Doctoral Candidate in Regulatory Learning for Governance of Transformative Technologies
Explore how public institutions retain and reuse regulatory knowledge across time and jurisdictions in a Marie Skłodowska-Curie funded doctoral network.
Best for:Best for social science researchers with a master’s degree in law, political science, STS, or related fields, interested in regulatory policy, participatory research, and institutional learning.
Overview
This doctoral position at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is part of the MSCA-funded REGULAIRE network, which investigates how regulatory systems learn from emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, and neurotechnology. The successful candidate will examine how public institutions gather, document, and reuse evidence to inform policy decisions, with a focus on participatory research and institutional memory. The role involves designing research, conducting fieldwork, and contributing to network-wide training and publications. Supervision will be provided by Prof. Sandra Cortesi, with opportunities for secondments and international collaboration. The position offers a full-time, three-year employment contract with competitive remuneration and full training support under MSCA rules.
What you'll do
- Develop research questions and methodologies in collaboration with the supervision team, ensuring alignment with ethical, data-management, and open-science standards.
- Conduct fieldwork including document analysis, interviews, and participatory methods to study how public institutions gather and reuse regulatory evidence.
- Write a doctoral thesis and publish related work within the TUM doctoral programme and the REGULAIRE network plan.
- Participate in three residential summer schools, monthly paper development seminars, and network-wide training activities.
- Complete a three-month secondment with a non-academic partner to gain practical experience.
- Engage in research integrity, equality and diversity initiatives, and FAIR data practices.
- Contribute to the REGULAIRE Observatory with research findings and practical approaches.
Requirements
Degree required: A Master's degree or equivalent qualification that grants access to doctoral studies, completed by the start date. Relevant fields include law, political science, science and technology studies, psychology, communication science, information and library science, or interdisciplinary social sciences.
Degree offered: PhD
Language: English; professional working proficiency required (non-native speakers welcome)
Instruction: English
- Professional proficiency in English (spoken and written)
- Genuine interest in how public institutions create, document, and reuse knowledge
- Willingness to travel for secondments and network activities
- Eligibility under MSCA rules (no PhD, mobility requirement, and timely enrolment in TUM doctoral programme)
- Applicant must not already hold a PhD (defended but not formally received is also ineligible)
- Must comply with MSCA mobility rule: not have lived, worked, or studied mainly in Germany for more than 12 months in the 36 months before the start date (excluding holidays, compulsory national service, or refugee status procedures)
- Must be able to enrol in the TUM doctoral programme by the start date
Funding & terms
How to apply
Deadline: 2023-10-31 (CET)
Submit your application through the online application form by the deadline. Your application must include a CV, degree certificates and transcripts, a 2-page research proposal, and contact details for two referees. Reference letters will only be requested from shortlisted candidates.
- CV (no photo, date of birth, or marital status)
- Copies of degree certificates and transcripts (English translations acceptable if originals are in another language)
- Short research proposal (no more than 2 pages)
- Contact details for two referees
Contact
REGULAIRE Network Office· Application Contact
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