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Career

Research at the IAW

The IAW is an attractive employer for economists and graduates of related disciplines who aim to work in scientific research while being also involved in the process of economic policy advice. Their activities are based on research projects financed by foundations, ministries and the EU, among others.

Applicants should be qualified and motivated for further education in the field of empirical and especially quantitative research. Multiple collaborations with other academic institutions in the region and beyond provide a solid ground for continuous further education. All IAW research associates hired after their first academic degree are working on their doctoral projects. The team spirit at the IAW represents a highly valued asset in daily work.

Vacancies
Information for student assistants and interns

Doctorates and continuing education

In addition to working on projects, younger IAW employees pursue their doctoral studies. This is expressly supported by the IAW and accompanied by regular employee appraisals and internal continuing education. Employees who complete their doctorates during their time at the IAW can publish them as IAW research reports.

The experienced employees of the IAW regularly participate in further training and are active members of the scientific community. The diverse collaboration with other academic institutions in the region—particularly as an affiliated institute of the University of Tübingen, but also beyond—forms the basis for ongoing further qualification. The institute offers a motivating research environment: it provides professional connections and lively exchange with colleagues, as well as a wide range of opportunities to shape one's own work.

Completed doctoral projects at the IAW

In 2025, Tobias König and Martin Kroczek successfully completed their doctoral theses.

The directors and the IAW team extend their warmest congratulations and are delighted for them.

Ongoing doctoral projects at the IAW

  1. In her PhD project Heidrun Braun deals with the question of how to shape the structural and cultural context, which favors a result- and practice-oriented action of administrative enforcement.
  2. Alice Dillbahner is a doctoral candidate at the Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. Her dissertation deals with legal protection procedures in social security using the example of administrative justice in Great Britain. The thesis is supervised by Prof. Dr. Tanja Klenk and Prof. Dr. Andreas Hänlein (University of Kassel).
  3. Matthias Fauth has been a doctoral candidate at the International Economics Group of the University of Hohenheim since October 2020. His dissertation is titled 'Trade Policy Evaluation and Heterogeneous Firms: A Quantitative Analysis using German Micro Data' and is supervised by Prof. Dr. Benjamin Jung, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Kohler and Dr. Oliver Krebs.
  4. Luise Heusel has been a doctoral student at the Methods Center at the University of Tübingen since June 2021 (doctoral subject: Empirical Educational Research). The title of her dissertation is “Transitions in STEM teacher training studies: An empirical analysis of education-related decision-making processes” and is supervised by Prof. Dr. Augustin Kelava (Methods Center) and Prof. Dr. Kathleen Stürmer (Hector Institute for Empirical Educational Research).
  5. Marcel Reiner's doctoral project focuses on researching the connections between policy outcomes and policy learning processes. Using the example of the general statutory minimum wage, the implications of evaluation research for political reform processes are specifically examined. The doctoral project in political science is supervised by Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Bieling and Apl. Prof. Dr. Daniel Buhr (Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Tübingen).
  6. Christin Schafstädt is doing her PhD in educational science at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen on the topic school to work transition. She combines classical theories of career choices with the Capability Approach according to Amartya Sen and investigates the ability of jung adults to shape their individual educational and employment biography. For this purpose, problem-centred interviews were conducted with school-leavers with A-levels shortly before and two years after graduation, which are analysed using the documentary method. Her doctoral thesis is supervised by Prof. Dr. Barbara Stauber,  Prof. Dr. Britta Kohler and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Volkert.