General Information
Type of contract
PhD traineeship
Who can apply?
EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme
Grant
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
04.10.2024
Your team
You will be part of the Policy Interaction Team in the Macroprudential Policy Division in the Directorate General Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability. Our Directorate General has around 100 members of staff who analyse and provide policy advice on issues relating to financial stability, non-bank financial intermediation, financial regulation and macroprudential policy.
In your role as PhD trainee, you will be part of a six-person team responsible for conducting policy-relevant research and model-based analyses of monetary policy, macroprudential policy and financial stability. Working closely with financial stability experts in your team, you will contribute to the development and use of general equilibrium models (e.g. dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE)) with financial intermediation to answer topical policy questions concerning, for example, the effects of monetary policy and macroprudential policy on financial stability and the interactions between different policy instruments. In addition, you will have the opportunity to work with experts across the entire Division on a regular basis, as well as with collaborating experts in the Directorate General.
The PhD traineeship is aimed at students with a strong quantitative background and an interest in policy-relevant applied research.
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 PhD trainee you will:
- solve and/or estimate macro-finance models, including New Keynesian DSGE models with financial frictions;
- maintain and further develop the existing quantitative tools and modelling infrastructure;
- contribute to the development of general equilibrium models to assess macroprudential and monetary policy interactions and their effectiveness;
- develop macroeconometric models to empirically assess the propagation of economic and financial shocks;
- contribute to the preparation of quarterly analyses on monetary policy, macroprudential policy and financial stability.
The position offers you excellent opportunities to work closely with our experts and support them in research projects and operational work, such as the preparation of policy-related analyses for the ECB’s Executive Board. This will enable you to develop your analytical abilities, enhance your quantitative skills and gain an insight into the ECB’s research activities and policymaking processes.
The PhD traineeship will also expose you to new ideas and stimuli that can provide valuable experience for your future career. In particular, you will have access to internal seminars and conferences organised by the ECB, as well as the ECB’s library and its computing, programming and statistical resources. It provides a great opportunity to engage with topical policy and research questions, and to learn how analytical models can be applied to policymaking. 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:
- a master’s degree and at least two years of PhD studies in the field of economics, econometrics, finance or related field;
- experience with the solution and simulation of macroeconomic models;
- a sound understanding of the economic issues covered by the team;
- strong programming skills, especially in MATLAB and Dynare;
- 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:
- sound knowledge of New Keynesian DSGE models with banks and financial frictions;
- experience with the estimation and calibration of macroeconomic models;
- some experience in working with macro data and macroeconometric models (e.g. vector autoregression (VAR), Bayesian vector autoregression (BVAR) and local projections).
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 aims of this position.
Further information
Initial PhD traineeship of 6 months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will include an online interview.
Further information on
how to apply is available on our website.
If you are not selected for this position but are still considered suitable, you will be placed on a reserve list for 12 months from the closing date for applications, from which you might be considered for other traineeship positions within the ECB.
