The Universities of Bielefeld and Münster aim to investigate empirically and in an interdisciplinary discourse between life sciences, humanities, and social sciences the topic of Individualization in Changing Environments (InChangE). For this purpose researchers from biology, health sciences, philosophy, psychology, medicine and psychiatry, economics, and sociology collaborated and were funded through the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. We are looking for creative and curious PostDocs (6 positions) to support us in this strongly interdisciplinary endeavour. The newly found Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment (JICE), which is also jointly supported by the Universities of Bielefeld and Münster, serves as the central organizing and exchange platform.
The vacant position is one of six postdoc positions within InChangE aiming to understand whether and how individualisation in a changing environment can lead to a more sustainable or non-sustainable behaviour. The position is based at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, more specifically at the Junior Professorship of Business Administration, esp. Management of Smart Products. The research should identify mechanisms that promote altruistic (sustainable) behaviour and draw both from economic and biological examples. Ultimately, we want to understand how sustainable behaviour can be promoted in the context of increasing individualisation and a rapidly changing environment. In order to live the interdisciplinary and cross-locational scientific exchange, the postdoc bridge projects are supervised by PIs from both universities and all participating postdocs will have a workplace at both locations. In addition to the work on thematically focused interdisciplinary topics, the initiative “InChangE” also offers an attractive concept for scientific exchange and the promotion of young scholars (e.g., networking meetings, science lunch, annual retreat).

Your Tasks 

  • research within the InChangE bridge project 3.1 “Identification of incentives and sanctions that promote altruistic or egoistic behaviour” including preparation of publications and presentations as well as commitment to the acquisition of third-party funding (90 %)
  • cooperation in planning and organisation of scientific events, e. g. science lunch, networking meetings (5 %)
  • supervision of seminar papers and theses within the research project (5 %)

The postdoc will have workplaces at the Universities of Bielefeld and Münster. The main workplace will be at Bielefeld University; however, it is expected that the postdoc spend some time at the Münster University.

Employment is conducive to scientific qualification. 

We offer 

  • salary according to Remuneration level 13 TV-L
  • temporary to 36 months (§ 2 (1) sentence 2 of the WissZeitVG; in accordance with the provisions of the WissZeitVG and the Agreement on Satisfactory Conditions of Employment, the length of contract may differ in individual cases)
  • fulltime 
  • internal and external training opportunities
  • wide range of health, consulting and prevention service
  • reconcilability of family and working life
  • flexible working hours
  • job ticket for regional public transport network
  • supplementary company pension
  • collegial working environment
  • open and pleasant working atmosphere
  • exciting, varied tasks

Your Profile 

We expect 

  • relevant scientific university degree (Master or equivalent), preferably in economics (esp. marketing), or alternatively in psychology, sociology or behavioral biology
  • completed doctorate, preferably in economics (esp. marketing) or alternatively in psychology, sociology or behavioral biology
  • peer reviewed publications in one of the fields relevant to InChangE
  • sound knowledge of empirical research (preferably quantitative research methods)
  • very good English language skills (oral and written)
  • independent, self-reliant and committed way of working
  • strong organisation and coordination ability
  • excellent communication and ability to work in a team
  • cooperative and team-oriented working style
  • readiness to travel as the vacant position will have workplaces at the Universities of Bielefeld and Münster

Preferred experience and skills 

  • The candidate’s prior research focus should be on consumer behavior issues at the intersection of one (or more) of the following research fields: Sustainability, Sustainable Consumption, Cooperation and Forms of Cooperation, (Sustainable) Communication, Transformative Service Research or Innovations and Technology (e.g. Smart Products, Smart Services, Smart Solutions).
  • experience in third-party fundraising or in supporting the acquisition of third-party funds is advantageous
  • experience in international cooperation
  • German language skills or willingness to obtain a command of German (some of the empirical research will be conducted in Germany)

Application Procedure 
We are looking forward to receiving your application. For full consideration, your application should be received via either email (a single PDF document is required) sent to [email protected] or post (see postal address). Please mark your application with the identification code: Wiss21936. Please note that the possibility of privacy breaches and unauthorized access by third parties cannot be excluded when communicating via unencrypted e-mail. For Information on the processing of personal data click here. 

application deadline: 10.11.2021