PhD Students in Circular Economy and Climate Change Resilience

PhD Students in Circular Economy and Climate Change Resilience

The Group for Circular Economy within the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics at ETH Zurich investigates the role that technological innovations, policy interventions, and business strategies play in transitioning towards a sustainable circular economy.

To expand our research on circular transition pathways we are looking for:2 PhD Students in Circular Economy and Value Chain Resilience for Decarbonisation and Climate Adaptation (100%).

Position 1: ACHIEVE

The PhD is embedded in the SWEET ACHIEVE consortium project, which investigates how to tackle less-easy-to and hard-to-abate greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland. Your research will focus on understanding the role of circular economy measures in reducing emissions across challenging sectors, including chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and waste treatment. Building on this, you will combine qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the implementation of circular economy measures from firm-level, policy, and value-chain perspectives, examining adoption pathways, policy requirements, and how these measures create new intersect oral linkages and reshape material flows.

Position 2: NCCR Clim+

The NCCR CLIM+ supports Switzerland in the transformation towards a climate-resilient society. Together with stakeholders, the interdisciplinary NCCR CLIM+ research community tackles unexplored solution spaces to the climate crisis and develops a blueprint for actionable climate research worldwide. NCCR CLIM+ broadly communicates and shares knowledge, and trains a new generation of experts with the necessary domain and transdisciplinary knowledge. Your research will focus on understanding how climate-induced disruptions, such as supply chain shocks, raw material shortages, or infrastructure failures, drive lasting structural changes in firms, industries, and policy.

You will combine qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse historical and contemporary cases of industry restructuring in response to climate and environmental shocks, and develop forward-looking scenarios that equip businesses and policymakers with actionable strategies to navigate increasing climate variability and global interdependence.

For both positions:

We expect your research to be scientifically rigorous and relevant to policymakers and managers. You will collaborate closely with other researchers in our group, other research consortia members, as well as interact with policymakers and further stakeholders. As an integral part of your work, you will publish your results in high-impact peer-reviewed journals and outreach outlets. You will also supervise master students and support the group’s teaching activities.

The ideal candidate should:

• Hold an M.Sc. or equivalent degree in economics, engineering, environmental sciences, or a closely related discipline
• Have an excellent academic record
• Have strong analytical skills, including experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Be passionate about sustainability, circular economy, and climate resilience
• Be interested in the intersection of sustainability research and its real-world policy and business applications
• Be able to work independently, manage multiple tasks and deadlines
• Be a team player with strong communication skills
• Have experience with coding and modeling (e.g., with Python)
• Be fluent in spoken and written English
• Have work experience in a related area
  
  Have prior scientific publications in a related area
• Have experience working in interdisciplinary projects or teams, including stakeholder engagement or science-policy interface work
• Have familiarity with Swiss or European industrial and environmental policy

We offer a positive research environment in a large, dynamic team at a globally leading academic institution. In our group, you will benefit from frequent interactions with leading researchers from across a vibrant community of sustainability research at ETH Zürich and around the world.

This PhD is fully funded. You will be hired as a full-time researcher for the entire duration of the project. The…