PhD position in public management/public policy 100 %

School:

School of Management and Law

Starting date:

May 1st, 2025, or as per agreement
Secured funding for the PhD project for four years.

Your role

Your PhD work is embedded into the project "The Relevance and Success of Co-Production in Local Governance" (CO-SUCCESS).

• CO-SUCCESS is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, in collaboration with Universität für Weiterbildung Krems, Universität Stuttgart, and the UK-based nonprofit organization Governance International. The principal investigator of the project is Dr. Jörn Ege (ZHAW).
• Co-production refers to arrangements in which a municipality's representatives (including public service providers) and local citizens are actively involved in the design and delivery of local services to develop innovative solutions to societal problems. CO-SUCCESS aims to explore when and why local administrative leaders consider co-production to be an important governance approach and the conditions needed for co-produced services to be successful. The focus of the project is on social and environmental services.

• Supporting the design of the online questionnaire and the implementation of the survey in Qualtrics
• Conducting interviews with co-production participants (from public sector and local communities/users)
• Supporting quantitative (Stata, R) and qualitative data analyses (MAXQDA)
• Organizational and logistical support (collection of contact data, maintenance of project website, event organization, etc)
• Writing reports and papers (in German and English)

Your profile

• Master's degree in public management/administration, public policy, political science or a related field
• Strong interest in local governance and (collaborative) service delivery (in Switzerland and other relevant regions)
• Very good language skills in both German and English (written and orally)
• Presence in Wintherthur (2-3 days/week, flexible working hours)
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, with a strong ambition to publish high-quality research

This is what we stand for

Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW is one of Switzerland's largest multidisciplinary universities of applied sciences, with over 14'000 students and 3'400 faculty and staff.

ZHAW is committed to gender-mixed and diverse teams in order to promote equality, diversity and innovation.

The ZHAW School of Management and Law (SML) is one of the largest business schools in Switzerland with around 9,500 students. It is the only university of applied sciences in the country that is included in renowned rankings published by the business newspaper "Financial Times" and is accredited by AACSB and EQUIS - labels for high quality standards in teaching, research and further education. The internationally recognized bachelor's and master's degree programs, cooperative PhD programs and the numerous continuing education offerings are scientifically sound, interdisciplinary and practice oriented. The SML maintains numerous collaborations with over 190 selected partner universities worldwide.

We offer:

• An open and collaborative team environment at the Institute of Public Management (IVM) and the Center for Local, Regional & Collaborative Governance
• Comprehensive guidance and opportunities to develop a robust research profile
• Access to an international network of scholars and practitioners in the public sector and local communities
• Opportunities to participate in international academic conferences

What you can expect

We offer working conditions and terms of employment commensurate with higher education institutions and actively promote personal development for staff in leadership and non-leadership positions. A detailed description of advantages and benefits can be found at Working at the ZHAW . The main points are listed below:

Contact

Dr. Jörn Ege
Lecturer Local & Regional Governance

Jocelyn Schaad
Recruiting Manager