Environmental Economics University Assistant (PhD Research): Microeconomics and Game Theory

Environmental Economics University Assistant (PhD Research): Microeconomics and Game Theory

Quick Decision

This is a four-year, paid university-employment post whose duties explicitly include researching and writing a dissertation in environmental economics, microeconomics and game theory. The strongest documented match is an economics graduate with excellent results, strong English, quantitative or theoretical research curiosity, and readiness to teach bachelor-level courses. The post offers 30 hours per week and lists a minimum salary of €52,865.40 gross per year on a full-time basis; the actual 30-hour amount must be confirmed. The key condition is that employment does not itself confirm admission or enrollment in a doctoral programme. Before applying, ask the department how doctoral admission is handled and whether it can be completed before or after the planned 1 March 2027 start. Applications close 11 December 2026 at 23:59 Europe/Vienna. Official vacancy

Research Problem and Doctoral Work

What Is Unsolved and Why It Matters

The vacancy places the dissertation in environmental economics, microeconomics and game theory, but does not provide a research question, policy setting, model, dataset or work package. Department research describes relevant environmental-economics questions around climate mitigation and its economic consequences, climate adaptation, international agreements and extreme-weather impacts. These are useful context for preparing questions, not a specification of the incoming assistant’s dissertation. Department research areas

Work, Methods, and Potential Outputs

Advertised work: research and write a dissertation at the University of Graz in environmental economics, microeconomics and game theory; independently teach bachelor courses; participate in teaching and examinations; supervise students; and contribute to organizational, administrative and evaluation tasks. The advert does not identify the balance of these duties within the 30-hour week, prescribe a method, or promise a publication or dataset.

Researcher interpretation: the department’s work suggests possible intersections among environmental externalities, strategic cooperation, free-riding, climate policy and agreement enforcement. Recent papers by the department head examine strategic threats around solar geoengineering and alternative solution concepts for international environmental agreements; another recent paper studies team formation in coordination games. These demonstrate activity in environmental policy, strategic interaction and micro/game theory, but they do not establish the thesis topic or required methods. Department research areas Finus profile 2025 geoengineering paper 2025 coordination-games paper 2024 environmental-agreements paper

School, Programme and Field Context

The employer is the University of Graz, and the vacancy locates the role in its Department of Economics, within the School of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. The department lists environmental economics and decision/game theory among its research areas. The University’s Doctoral School of Economics describes a departmental training and peer-networking environment for doctoral researchers. These sources support a plausible local fit, but the vacancy does not name a research group, laboratory, dissertation supervisor, data resource or specific doctoral-school affiliation. Department overview Doctoral School of Economics

The likely degree route is the University of Graz Doctoral Programme in Business, Economics and Social Sciences, Economics specialization. Its 2024 curriculum plans six semesters and 44 ECTS: 40 ECTS of coursework and exposé work, plus 4 ECTS for the dissertation defense. It awards the degree “Doctor of Social and Economic Sciences” (Dr. rer. soc. oec.). This route is a well-supported match to the job’s field, but neither the programme name nor admission is confirmed in the vacancy. The University is both the stated employer and likely degree-awarding institution if the candidate is admitted to this route; formal enrollment must still be established. Doctoral curriculum Doctoral School of Economics

Admission is a separate academic decision. The 2026 programme-admission information calls for an eligible prior degree, research outline, motivation, language evidence and a supervision agreement, followed by qualitative review by the responsible committee; additional requirements or an interview may apply. The general University process likewise separates finding a supervisor, admission review and enrollment. The 2026 general doctoral-admission information lists deadlines of 30 November for winter-semester entry and 31 May for summer-semester entry, although programme-specific dates can differ. Since the job deadline is 11 December 2026 and the planned start is 1 March 2027, ask which intake and sequence apply and whether employment may begin before admission. Do not treat the job application as the doctoral application. Programme admission General doctoral admission process Doctoral admission deadlines

For reputation context, QS lists the University of Graz at #=696 in the 2027 overall World University Rankings. QS’s 2026 Economics & Econometrics subject results place it in the 551–700 band. These are separate ranking editions and scopes; they should not be read as a measure of the individual department’s supervision quality. QS overall ranking, 2027 QS Economics & Econometrics, 2026

Supervisor and Lab Assessment

Supervisor Research Directions

Univ.-Prof. Dr Michael Finus is named as the vacancy contact and is identified by the department as its head. His stated research includes environmental externalities, free-riding, collective action and global environmental governance. The vacancy does not name him as the dissertation supervisor; that role should be confirmed directly. The department also lists Birgit Bednar-Friedl in environmental and resource economics, but the available evidence does not connect her to this vacancy. Finus profile Finus research interests Bednar-Friedl profile

Recent Important Publications

• Finus and Furini’s 2025 article analyzes whether strategic threats to avoid solar-geoengineering deployment are credible. It illustrates game-theoretic reasoning applied to climate governance; it does not establish geoengineering as the advertised thesis topic. Article
• Caparrós, Finus and Blanco’s 2025 article studies team formation in coordination games with fixed neighborhoods. It is evidence of recent microeconomic/game-theory work in the department, though it is not itself environmental economics. Article
• Finus, Furini and Rohrer’s 2024 article compares Stackelberg and Nash-Cournot approaches in the folk-theorem analysis of international environmental agreements. It offers a direct example of strategic modeling in environmental cooperation, not a prescribed method for this role. Article
• Elboghdadly and Finus (2024) examine escalating border carbon adjustments as an enforcement mechanism for climate agreements. This links policy instruments and strategic enforcement. Article
• Finus and Furini (2023) analyze global climate governance in the context of geoengineering. It provides further evidence of the group’s climate-governance interests, not a confirmed dissertation direction. Article

Lab, Resources, and Collaboration Environment

The departmental and Doctoral School descriptions do not establish a named lab, dedicated project team, research budget, dataset, software access, collaboration network or conference allowance for this post. Ask what supervision and research resources would be available. The Doctoral School is evidence of a training structure, not a guarantee of a particular supervisor or funded research package. Department overview Doctoral School of Economics

Funding, Application, and Living Cost

The post is a four-year fixed-term employment contract at 30 hours per week, category B1 without PhD, with planned start on 1 March 2027. The advertised minimum of €52,865.40 is annual gross salary on a full-time basis; the ad says a higher amount may be possible based on qualifications and experience. It does not state the 30-hour gross salary. The 2016 version of Austria’s Universities Act gives a normal 40-hour week unless otherwise agreed. A simple 30/40 pro-rata calculation gives €39,649.05 gross per year, but this is an analyst estimate, not an employer quotation; ask HR for the contractual amount, payment schedule and treatment of prior experience. Net pay is not estimated here. Official vacancy University Act International staff information

Tuition treatment is also conditional. The University’s 2025 doctoral-service information says doctoral researchers employed to complete their dissertation may qualify for a fee waiver or reimbursement when the employment contract states that completing the doctorate is part of the job. This vacancy expressly requires dissertation work, but its wording alone does not confirm that the contract contains the fee-waiver clause or that the candidate is admitted. For international students, ordinary fee rules depend on citizenship and residence status; the 2026 University fee information lists €726.72 per semester for many non-EU/EEA students, with applicable exemptions, and a student-union contribution may remain due. Confirm the contract clause, personal fee category and any ÖH contribution before accepting. Doctoral study service and fee waiver International tuition rules

The University Welcome Center’s 2026 information estimates student costs at about €1,000–1,300 per month and student-room prices from around €300 per month. These are student planning figures, not an employee budget or a promise of housing; actual costs depend on accommodation and personal circumstances. They provide only a rough comparison point against gross pay. Search housing early and build a personal budget that includes deposits, insurance, transport and any applicable tuition or student-union charges. University cost estimate Housing information

The application requires a motivation letter, academic CV, proof of completed degree and English-proficiency evidence; applications are submitted through the University’s online system. The deadline is 11 December 2026, 23:59 Europe/Vienna. The vacancy also lists a completed Economics diploma or master’s with excellent results, excellent spoken and written English, very good MS Office skills, research curiosity, independence, initiative, teamwork and organizational skills. The University encourages women to apply and ordinarily gives preference where women are underrepresented and qualifications are equivalent; qualified applicants with disabilities are welcome. Official vacancy University jobs portal

Applicant Fit and Preparation

Required Background and Skills

The advert requires a completed Economics diploma or master’s with excellent academic results. It also asks for excellent English, very good MS Office skills, scientific curiosity about current research questions, and the ability to work independently, take initiative, collaborate and organize work. It does not spell out a specific econometrics package, programming language, mathematical prerequisite or prior publication requirement. Do not infer these as formal eligibility criteria. Official vacancy

Preferred Experience and Suggested Preparation

German spoken and written ability is desirable, rather than a stated hard requirement. Before applying, prepare evidence of strong economics coursework and research potential: a thesis, research paper, methods coursework, or a concise example of independent analysis. These are suggested ways to demonstrate fit, not extra requirements in the ad. Prepare to discuss how you would explore an environmental-economics question using microeconomic or game-theoretic reasoning, while making clear that the exact topic and method remain to be agreed. Also consider whether you are ready to teach independently at bachelor level and to combine research with student supervision and administrative work.

Broad EU reports describe clean-energy job growth and skill shortages linked to the green transition. They offer adjacent context for environmental-economics career relevance, but they do not establish hiring demand in Austria or predict employment outcomes for environmental-economics PhDs. Likely pathways to investigate include academic economics, policy research and environmental or climate-policy analysis; these are possible directions, not guaranteed outcomes of the role. Cedefop green-transition labour evidence European Environment Agency jobs and skills report

Next Actions and Questions to Verify

Before Applying

1. Ask whether doctoral admission is a separate process, which intake applies, and whether it can be completed before the March 2027 employment start.
2. Request the exact 30-hour gross salary and how qualifications or prior experience affect the offer.
3. Confirm whether the role expects German at any specific level, despite listing it as desirable.
4. Prepare a focused motivation letter that addresses research interests, English, teaching readiness and collaboration; submit the required academic CV, degree proof and English evidence through the University portal before the deadline.

At Interview

1. Who would formally supervise the dissertation, and what topic, methods, milestones and data are currently envisaged?
2. How are the 30 weekly hours divided among dissertation research, independent teaching, examinations, student supervision and administration?
3. What training, methods support, research budget, conference access and collaboration opportunities are available through the department or Doctoral School?

Before Accepting an Offer

1. Does the contract explicitly require completion of the doctorate as part of employment, and does that wording qualify for a tuition waiver or reimbursement?
2. What fees, including any student-union contribution, would apply to the candidate’s citizenship and enrollment status?
3. What are the formal enrollment date, degree route, contract review arrangements, special payments and employee benefits?

Evidence and Sources

The sources below cover the vacancy, doctoral training, fees, living costs and related research; their scope and dates are described above.

• University assistant vacancy
• University jobs portal
• Department of Economics overview
• Department research areas
• Michael Finus profile
• Michael Finus research interests
• Department publications
• Doctoral School of Economics
• Doctoral Programme curriculum
• Programme admission
• General doctoral admission process
• Doctoral admission deadlines
• Doctoral fee-waiver information
• International tuition fees
• University living-cost estimate
• Housing information
• International staff information
• University Act working-time provisions
• QS World University Rankings 2027
• QS Economics & Econometrics 2026
• Finus and Furini, “On the credibility of threats to avoid the deployment of solar geoengineering”
• Caparrós, Finus and Blanco, “Team Formation in Coordination Games with Fixed Neighborhoods”
• Finus, Furini and Rohrer, “The Stackelberg vs. Nash-Cournot Folk-Theorem in International Environmental Agreements”
• Elboghdadly and Finus, “Enforcing Climate Agreements: The Role of Escalating Border Carbon Adjustments”
• Finus and Furini, “Global climate governance in the light of geoengineering: A shot in the dark?”
• Cedefop, EU green-transition labour shortages
• European Environment Agency, clean-energy jobs and skills
• Birgit Bednar-Friedl profile