Senior Research Officer

The Department of Economics at the University of Essex is a leading research department with strength in all fields of economics. We are 4th in UK for research power in economics and econometrics (Times Higher Education research power measure, REF 2021).

Our Department houses two research centres and five broad research clusters: applied, behavioural-experimental-development, econometrics, macroeconomics and microeconomics. This active research community, with a vast breadth of interests, fosters collaborative research both within the department and with academics all over the globe.

The department also benefits from close working relationships with a number of leading research facilities, archives and institutes, including the Centre for Behavioural Science https://www.essex.ac.uk/centres-and-institutes/behavioural-science, the UK Data Archive and the Institute for Social and Economic Research. More information about the department can be found on our website: https://www.essex.ac.uk/departments/economics/research.

Duties of the Role

The successful applicant will work in the Department of Economics under the supervision of the Principal Investigator (Prof. Daniel Garrett) on the project “Endogenous Lying in Economic Environments” funded under the UKRI Frontier Research Guarantee (UKRI Frontier Research Grant EP/Z001528/1). This is a project in economic theory examining aversion to lying and evolving incentives and preferences for lying in different contexts.

The post holder will work on joint and/or own research examining, among other things, how mechanisms and contracts, especially in dynamic contexts, can be designed when faced with individuals who can lie (e.g., about preferences, abilities or outcomes) but exhibit aversion to lying.  You will contribute to team discussions on the research themes as well as to the research life of the Department of Economics more broadly.

You will also contribute to a survey article on different approaches to studying aversion to lying in the social sciences and how these can be related to economic theory.

A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found within the job pack.

Qualifications and Skills required

The successful applicant will hold a doctoral level degree in Economics (or be close to completion of your PhD – will have submitted your PhD thesis before the contract start date) or possess equivalent professional experience or practice. In addition, you will possess evidence of a developing research agenda, engagement in high-quality research activity and a developing research profile.

You will have expertise in and experience working in economic theory, especially in the theory of mechanism design and in contract theory. You will also have a strong background in mathematical reasoning.

Knowledge or experience working on behavioural economic theory would be welcome but is not a requirement. Knowledge of programming languages such as Matlab or Python would be welcome but is not a requirement.

This is a fixed-term, full-time post until 17 December 2027. The anticipated start date is 13 January 2025, however, this can be discussed in more detail with the successful applicant in terms of what could be feasible.

Please use the 'Apply' button to read further information about this role including the full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role. You will also find details of how to make your application here. Our website http://www.essex.ac.uk contains more information about the University of Essex. If you have a disability and would like information in a different format, please email resourcing@essex.ac.uk. 

Advert information