Quantitative Student Assistant at PACE lab (Policy and Cultural Evolution)

Introduction

UNIL is a leading international teaching and research institution, with over 5,000 employees and 17,000 students split between its Dorigny campus, CHUV and Epalinges. As an employer, UNIL encourages excellence, individual recognition and responsibility.

The Department of Organizational Behavior at the Faculty for Business and Economics at the University of Lausanne provides a stimulating and highly interdisciplinary research environment. We value the diverse areas of expertise among department members, who variously hold Ph.D.s in business, management, psychology, economics, and population biology.  More broadly, the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Lausanne is one of the largest faculties on campus and consists of 10 integrated departments. Department members come from several different countries, and the working language of the department is English.

At the PaceLab we study social learning and cultural evolution in terms of both basic research and policy, and this work often consists of a mix of modeling and empiricism. Our applied work covers various domains in which behavior has a clear cultural component. These include female genital cutting, corruption, sex-biased abortion, diet and health, and climate change. We have conducted empirical research, largely experimental, in many countries in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Job information

Expected start date:              1 May 2026 or mutually acceptable alternative

Contract duration:                 3 months

Place of work:                       Department of Organizational Behavior, Internef Building

Type of position:                   Student assistant, 20%

Salary:                                   According to legal stipulations here

Supervisor:                            Sonja Vogt

Your responsibilities

• Responsible for various tasks related to online experiments: implementing and testing surveys, maintaining documentation, assist in writing analysis plans and ethical applications. The ideal candidate would have an interest in developing skills in survey design and experimentation.


• Support lab members with tasks associated with data management, data cleaning and analysis.


• Other tasks may include: contribution to lecture and seminar materials, conducting literature reviews on various topics to support new and ongoing research projects.

Your qualifications

We are looking for someone with the following skills: 

• Master’s student.


• Proficient in English. Working knowledge of Spanish would be a plus.


• Capable of working independently and interested in learning new things.


• Strong analytical skills with a good working knowledge of R, STATA, or Python.


• Knowledge or prior experience with survey creation and management would be a plus.

What the position offers you

• The opportunity to work on cutting-edge social science research projects as a part of a dynamic academic environment.


• Support with developing an academic career through mentorship and academic references.


• Good working conditions, respecting the priorities and constraints of the Research Assistant.

We offer a nice working place in a multicultural, diverse and dynamic academic environment. Opportunities for professional training, a lot of activities and other benefits to discover.

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Your application

Deadline: 27 March 2026

• Brief cover letter detailing, in particular
  
  
  • Your motivation/interest in research in human behavior
  
  
  • Your analytical/programming skills, and how you developed them
  
  
  • Your experience with research related tasks in general (e.g. literature research, methodological background)
  
  



• Curriculum Vitae with references


• Copies of university diplomas and degrees; transcripts (indicating marks/grades achieved)

Only applications through this website will be taken into account.  We thank you for your understanding.

Additional information

Information about the Faculty of Business and Economics is available here: https://www.unil.ch/hec/en/home.html

Information on the Department of Organizational Behavior is available here: https://www.unil.ch/ob/en/home.html

Information about Sonja Vogt’s lab here: https://pacelab.org  

UNIL is committed to:
•    equality, diversity and inclusion within its community;
•    ensuring an open and respectful environment that is conducive to personal development;
•    offering working conditions that facilitate work-life balance;
•    supporting early career researchers.

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