Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/x)

Faculty of Psychology:
Chair of Social and Environmental Psychology – ERC Grant

In order to fill afixed-term position in full-time (39.83 hours/week = 100%) by 01. Dec. 2025 or later, we are looking for a

Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/x)

We invite applications for a postdoctoral research position as part of the ERC Advanced Grant project “Shifting Mindsets for Sustainable Consumption (SUSCON),” funded by the European Union and led by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Hofmann. The position is located at the Department of Social and Environmental Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum. For more information on our research, please visit https://www.soc.psy.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Ruhr University Bochum is one of Germany’s leading research universities, offering a collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment on a unified, modern campus.Unsustainable consumption is a key driver of the climate crisis and must be urgently addressed to stay within planetary boundaries. Despite widespread awareness, personal lifestyle changes have proven insufficient and difficult. Rather than relying on individual self-control alone, major structural policy solutions addressing the systemic roots of the social dilemma of unsustainable consumption are needed. Thus, citizens, as well as policymakers, need to become more aware of the significant constraints to sustainable lifestyles and to support and actively promote such policy solutions. This very process is often psychologically hindered by an overemphasis on personal responsibility and an underestimation of the structural forces shaping sustainable behavior.The SUSCON project aims to expose such limitations and the potential of a “structural mindset” that better recognizes systemic drivers of behavior and supports collective, structural solutions. Drawing on experimental psychology, behavioral economics, political psychology, and AI-based discourse analysis, SUSCON will examine how different mindsets affect cooperation, policy support, and attribution of responsibility in both citizens and policymakers.

The postdoctoral researcher will contribute centrally to the conceptual, methodological, and analytical design of several studies in SUSCON. A key responsibility includes leading WP 2, which investigates how people perceive and respond to structural barriers in everyday consumption using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and by implementing consecutive randomized field interventions. The researcher may also contribute to another work package, which involves economic games to study mindset effects on cooperation and climate policy support.

The Ruhr-Universität Bochum is one of Germany’s leading research universities, addressing the whole range of academic disciplines. A highly dynamic setting enables researchers and students to work across the traditional boundaries of academic subjects and faculties. To create knowledge networks within and beyond the university is Ruhr-Universität Bochum’s declared aim.

The Ruhr-Universität Bochum stands for diversity and equal opportunities. For this reason, we favour a working environment composed of heterogeneous teams, and seek to promote the careers of individuals who are underrepresented in our respective professional areas. The Ruhr-Universität Bochum expressly requests job applications from women. In areas in which they are underrepresented they will be given preference in the case of equivalent qualifications with male candidates. Applications from individuals with disabilities are most welcome.

Contact persons for further information:

Heike Splieth, Tel.: +49 234 32 21680
Wilhelm Hofmann

Travel costs, accommodation costs and loss of earnings or other application costs for job interviews can unfortunately not be reimbursed.

We look forward to receiving your application via our online application portal by 2025-09-22. Please make sure to mention the reference number ANR 4857.

Online application