Director strategy business operations Vacatures in Delft

Erasmus School of Economics is looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate at the Strategy Economics Department

Introduction

The Strategy Economics research group in the Applied Economics Department is seeking a full time PhD student starting on September 1, 2026. The topic of the PhD will broadly fall within the area of strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship with an economics and quantitative empirical focus. The exact topic will be chosen in coordination between the successful candidate and supervisors.

Job description

This PhD project is situated in the Strategy Economics research group. Building on the group’s expertise, the vision for this project is to apply economic theories like real options theory or signalling theory to the area of strategy, innovation and / or entrepreneurship with a quantitative empirical focus.

Specific topics may include (but are not limited to) : Strategic (re)positioning of firms, R&D collaboration, startup acquisition, and startup wage setting. The PhD project will be primarily empirical, with a focus on applying modern micro-econometric methods to large scale datasets such as administrative data. The exact topic will be chosen in coordination between the successful candidate and supervisors.

The successful candidate will be part of the Strategy Economics group within the Department of Applied Economics. This group contributes to theory-based empirical research on the organisation of firms, industries and markets. The group has produced a large set of publications in international leading academic journals.

As a final output, the candidate is expected to write at least 3 academic papers (cumulative PhD thesis) with the aim to be submitted to journals in Economics and related fields during or after the PhD trajectory.

The successful candidate will be able to choose an affiliation with ERIM or Tinbergen Institute depending on personal preference and the specific research topic.

Job requirements

General Requirements :

• MPhil or Research Master’s degree in Economics or Econometrics is preferred

Candidates with an MSc or MA degree are required to successfully complete 1 year of courses at the graduate school they are part of (Research Qualifications at the Tinbergen Institute or courses at ERIM)

– scoring at least 100 on the TOEFL iBT test or 7.5 on the IELTS test.

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 1 September 2026 and you will be based at Erasmus School of Economics (ESE). This position is for 1 fte. The salary ranges from a minimum of € 3.059 to a maximum of € 3.881 gross per month on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The PhD track lasts 3 (following an MPhil or Research Master) or 4 years (following an MSc). The intitial contract is entered into for the duration of 18 months.

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl .

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) is a leading school in economics in The Netherlands. It has a strong international reputation and aims to do outstanding research. Moreover, it provides excellent education at the BA., MA. and Ph.D. levels. Much research at Erasmus School of Economics is policy relevant, has social impact, and offers a strong research culture, ample research resources, and comparatively low teaching loads.

www.eur.nl / en / ese

Group

The Strategy Economics group covers economic areas where strategic decision making of firms, managers, entrepreneurs, and innovators are studied vis-à-vis institutional and political varying sectoral, urban, and regional contexts. Research in this group addresses crucial sorting, heterogeneity, and causality issues on these themes.

Additional information

Contact persons :

Dr. Jolanda Hessels ( hessels@ese.eur.nl )

Prof. Dr. Enrico Pennings ( pennings@ese.eur.nl )

For questions about the application procedure please contact :

Lindsey Pijpers (PhD Officer) – doctoraloffice@ese.eur.nl

Reference letters are not requested automatically and should be submitted to doctoraloffice@ese.eur.nl

Applying

Please submit your application, latest by 31 January 2026 via the application form on our website.

Applications will be reviewed by the supervisors and recruitment committees. An interview could be part of the application process. Kindly note that we can only accept applications containing all the required documents and information. We look forward to receiving your application.

Persons of all gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, ages, neurodiversities, functional impairments, citizenships, or any other aspect are welcome to apply and join the EUR community.

For questions regarding the application procedure please contact Lindsey Pijpers (PhD Officer) at  doctoraloffice@ese.eur.nl