related packages for mathematical modeling and numerical implementation.
- Proven competence in statistics/econometrics and experience with relevant statistical packages e.g., R, STATA and/or Python for empirical economic modeling.
- Innovative and critical thinking.
- Willingness to engage with stakeholders in communicating and devising research.
- Fluency in English and excellent presentation skills.
- IIASA offers an interdisciplinary and international workplace, and the possibility to interact with researchers of different nationalities, with strong ties to a world-wide network of research institutions engaged in environmental systems research. The successful candidate must be able to work in, and have respect for, an intercultural environment, and IIASA core values.