Postdoc position at Max Planck Institute in Bonn, Germany
Meng-Jhang Fong
The Research Group “Economic Design & Behavior,” led by Prof. Dr. Axel Ockenfels at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, invites applications for a postdoctoral position within the (Female) Career Track Program.
The official job posting is available here and included below.
Interested candidates are invited to submit their application by 14 September 2025, exclusively via the application portal.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Andrea Lütz at lu...@coll.mpg.de.
Best regards,
Meng-Jhang Fong
On behalf of the Research Group Axel Ockenfels
The Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, with its approximately 100 employees, scholars, and visiting researchers, is one of more than 80 institutions of the Max Planck Society. It is an internationally oriented research institute dealing with applied economics and behavioral analysis of law.
The Research Group “Economic Design & Behavior” focuses on what might be called “behavioral market design”, which combines tools and topics from market design and behavioral economics. The group is led by Prof. Dr. Axel Ockenfels, who is director at the Max Planck Institute and director of the newly established Adenauer School of Government at the University of Cologne.
We are seeking to recruit an excellent Postdoc for the (Female) Career Track Program.
Our Offer to You:
- 4-year postdoc position (EG 13 TVöD Bund), with the option to extend to a W2 position (equivalent to Assistant/Associate Professor) as Head of a Max Planck Research Group for a further 6 years
- Participation in cutting-edge research involving leading international researchers and research funding
- Financial resources for your own research
- Opportunities for further training
- Social benefits provided by the public sector, including additional pension benefits
- No teaching obligation, but opportunity to teach
- PhD in economics, computer science, or related fields (or about to defend a PhD soon)
- Expertise in behavioral/experimental economics and/or market design and/or quantitative methods (including, e.g., surveys, big-data analytics, artificial intelligence, LLM, machine-learning, and theoretical approaches)
- Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in economics, computer science, statistics, public policy, mathematics, or related discipline with substantial quantitative coursework
- Strong academic record
- Strong econometric skills (including familiarity with causal inference methods) and/or
- Programming skills
- Strong ability to produce publication-quality research and communicate the findings to a wide audience
- Strong analytical and writing skills
- Strong managerial and organizational skills
- Strong problem-solving skills, solution-oriented, with a mentality for continuous improvement of yourself and the team
- Collaborative, collegial, and excited to work with diverse teams
- Highly self-motivated and able to take initiative without much supervision
- Leadership potential with the ability to inspire and lead field and lab teams with intelligence, dedication, and empathy
Interested candidates are invited to submit their application by 14 September 2025, exclusively via our application portal.
Please upload the following documents:
- Letter of motivation
- CV with a list of publications/working papers
- Research statement (at most two pages)
- Job-market paper (published article or manuscript)
- Copies of degree certificates
- 3 letters of reference (if the reviewers wish to send the letters directly, or you can send them only later, please send them to lu...@coll.mpg.de before the deadline)
Should you have further questions please do not hesitate to contact Andrea Lütz via e-mail: lu...@coll.mpg.de
The purpose of the (Female) Career Track Program is to increase the number of excellent female scientists in the Max Planck Society. Therefore, the program primarily focuses on the recruitment of outstanding female scientists, though it is open to all applicants. The Max Planck Society is also seeking to increase the number of employees with severe disabilities. Applications from such qualified candidates will be given special consideration.
We look forward to receiving your application!
Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods
Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 10
53113 Bonn