The IEA (International Association of Educational Achievement) is an independent, nonprofit research

organization. We conduct international and national large-scale comparative studies of educational

achievement and other aspects of education, with the aim of gaining in-depth understanding of the effects
of policies and practices within and across systems of education. At the IEA Hamburg over one hundred
specialists are involved in managing the different tasks of a study ranging from sampling to data analysis.
The Research and Analysis Unit (RandA) at the IEA Hamburg conducts research, analysis, training, support
and consultancy activities in the field of large-scale assessments in education. RandA aims at improving
the science of large-scale assessments, promoting the proper use of data from IEA studies, stimulating high
quality research and providing evidence-based policy recommendations.

The IEA is seeking an

Early-Stage Researcher (PhD candidate, 100%) (f/m)

to work within the Research and Analysis Unit at the IEA Hamburg on a European funded project
commencing 1 August 2018. The position is a full time (currently 40 hours per week), three-year contract,
allocated to salary group C. As part of the position, the researcher must undertake a PhD, and will be
enrolled in the PhD program at Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven or Technische Universiteit (TU)
Dortmund. The researcher will become a member of the European research network OCCAM (Outcomes
and Causal Inference in International Comparative Assessments), consisting of 15 early-stage researchers
across 12 universities and research institutes. OCCAM aims to investigate the effects of educational policy,
focusing on trends and differences in educational achievement, the determinants of educational outcomes,
and changes in educational outcomes from an international perspective. Further information on the
network can be found at www.etn-occam.eu. The position will be within the European Union’s Horizon
2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSC) European Training Network (ETN).

Job description:
The early-stage researcher will conduct a research project on “Consequences of different teacher
workforce policies”. The objectives are to define country profiles of education policies on selection,
working conditions, and professional development of teachers by means of latent class analysis. Further,
by combining teacher (TALIS, TEDS, TIMSS, PIRLS) and student data (ESLC, PIRLS, TIMSS), the researcher
will investigate the effects of such policy profiles on student outcomes (test achievement, school
engagement, and motivation) using multilevel structural equation modeling. The project aims to analyze
policies for working conditions for teachers across countries, and the impact on educational quality and
equity in these countries.
Besides working on the described dissertation project, the successful candidate will gain international,
intersectoral, and interdisciplinary research experience, participating in network-wide meetings, research
visits, and a secondment. There are several other projects in the OCCAM network working on closely
related issues, and it is expected that at least one research paper may be published in cooperation with
another PhD candidate in the network.
The successful candidate will conduct research under the supervision of Dr Agnes Stancel-Piątak from the
IEA Hamburg and professors from the KU Leuven or TU Dortmund. The candidate will be awarded a
doctoral degree by one of these universities when the project is successfully completed.
The successful candidate will be expected to:
• Co-author three academic papers on their project under the supervision of and in collaboration with
her/his PhD supervisors.
• Register for a PhD course over the three years of her/his employment, with the expectation that the
candidate will gain this qualification around the time the project ends.
• Contribute to the research activities of the IEA.
• Contribute to and participate in the training activities of the IEA.
• Attend regular international meetings (approximately once every six months) as part of the OCCAM
research network.
• Undertake a six-month secondment, working at one of our partner institutions. A possible host
institution for the secondment is the KU Leuven.
• Complete regular training events, including a specialist development workshop for the 15 researchers
funded by the program.

Requirements:
• Master’s degree in education science, educational policy, economics, sociology, or a related discipline
(obtained at the latest by July 2018)
• Excellent academic record, testified by the transcript of records and, if relevant, by previous research
output (e.g., scientific publications and conference presentations)
• Research interests in a) education policies (in particular teacher policies), and b) international
comparative research and international assessments (e.g., TALIS, TEDS, PIRLS, PISA, TIMSS)
• Experienced in quantitative methodology and a rigorous attitude to empirical analysis
• Excellent English writing and communication skills; knowledge of German is not required
• Mobility rule: Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in Germany for more
than 12 months in the three years before the recruitment date (1 August 2018)
• Early-stage researcher status: Applicants must, at the date of recruitment, be in the first four years of
their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree

Applications and attached documents should be submitted in English as a single PDF and should
include:
• Cover letter
• OCCAM confirmation on eligibility (see www.etn-occam.eu)
• CV
• Transcript of records issued by your university, listing the exams/courses taken at university,
grades/marks awarded, and (if applicable) the final degree result
• MA/MSc thesis (if incomplete at the date of application, please include the table of contents and at
least one chapter),
• Two letters of recommendation,
• Research proposal of 2500 words (including bibliography, tables, and footnotes) on the consequences
of different teacher workforce policies, using international large-scale assessments. The proposal
should include: a) scope and objectives, b) background and state of the art in the field, with references
to the literature, c) hypotheses/theories, d) description of the empirical methodology and data
sources, e) short bibliography.

Applications should be sent no later than 15 April 2018 via email and in one PDF-file to: bewerbung@iea-
hamburg.de, subject: Early-Stage Researcher (0356).
For further information please contact: Dr Agnes Stancel-Piątak (agnes.stancel-piatak@iea-hamburg.de,
Tel. +49 (0)40 48500 675.

IEA Hamburg I Human Resources I Überseering 27 I 22297 Hamburg I Tel. +49 (0)40 48500 565 I
bewerbung@iea-hamburg.de I www.iea.nl