General Information
Type of contract
Traineeship
Who can apply?
EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme
Grant
The trainee grant is €1,170 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section), The trainee grant is €2,120 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section)
Working time
Full time
Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date
10.01.2022
Your team
You will be part of the Price-setting Microdata Analysis Network (PRISMA) team in the Directorate General Research. The PRISMA team conducts research into the macroeconomic consequences of price-setting using microdata and theoretical models and interacts closely with national central banks through PRISMA.
In your role as a Student Research Assistant trainee you will be part of a team responsible for compiling and analysing large panel datasets and helping to solve nonlinear general equilibrium models. You will have the opportunity to use the ECB’s state-of-the-art big-data infrastructure and will have access to unique proprietary price-setting datasets. These datasets come from two main sources: store-level and household-level scanner data from several euro area countries; and web-scraped data from large euro area supermarkets.
The ECB is an inclusive employer and we strive to reflect the diversity of the population we serve. We encourage you to apply irrespective of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other characteristics.
Your role
As a Student Research Assistant trainee you will:
- construct and maintain large databases,
- present data in conjunction with economic and econometric analysis,
- develop and implement theoretical econometric procedures for research projects,
- solve non-linear general equilibrium models.
The position offers you the opportunity to work closely with our economists and support them in both academic research and operational work, such as the preparation of policy-related notes for the ECB’s Executive Board. This will enable you to develop your analytical skills and gain insights into the ECB’s research activities and policymaking processes. The programme will also expose you to new ideas and stimuli that can provide a useful foundation for your future career or postgraduate studies. You will be part of a multicultural team that strives for continuous innovation to make a positive impact on the lives of European citizens.
Qualifications, experience and skills
Essential:
- for a traineeship paid at €1,940, a master’s degree and at least two years of PhD studies in economics, statistics, finance, data science or a related field;
- for a traineeship paid at €1,070, a bachelor’s degree or higher in economics, statistics, finance, computer science, data science, mathematics, engineering or a related field;
- extensive experience in at least one of the following high-level programming languages: MATLAB or R;
- some experience in at least one of the following languages: Stata, MATLAB, R, SQL, C, Fortran or Python;
- experience in at least one of the following areas: solving DSGE models; querying, compiling and analysing large microeconomic databases;
- a good knowledge of the MS Office package;
- an advanced (C1) command of English and an intermediate (B1) command of at least one other official language of the EU, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Desired:
- for a traineeship paid at €1,070, a master’s degree or at least one complete year towards a master’s degree in economics, statistics, finance, data science or a related field.
- experience in at least one of the following areas: heterogeneous agent and/or nonlinear models with occasionally binding constraints or inaction regions; panel data analysis of microdata including difference-in-difference or propensity score matching estimators; discrete response models and censored regression models; machine learning algorithms; and textual analysis.
You are curious and eager to learn, and want to further develop your ability to analyse complex information. You are keen to collaborate with others, pursue team goals and learn from other people’s diverse perspectives. You strive to know and anticipate stakeholder needs, and will signal any need for change and propose alternative solutions.
You are motivated to contribute to the ECB’s mission, to serve the citizens of the EU as a member of a public institution and to work with colleagues from all over Europe. You are keen to be part of our team and to use your skills and competencies to achieve the objectives of this position.
Further information
Traineeship/PhD traineeship of between 6 and 12 months in total.
Application and selection process
Further information on how to join us is available on our
website.
The recruitment process for this position will include an online interview.
