Department of
Business Administration
Chair of HRM and Leadership
Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges
Plattenstrasse 14
8032 Zurich, Switzerland
The Chair of Human Resource Management and Leadership at the University of Zurich
will be led by Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges from August 2018 onward, and he is currently recruiting a
new team. As part of these efforts, we are currently looking for
A Research Associate and Doctoral Student
As a research associate and doctoral student, you will develop, manage, write-up and publish
research in one or more of the Chair‘s four core research areas (leadership, emotion, motivation,
and/or people analytics). You will support and represent the Chair in our teaching activities, and
you take responsibility for courses and the supervision of students. You also help with all
administrative and academic duties of the chair. As part of a newly formed team, you contribute
to establishing the Chair as a leading platform for research, teaching, outreach, and impact.
Your qualifications include…
• an excellent Master degree or its equivalent in Business or Psychology or neighboring fields,
including successfully completed courses in organizational behavior or organizational/
industrial psychology or social psychology
• excellent oral and written English, as evidenced in relevant test scores (e.g., TOEFL), stays
abroad and/or a master thesis written in English
• a very good understanding of quantitative methods, including study design and statistical
analyses, and a very good command of relevant software packages, such as R, Mplus, Stata,
and/or SPSS
• good technical skills, including a very good command of Microsoft office software, and some
experience in website programming and social media; any coding skills are a plus
• a strong interest in research and, ideally, some relevant experience, for example, as a
research assistant during your previous studies
• curiosity and discipline, self-reliance and initiative-taking, as well as integrity and creativity
You have the opportunity…
• to complete a PhD at an internationally renowned research university
• to be part of a dynamic and collaborative team that is dedicated to top-tier research,
inspirational teaching and impactful outreach while fostering a positive working atmosphere
• to partake in extensive career development; that includes, for example, frequent and intense
mentoring, regular feedback, relevant courses, extensive networking opportunities, support
for summer schools and conferences
• to develop a broad skill set by gaining teaching/training and consulting experience
• to work in a well-equipped, state-of-the-art research infrastructure
Department of
Business Administration
Chair of HRM and Leadership
Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges
Plattenstrasse 14
8032 Zurich, Switzerland
• to live in a city where the quality of life is among the best in the world
• to be employed as a research associate (50%) and receive a competitive salary, in line with
the university’s compensation scheme
About us:
The University of Zurich is one of the leading research universities in Europe and enjoys an
excellent international reputation. With scholars and students from all over the world, the Faculty
of Business, Economics and Information Technology engages with the important economic and
social questions of our times and addresses them through cutting-edge research.
The Chair of Human Resource Management and Leadership is part of the Department of Business
Administration within the Faculty of Business, Economics and Information Technology. In our
research, we focus on the social dynamics between leaders and followers and on the role of
emotions and motivation in organizational life. We employ primarily quantitative methods and
conduct carefully controlled experiments as well as field and archival studies in organizations; we
also use big data and related approaches in people analytics. We publish our findings in widely
read top-tier academic journals, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Organization
Science, and the Journal of Applied Psychology. We also share our findings beyond academia in
practitioner-oriented journals such as Harvard Business Review. Our research is frequently
covered in the media around the world, for example, by the BBC, CNN, The Economist, The
Financial Times, Le Monde, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and Die Zeit. Through our research
and the communication of our findings in traditional and social media, we seek to inspire public
debate on issues that are – or should be – at the top of the agenda for leaders and organizations.
Our research informs our teaching. We give our students at the Bachelor, Master and Doctoral
Level a broad overview of people issues within organizations, through our courses, for example,
on Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Leadership. We also help
leaders and those who aspire to be leaders, to become more effective, for example, through our
Executive Programs. In our research, teaching and consulting, we have worked with companies
from around the world, among them Ambrosetti, British Telecom, Google, Jaguar Land Rover,
L'Oreal, Microsoft, Nordea, Save the Children, Trivago, The World Bank, and startup incubators
such as Plug & Play in Silicon Valley and The Venture Cafe Foundation in Boston.
The Chair of Human Resource Management and Leadership thus provides a highly research-
oriented environment in which people meet and work together to answer big questions, inspired
by challenges that leaders and corporations currently and in the future face. We give aspiring
researchers an opportunity to grow their academic careers in a collaborative setting with a global
outlook, and we foster a startup spirit that allows all members of the Chair to shape and contribute
to the Chair’s goal of developing a leading platform for rigorous research, inspirational teaching,
effective outreach, and organizational and societal impact.
Department of
Business Administration
Chair of HRM and Leadership
Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges
Plattenstrasse 14
8032 Zurich, Switzerland
About Zurich:
Located in the heart of Europe, Zurich is an important economic, cultural, and social center. The
image of the largest city in Switzerland is dominated by its beautiful location on Lake Zurich and
the Limmat River, its stunning views of the Alps on the horizon, numerous local recreation areas,
and urban diversity. Around 390,000 people from more than 160 different countries live in Zurich.
Zurich offers something for everyone: culinary flights of fancy, limitless shopping, numerous
cultural and sporting events, Switzerland’s trendiest nightlife, over 50 museums and 100 galleries,
to mention only a few – plus the amazing outdoors of Switzerland with world-class skiing slopes,
hiking trails, and watersports opportunities are just steps away and often accessible with public
transport.
How to apply:
Step 1:
Please submit your application in English via e-mail to jochen.menges@uzh.ch. Your application
should consist of two PDF documents:
First, please put the following documents in this order into a single PDF document:
1. A 2-page cover letter that describes your motivation and research interests, and includes your
contact data, availability for interviews, and potential start date (as per the description of Steps
2, 3, and 4 below)
2. A current CV that includes any research-relevant experiences (assistantships, internships, lab
experience, conference presentations, publications, etc.)
3. Copies of your final transcripts for high school and all university degrees
4. Optionally, any transcripts for tests scores (e.g., TOEFL, SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT)
5. Names and contact data including e-mail and phone number for two referees
Second, please submit a copy of your master thesis as a separate PDF document. If you did more
than one master degree, please submit your latest thesis.
Submission is on a rolling basis – we accept applications until a l l p o s i t i o n s a r e f i l l e d . W e e n c o u r a g e
you to submit your application as soon as possible.
Step 2:
If we see a good fit between your profile and our offer, we would invite you for a skype interview.
For that reason, please provide your skype name in your cover letter.
Department of
Business Administration
Chair of HRM and Leadership
Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges
Plattenstrasse 14
8032 Zurich, Switzerland
Step 3:
To get to know each other, we invite successful candidates to Zurich for further interviews between
May, 28 – 30, 2018, or at a later date. Please mark these dates in your calendar and let us know
in your cover letter in case you are not available on any of those dates.
Step 4:
Once we agree to work together, you could start relatively quickly, thus please let us know in your
cover letter by when you would be free to join us and when your desired start date is.
Any questions?
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges at
jochen.menges@uzh.ch.
We look forward to receiving your application!