PhD Student in Innovation Economics/Management

KOF's Research Division Innovation Economics and the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation are seeking a highly motivated and talented PhD candidate to join our dynamic research team at the intersection of innovation economics and strategy innovation management. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research.

The Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation provides an inspiring, team-based research environment. Our team consists of a dynamic and international group of researchers who share a common vision to contribute to top-level academic research in the fields of strategic management and innovation. The research team has an excellent track record of publishing in leading journals within the field, including The Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Harvard Business Review. We also have a strong international network of collaborators.

The KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich is the leading institute for applied economic research in Switzerland. The Division Innovation Economics conducts high-quality empirical research. We use advanced methods to collect a wide variety of (big) data and analyze them using state-of-the-art econometric and text analytic methods. The division provides the basis for evidence-based policy making in Switzerland and publishes its analyses in leading field journals.

Both institutions are associated with the Department of Management, Technology and Economics (D-MTEC) at ETH Zurich.

The KOF Innovation Division and the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation are collaborating on a cutting-edge research project to investigate sector-specific innovation models, with a particular emphasize on the pharmaceutical industry. 

In order to advance this very important work, we are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a strong passion for quantitative research. This includes applying novel empirical methods (e.g., machine learning or deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and econometrics) to uncover new insights from comprehensive datasets and exploring policy measures that drive innovation in different economic sectors. 

The ideal candidate will not only have a strong interest in the topic, but also a solid background in quantitative econometric methods and data analytics (e.g. machine learning), which are essential for conducting rigorous analysis in this area. 

• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in economics, data science, computer science, or a related field.
• A strong desire to conduct high-quality, interdisciplinary research.
• A clear interest in working at the interface between innovation economics and innovation management and in applying quantitative methods (e.g. applied econometrics, machine learning, deep learning, NLP, text mining, big data analytics, web scraping).
• Very good knowledge of statistical software such as STATA or R, with additional experience in programming languages such as Python or Matlab is highly desirable.
• Excellent command of English, both spoken and written; knowledge of German is advantageous.

• The opportunity to pursue a PhD at a globally renowned institution with access to cutting-edge research facilities.
• A dynamic and collaborative research environment with internationally competitive working conditions.
• Involvement in a high-impact research project that bridges the fields of innovation economics, strategic management, and advanced data analytics.
• The opportunity to broaden and deepen your methodological expertise in quantitative research, potentially including a variety of data analysis methods ranging from econometrics to deep learning.

We support the career of women in economics and we encourage female candidates to apply. ETH Zurich offers internationally competitive working conditions. Gross salary will be in accordance with the regulations of the ETH Zürich.