PhD Position

The research group ‘The Political Economy of Financing Large-Scale Transformations. Off-Balance-Sheet Fiscal Agencies in Wars, Reconstruction, and the Green Transition’ (OBFA-TRANSFORM)— funded via the Emmy Noether programme of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and hosted at Global Climate Forum (GCF) in Berlin—offers a

PhD Position (E13, 50%).

Who we are

• The OBFA-TRANSFORM project investigates how states have been able to finance large-scale transformations in a largely privatised and globalised monetary and financial system.
• We use the Monetary Architecture framework to look at large-scale transformations through the prism of a macro-financial governance process (comprising balance sheet expansion, long­term funding, backstopping against financial instability, and final balance sheet contraction).
• The group works at the intersection of International Political Economy, monetary theory, and financial history. Our research hypothesis is that off-balance-sheet fiscal agencies played a key role in financing large-scale transformations in the 20^th century, and that we can learn from this for dealing with major challenges of the 21^st century.

Your responsibilities

• Write your own PhD thesis related to a topic of the OBFA-TRANSFORM project, drawing on the methodology of the group and possibly further developing it.
• Co-author research papers related to the project.
• Contribute to outreach activities (incl. social media, blog post, newspaper articles, etc).
• Participate in other group activities such as the development of the OBFA-TRANSFORM Dataset and an interactive online tool to visualise dynamics in monetary architectures.

Requirements

• Master-level degree in Political Science, IPE, Economics, or related fields.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.

GCF is an equal opportunity employer. We strive for diversity and inclusion and welcome all qualified applicants. The successful candidate will join a friendly and highly motivated team in central Berlin. Employment at E13 50% comes with additional pension insurance benefits and a substantive research budget to facilitate conference travel, fieldwork, and research stays abroad. We collaborate with the John F. Kennedy Institute at Freie Universität Berlin where you will register as a PhD student, become a member of the graduate school, and have teaching opportunities. We expect the candidate to be based in Berlin for the duration of the position, with possibilities for (extended) stays abroad.

The position will start in April 2025 (or as soon as possible thereafter). The expected duration of the position is four years. We can offer an initial contract for one year with the outlook of prolongation for further three years (pending approval of the second funding period by DFG).

The deadline for applications is 15 December 2024. Please send your application as a single PDF with the subject “PhD application” to Dr Steffen Murau (steffen.murau@globalclimateforum.org). The file should include a motivation letter, a CV, up to three writing samples, and a five-page PhD proposal in which you sketch how you would apply the framework of the group (Monetary Architecture and macro-financial governance process) on one or several case studies of your choice. The proposal should be broadly related to how large-scale investment and/or transformation projects have been carried out (today and/or in the past, in one or more countries of your choice) and which role off-balance-sheet fiscal agencies have played in it (also vis-à-vis the central bank, the treasury, banks, and non-bank financial institutions).

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