Full-time assistant professor position in economics with a demonstrated interest in environmental economics

Responsabilities

Academic environment :

Located in the historic centre of the City of Namur, capital of Wallonia, the University of Namur, with more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programmes and its 11 research institutes and 11 technology platforms, welcomes nearly 8,000 students and doctoral students each year in its 7 faculties and has more than 1,300 staff members, including more than 800 researchers. Within the University of Namur, the Faculty EMCP (Economics Management Communication Politics – www.unamur.be/emcp) has nearly 1,800 students and 250 staff members, including 40 permanent academics and 70 researchers/doctoral students, spread over 3 schools (Namur School of Economics, UNamur School of Management, School of Social Sciences, Politics and Communication). The faculty offers daytime and evening (shift schedule) programs in economics and management at the undergraduate (bachelor), graduate (master) and postgraduate (e.g., doctorate) level. It also offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in political science and information and communication. Its members conduct cutting-edge research in many areas of expertise.

The successful candidate will join the Namur School of Economics (NSE). The 60 academic and scientific members of the NSE contribute to bachelor’s programmes and organize master’s and doctoral programs. The daytime master programs in economics are jointly organized with UCLouvain. The shift schedule programs are organized in the evening and on Saturdays and allow adults who are already working to return to university and to earn a degree that can open new career opportunities. The unique nature of the programs and teaching methods attract more than 200 students each year to one of the six shift schedule programs offered by the Faculty EMCP. The researchers in economics are part of the DeFiPP (Development Finance & Public Policies) institute, which is composed by three research centers: CRED (Center for Research in the Economics of Development), CERPE (Center for Research in Regional Economics and Economic Policy) and CeReFiM (Center for Research in Finance and Management). These centers offer an intellectually stimulating and collaborative environment, supporting researchers at all stages of their careers to help them develop and progress.

Job description :

The activities associated with the position are equally subdivided into research, teaching activities, and administrative activities. The candidate is expected to show a high level of knowledge in the area of environmental economics in order to develop (part of) his/her research and teaching activities in this area. Ideally, the candidate has an interest in issues related to development economics. The teaching will be at the bachelor’s and master’s level in both daytime and evening (shift schedule) programs in economics and management at the University of Namur (and at UCLouvain for master’s programmes in economics). More generally, the applicant will:

− be responsible for teaching courses at the various study levels (i.e. undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate);

− supervise master’s theses as well as doctoral dissertations;

− be involved in (and/or supervise, promote) research programs in the above-mentioned fields within the DeFiPP institute, preferably in the CRED (Center for Research in the Economics of Development) research center.

Through his/her research activities, the candidate will also be expected to contribute to the international visibility of the university, notably by:

− Publishing in leading journals in the field with high impact factors;

− Seeking external research funding;

− Expanding the University of Namur’s network.

Finally, the candidate is, after some time, expected to be involved in administrative responsibilities at the school, faculty or university level.

Profile

Job requirements :

The applicant has:

− A doctoral/PhD degree in Economics or equivalent (or will have obtained one before starting the position);

− A demonstrated interest in questions related to environmental economics;

− The aptitude to publish in high-impact top-tier journals in economics;

− The aptitude to provide high quality teaching to a university audience;

− The aptitude to integrate research results into his/her teaching;

− The aptitude to work in a team and the potential to organize and lead a research group;

− A good command of French (spoken and written) and the ability to teach in this language (at the time of recruitment);

− A good command of English (spoken and written) and the ability to teach in this language (at the time of recruitment).

The following features will be considered as assets:

− An interest in issues related to development economics;

− One or several visits of academic and research institutions other than the one that awarded the PhD degree (post-doc or a visiting research stay of at least 3 months);

− An openness to pedagogical innovations;

− The ability to obtain external research funding ;

− Experience in teaching to regular students and/or adult learners at the university level.

Additional information

Further information can be obtained from Prof. Christian KIEDAISCH, President of the Selection Committee (christian.kiedaisch@unamur.be). All practical information needed by foreign candidates can be obtained from the website of the European researchers’ mobility portal (EURAXESS): https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu. Queries concerning the salary can be addressed to cellule.remuneration@unamur.be.

Selection process :

− Review and evaluation of applications by the Selection Committee;

− Interview with the Selection Committee (within two months of the application deadline, shortlisted candidates will be invited to give a lecture on an assigned topic and to present their research to the Selection Committee and to Faculty members);

− Interview with the Human Resource Department;

− Decision by the University Board.

Application :

The application form can be downloaded from the University of Namur website (https://www.unamur.be/en/university/work/forms). In addition to the filled-out form, the candidate has to submit a curriculum vitae, a research and a teaching statement (around 3 pages each), a maximum of 3 scientific articles (minimum 1), 2-3 letters of recommendation (sent separately by the recommenders), and, if available, teaching evaluations. The completed file and the recommendation letters must be sent in PDF format before January 4th, 2026 to candidature@unamur.be, with a copy to the President of the selection committee (christian.kiedaisch@unamur.be).

Remarks

Contract :

The appointment is expected to start on September 1st, 2026. If the candidate has not held any academic or permanent research position at the University of Namur before, the first three years serve as an integration period. After this period, the Board evaluates the candidate, and if the evaluation is positive, proposes a tenured position. The salary is determined by the scale applied by all Universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (“barème 007”, accessible at www.unamur.be/fr/universite/travailler/baremes-avantages).