Two PhD positions at ETH Zurich

NCCR Democracy
Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century

Open positions: Two Ph.D. students
NCCR project “Civil Society – Government Interactions in Global Governance”

The NCCR Democracy is an interdisciplinary research program on the
challenges to democracy in the 21st century funded by the Swiss
National Science Foundation and the University of Zurich. In the
framework of the NCCR project “Civil Society – Government Interactions
in Global Governance” we are seeking two Ph.D. students. The
appointment is for four years and will begin on October 1, 2009.

Project description: The project will study how civil society groups
(NGOs and business groups) and government representatives interact in
the context of global environmental policy making. It will concentrate
on developing a formal (game theoretical) model to explain government
and civil society groups behavior. It will also use a combination of
qualitative case studies and statistical analysis to test hypotheses
generated by the theoretical model. The empirical work will mainly
cover global climate change and ozone layer policy as well as policies
pertaining to trade in hazardous wastes and endangered species.

Position / Profile: We are looking for two PhD students with a strong
interest in analyzing global environmental issues from a political
economy perspective. We expect you to hold an MA/MSc in political
science and/or economics, to have strong methodological skills, a keen
interest in questions of political economy, a good knowledge of
political science and political economy theories, and a strong command
of English. Expertise in formal modelling (game theory) is not
necessary, but will have to be acquired during the first year.

Terms of employment: We offer the successful candidates an
intellectually challenging position in one of the leading political
science research centers in Europe and the prospects of obtaining a
PhD from ETH Zürich (http://www.ib.ethz.ch/phd/index). Your employment
and workplace will be in the International Political Economy research
group at the CIS, which is led by Prof. Thomas Bernauer
(http://www.ib.ethz.ch). The salary will be according to the pay scale
of the Swiss National Science Foundation (ca. CHF 3’000.- /month,
which is sufficient to support a modest one person household in
Zürich). The employment is for four years. Applications: Applications
should include a letter of motivation, a detailed curriculum vitae,
two letters of recommendation, copies of all academic
degrees, the MA/MSc thesis or two recent seminar papers. Please submit
your application in two Pdf files, the first containing all parts of
the application except the MA/MSc thesis or seminar papers, to Ms
Claudia Jenny at cjenny@icr.ethz.gess.ch.

The deadline for applications is May 15, 2009.

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ETH Zurich
Dr. Michael M. Bechtel
Center for Comparative and International Studies
WEC C 25
Weinbergstrasse 11
CH-8092 Zurich
michael.bechtel@ir.gess.ethz.ch
www.ib.ethz.ch/people/mbechtel
+41 44 632 62 68 phone
+41 44 632 12 89 fax