APPLY: 2024 Wim Duisenberg Fellowship

The Wim Duisenberg Fellowship programme is named after the first President of the ECB and aimed at senior professionals from academia, central banks and research institutions. Candidates should be internationally recognised experts in their field of research who wish to take a period of leave or a sabbatical from their current place of work.

Programme aim

The aim of the programme is

• to promote policy-relevant research that meets the highest academic standards;
• to offer research staff at the ECB the opportunity to gain exposure to, and expertise in, the most recent advances in economic research;
• to give prominent scholars the opportunity to gain an insight into the policy-making environment of the ECB.

Successful candidates will be offered an assignment for a period of between two and twelve months to conduct economic research within Directorate General Research (DG/R).

While at the ECB, research fellows are expected to complete a research paper of a theoretical or empirical nature for presentation at internal seminars and external conferences, and for publication in the ECB’s Working Paper Series and a leading refereed journal [pdf]. A proposal for a research project must be presented by candidates as part of the application procedure.

Research fellows conduct their activities at the ECB’s premises in Frankfurt am Main and are encouraged to interact with ECB staff, both in DG/R and in other business areas. They have access to the ECB library and to the computing and statistical facilities necessary to conduct their research. The call for research proposals is published in the first quarter of each year.

The ECB shall offer a contract for a research fellowship to the candidate(s) that the ECB considers likely to provide the most valuable contribution in view of the candidate’s experience, qualifications and competences and in accordance with the principles of non-discrimination and equal treatment. For this purpose, the proposals shall be evaluated based on the following elements: (i) the envisaged research proposal that the candidate is planning to develop; (ii) the extent of the candidate’s experience and expertise relevant to carrying out the assignment, based on their curriculum vitae; (iii) proof of an excellent publication record in the relevant area and supervising and teaching activities at universities. All these elements will be weighted equally in the evaluation.

Eligibility criteria

Selected candidates shall hold a PhD from a leading university and have an outstanding publication record in top academic journals.

Application procedure and deadline

Applications should include:

• a detailed curriculum vitae including
• publication record;
• a one-page research proposal

Applications should be submitted by e-mail to WDFP@ecb.europa.eu. Application deadline is May 31, 2023.