I am currently looking for a Post-Doc to work with me and my group at IT:U. In my group, we use game theory to study questions around cooperation and social behavior: What makes people cooperate? What is the impact of social norms and how do they change? And what real-world conditions, such as changing environments or extreme inequality challenge our assumptions of cooperation?

If these questions interest you, please consider applying for:

Postdoctoral Fellow Position (3 years)

Details about the position. The call for this position is open: if you are a social psychologist or economist working with lab experiments, or if you are a modeler with prior experience with (evolutionary) game theory, this position might be for you. Applicants are free to develop their own research agenda; but I am also happy to propose topics if useful. The position is for 3 years, with a start date ideally in the first half of 2025 (the exact date is negotiable). There will be some moderate teaching requirements, mostly to support me in the courses I will offer. The salary is competitive, ranging from €4,752.30 to €5,211.80 for junior/senior PostDocs (on a 40-hour full-time basis, gross, 14 times a year).  In addition you are provided with a Klima-Ticket, which allows you to use all public transport in Austria for free.

Details about the working environment. The successful candidate will join our interdisciplinary research group, comprising of psychologists, physicists, and mathematicians. We use tools from game theory, ranging from analytical models and computer simulations to behavioural laboratory experiments. We aim to publish our findings in general-audience journals (including Nature, PNAS, Nature Human Behaviour) and top journals in economics, psychology and evolutionary biology. We have weekly group meetings to discuss science, and weekly 1-to-1 meetings with the supervisor to discuss projects. Our group is well connected to research labs worldwide, including in the US, UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, China and Japan. Candidates are encouraged to use these connections.

Details about the university. IT:U is a newly established public university in Linz, Upper Austria. It focuses on research across disciplinary boundaries, with faculty members having backgrounds in complex systems, AI, data science, and human-computer interactions. In the next few years, IT:U will grow quickly, with me joining in mid January 2025. Linz is well connected to other major cities in Austria and Germany (e.g., commuting to Vienna takes 1h15 by train).

Applications and informal interest. We welcome applications from candidates with a PhD in any related discipline (e.g. social psychology, computer science, mathematics, physics, economics). Applicants should have a strong quantitative background. Ideally, they also have some experience in designing and implementing economic experiments (e.g. Otree, Qualtrics), or with designing and analyzing game-theoretic models. I welcome informal enquiries about this position and encourage candidates who are uncertain whether they would be a good fit for the position (especially if they are from a traditionally underrepresented group in academia) to get in touch, via hilbe@evolbio.mpg.de. Once you are ready to submit your application, please use the following link. Your application should include your CV, a scan of your ID (e.g. passport), copies of your academic certificates, a motiviation letter, and a list of three references. The application deadline is November 30, 2024.