Doctoral researcher, ENERPOL MSCA Doctoral Network Full-time

Doctoral Researcher, ENERPOL MSCA Doctoral Network

Department of Economics and Management of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry invites applications for a doctoral researcher, ENERPOL MSCA Doctoral Network. Within the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA), University of Helsinki is offering a PhD fellowship for a doctoral candidate (DC), starting 1 September 2026 or as soon as possible hereafter. A position is for 36 months and is funded by the ENERPOL MSCA Doctoral Network.

ENERPOL is a European research and training network exploring the role of households in the green energy transition. It addresses challenges such as volatile energy prices, inequality, and household risk exposure, while developing policy-relevant insights for fair and efficient energy systems. A consortium of leading universities and non-academic partners will train 14 doctoral candidates in cutting-edge methods, theory, and transferable skills.

The successful applicants will join a multidisciplinary EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie International PhD training network. The doctoral position is based at the Department of Economics and Management, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Helsinki. The doctoral researcher will be supervised by Professor Lassi Ahlvik and be located in the group of environmental and resource economics.

Position: PhD Project – “Energy-related household inequality and energy poverty”

The project uses Finnish household-level electricity data to study the effect of energy prices on electricity consumption and other behavioral outcomes. The project specifically aims to studying these effects by different household-level background characteristics, such as income levels or household types.

Main supervisor: Professor Lassi Ahlvik (lassi.ahlvik@helsinki.fi)

Job description: Your key tasks as a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Economics and Management are to:

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision.
• Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points.
• Participating in active research environments including all ENERPOL training events, a stay at another research team, and a secondment at an industry partner.
• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project, and organizing events related to the network.
• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project.

Required qualifications: As an applicant you must have:

• Qualifications corresponding to a master's degree related to the subject area of the project (e.g., Economics, Environmental and Resource Economics or Applied Mathematics). Please note that your master's degree must be equivalent to a Finnish master's degree.
• Fluency in English and excellent communication skills.

Applicants will also be required to meet the European Commission's MSCA Doctoral Network eligibility criteria, notably:

• Mobility Rule – Applicants can be of any nationality and must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Finland for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the start of their employment at University of Helsinki. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not considered.
• Doctoral Candidate requirement – the applicant must not be in possession of a doctoral degree at the first day of the employment. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet been awarded the doctoral degree are not eligible.

Please note that you will only be considered for the position if you fulfil both above eligibility criteria.

Preferred qualifications:

• Economics, including environmental and resource economics, with a strong quantitative orientation

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants:

• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
• The ability to analyse and interpret large economic datasets
• The grade point average for relevant courses
• Experience with large datasets, administrative data, or advanced econometric methods.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• The successful applicant is also required to be enterprising and to possess good interpersonal skills

Place of employment: The workplace of the position is in Helsinki, Finland.

Terms of employment: The employment as doctoral researcher is full time and limited to a period of 3 years. The start date is 1 September 2026 or after as agreed. The selected appointee must enroll as a PhD student at the University of Helsinki. The appointee should either already have the right to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki by the start of the appointment or apply for the right and obtain it within six months of their appointment. If the appointee does not already have the right to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki, it must be applied for separately, please see: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/research/doctoral-education/the-application-process-in-a-nutshell

The salary is competitive and complies with the MSCA Doctoral Network: a monthly living allowance of 4731.80 euros, and a monthly mobility allowance of 710 euros. In addition, a monthly family allowance of 660 euros may apply if eligibility conditions are fulfilled. Please note that these are gross amounts, including compulsory deductions under national law, such as employer and employee social security contributions and direct taxes. At the University of Helsinki, ca. 30% will be deducted from the amounts, which are still subject to personal income tax.

For further information, applicants may contact the main supervisor Lassi Ahlvik by email lassi.ahlvik@helsinki.fi

Application procedure and further process: Please submit your application, which includes the following documents in English, through the University of Helsinki's recruitment system via the Apply Now button.

• A motivation letter describing why you are interested in this position and how you are qualified (max. 1 page)
• A curriculum vitae showing the applicants education, completed qualifications, work experience, potential list of publications and contact information of 2 references.
• Certificates/diplomas: scanned copies of diplomas and transcripts of relevant previous degrees

The closing date for applications is 18.2.2026. If you need support with the recruitment system, please contact HR Services (uni-help@helsinki.fi).