PhD Student Position in Climate Extremes, Migration, and Public Policy ETH Zurich in Switzerland

ETH Zurich’s Immigration Policy Lab and Public Policy Group are recruiting a PhD student for a project on climate extremes, migration, and public policy. The position is embedded in the new NCCR CLIM+ research program on Climate Extremes and Society, a Switzerland-wide interdisciplinary initiative focused on climate risks, societal resilience, and policy-relevant solutions.

The successful candidate will work on a research agenda at the intersection of migration research and climate extremes, using large-scale migration and asylum data, high-resolution climate data, and quasi-experimental / causal inference methods. The project aims to generate causal evidence on how climate-related shocks influence mobility across and within borders, including asylum seeking, refugee movements, and labor migration.

This opportunity is especially suitable for candidates with backgrounds in economics, political science, sociology, data science, or related quantitative social science fields. Strong quantitative skills, experience with observational causal inference, and proficiency in a statistical programming language such as R are important. Experience with geospatial data is a plus. Interest in climate change, forced displacement, asylum processes, and policy-relevant research is encouraged.

The position is located at ETH Zurich and involves collaboration with researchers across the NCCR CLIM+ consortium, including the team of Dominik Hangartner and contact person Philip Grech. The role includes about 10% administrative and teaching duties. ETH offers salary and pension benefits according to ETH standards, plus research and travel allowance.

Applications must be submitted online through the ETH Zurich portal. Required documents include a cover letter, CV, academic transcripts, a writing sample, and two confidential recommendation letters. Review begins on 2026-06-01 and continues until the position is filled. The position starts in September 2026 or by mutual agreement.