Postdoctoral research position – modeling migration networks and the impact of climate change 100 %
Postdoc @University of Zurich posted 2 days agoJob Description
The Department of Sociology at the University of Zurich, established in 1966, is one of the leading institutes in Europe known for its excellent theory-driven empirical research with a strong focus on quantitative methods.
We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join a project at the intersection of migration studies and social network analysis. The successful candidate will get two employments, one at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Toulouse School of Economics (50%); and one at the Department of Sociology at the University of Zurich (50%). Different employment conditions apply.
The successful candidate will conduct research on the structure and dynamics of migration networks – that is, networks in which nodes are countries or regions and migrants denote weighted directed ties between them. The project has a particular interest in how climate change influences intra- and/or inter-national migration patterns. The project has two focus areas:
- One focus is methodological and concerns adapting a recently developed statistical framework for endogenous processes in mobility networks to the case of migration. The aim is to model social processes, for example, when individuals follow each other on the same paths (i.e., migration chains) or where some individuals move to a location while pushing others out.
- The second focus is dedicated to an empirical application to the case of climate mobility. The goal will be to explore how environmental changes shape migration flows and whether they reinforce social inequalities between different social groups, in particular if only certain individuals are able to move to more favorable locations.
The postdoc will be primarily based at the Toulouse School of Economics, within the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, working with Marion Hoffman. The project will be undertaken in collaboration with Per Block at the Department of Sociology, University of Zurich and involve research stays there.
The position is limited to three years.
Terms of Employment
- Full-time, 3-year fixed-term contracts.
- Competitive salary and funds for traveling.
- A rich and interdisciplinary research environment.
- Expected start date: October 2025 at the earliest.
Your responsibilities
- Apply advanced statistical and network analysis methods to model migration dynamics.
- Integrate socio-demographic and climate data to study the processes underlying climate mobility with a focus on social processes.
- Write and publish research articles on this basis in reputable journals.
- Present findings at international conferences and workshops.
- Collaborate and actively engage with both parts of the team across the two institutions.
Your profile
Required Qualifications
- A PhD in sociology, demography, economics, geography, or related discipline.
- Strong research background in migration studies and/or climate research.
- Experience and strong interest in advanced quantitative methods, particularly statistical modeling.
- Experience with coding and R programming.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
- Demonstrated ability or potential to publish research in reputable journals.
- Speaking French or German is not required for the position.
Desirable Qualifications
- Experience with social network analysis, log-linear or gravity models.
- Familiarity with datasets related to climate mobility.
- Experience analyzing social inequality in migration.
- Ability to conduct interdisciplinary research.
Information on your application
To apply, please submit:
- A cover letter outlining how you fit the position.
- One page stating your research interests in relation to the position.
- A CV.
- Two writing samples or publications.
- Contact information for two referees mentioned in your CV.
Please submit your application by August 25, 2025. Your application documents will be reviewed by Marion Hoffman and Per Block. For this, we will share your application documents with Marion Hoffman.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Marion Hoffman, Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences & Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse School of Economics:Â marion.hoffman@iast.fr
and
Per Block, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Zurich:Â block@soziologie.uzh.ch
