PhD position in Energy Economics​/Industrial Economics ENERPOL project

Organisation/Company Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) Department LIDAM Research Field Economics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Final date to receive applications 15 Feb 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Brussels) Country Belgium Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Within the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Action (MSCA), we offer a position for a Doctoral Candidate (DC), starting 1 September 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is funded for 36 months by the ENERPOL MSCA Doctoral Network. Subject to satisfactory progress, a fourth year of funding will be provided by UCLouvain.

ENERPOL is a European research and training network exploring the role of households in the green energy transition. It addresses challenges such as volatile energy prices, inequality, and household risk exposure. ENERPOL provides doctoral candidates with a training opportunity in cutting‑edge methods, theory, and transferable skills within an international consortium of leading universities and non‑academic partners. ENERPOL training includes:

• Several international summer schools and workshops,
• Cross‑national supervision teams dedicated to the project of the PhD,
• One academic and one industry secondment.

This doctoral project hosted at UCLouvain focuses on the theoretical and empirical analysis of the trade‑offs between demand‑side response and consumer protection, using tools from economics and energy system analysis. The project aims to contribute to policy recommendations on retail market design and tariff structures within the wider EU policy framework.

The position will be hosted at the Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and Modeling in Economics and Statistics (LIDAM) AM brings together researchers in economics, econometrics, statistics, and operations research, and offers an active research environment with regular seminars, workshops, and international collaborations.

The doctoral candidate will:

• Complete PhD‑level coursework within the doctoral programme at UCLouvain (or equivalent programmes).
• Conduct independent and collaborative research in energy economics and industrial economics, under the supervision of faculty members at UCLouvain and within the ENERPOL network.
• Develop original research questions and carry out theoretical and empirical analyses using appropriate economic and econometric methods.
• Prepare and complete a PhD dissertation, with the objective of producing research suitable for publication in international peer‑reviewed journals.
• Present research findings at international conferences and ENERPOL training events.
• Participate in international research stays and secondments at academic and non‑academic partner institutions.
• Contribute, to a limited extent, to teaching or dissemination activities related to the PhD project.
• Attend all ENERPOL training events and mandatory secondments organised within the framework of the ENERPOL doctoral programme.

Applicants should have:

• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Economics or a closely related field, with a strong quantitative orientation.
• Solid training in microeconomics and applied econometrics.
• Interest in energy economics, industrial economics, and policy‑relevant research.
• Experience with statistical or numerical software (e.g. Stata, R, Matlab, or similar).
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in an international research environment.
• Proficiency in English (written and spoken).

• Prior exposure to energy markets, regulation, or applied policy analysis.
• Experience with large datasets, administrative data, or advanced econometric methods.

• The candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Belgium for…