The Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics (ACLE) has two open PhD positions in Law & Finance

Do you enjoy:

• Work in a lively and exciting intellectual environment and be part of a world-class interdisciplinary research community;
• Acquire research skills and attend training to become a truly interdisciplinary researcher;
• Contribute to cutting-edge and policy-relevant research in law & finance, particularly in the field of sustainable banking regulation; financial market infrastructure;
• involved in teaching activities and the supervision of master students in law & finance.

Then the PhD position at the Amsterdam Center for Law and Economics – University of Amsterdam is perfect for you!

The Projects

Project 1: The future of banking regulation: between stability and sustainability
The transition to a more sustainable and just economy needs to be financed. This extraordinary financial need will increase the overall level of public and private indebtedness. This generates societal risks, both inside and outside the financial sector, that are often underestimated and may backfire, endangering the green transition itself. The project specifically focuses on banking regulation as there is currently a gap in the analysis, especially in the legal domain.

The perspective PhD researcher should contribute to the research in this field, with ample freedom in designing specific research projects. The overall aim of the project is to contribute to the design of a legal framework that incentivizes private actors to finance the green transition while safeguarding financial and social stability.

Proposed supervision: Dr. Edoardo Martino (ACLE & EBI) – Prof. Dr. Enrico Perotti (FEB, ESRB & ACLE) – Prof. Dr. Alessio M Pacces (ACLE, FdR & FEB, ECGI)

Project 2: Financial market infrastructure, sustainability and corporate governance
The grand edifice of finance is built upon seemingly mundane but extremely critical financial market infrastructures (FMIs) which constitute the institutional backbone of the financial markets and shape societal outcomes through facilitating the flow of funds between central banks, financial intermediaries, businesses, and households. However, the intermediated securities system, as a major component of FMIs, often faces challenges in ensuring the effective exercise of voting rights by beneficial owners, thereby potentially hindering corporate governance and impeding progress towards Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. The objective of this project is to study the intermediated securities system in light of the emerging developments in financial technologies and potential legal reforms that could facilitate the exercise of voting rights by beneficial owners which may eventually enhance ESG goals.

The PhD researcher will be provided flexibility and freedom in conducting research, including framing research questions and designing specific research projects.

Proposed supervision: Dr. Hossein Nabilou (ACLE) – Dr. Spyridon Terovitis (FEB & ACLE) – Prof. Dr. Alessio M Pacces (ACLE, FdR & FEB, ECGI)

What does this job entail?

• Being part of a vibrant, diverse, and international research community
• Writing research papers to be published as peer-reviewed articles and PhD dissertation
• Presenting research results at national and international conferences and workshops;
• Participating in courses and training activities agreed upon with the supervisors;
• Actively participating in the academic activities of the Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics;
• Engaging in limited teaching activities in law & finance.

• You have enthusiasm and curiosity;
• You have a master’s degree in Law or related disciplines (or in the process of obtaining one);
• You can demonstrate scientific research skills or willingness to acquire them;
• You have excellent oral and written command of English;

We offer you the opportunity to become a leading academic in the field of Law & Finance. Our priority is to provide an intellectually challenging and fulfilling experience in one of the world-leading research centers in Law & Economics: The Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics (ACLE). We are committed to offering the best, tailor-made training opportunities and careful supervision with the main aim of allowing you to grow and flourish academically and professionally.

We offer an employment contract for one year with a probationary period of two months, starting on 1 September 2024. The appointment will be extended for another three years upon favorable evaluation, i.e until 31 August 2028. The employment contract is for 38 hours a week. Your salary ranges from €2.770 (in year 1) to €3.539 (in year 4) gross per month on the basis of a full working week of 38 hours. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8.3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) is applicable.

Besides an attractive salary and an inspiring international work environment, our fringe benefits include:

• 232 leave hours per year (in the case of fulltime employment);
• 7 weeks of paid birth leave and partially paid parental leave;
• the opportunity for hybrid working and support for your home office;
• a pension with ABP, the pension fund for employees in the government and education sectors, to which UvA contributes two thirds.

Amsterdam Law School

The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 42,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.

The Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics (ACLE) is a cooperation of the Amsterdam Law School (ALS) and Faculty of Economics & Business (FEB) at the University of Amsterdam. The ACLE is an interdisciplinary research institute, which includes renowned legal scholars from the ALS and world-class economists from the FEB. The objective of the ACLE is to promote high-quality research at the interface of law and economics. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the ACLE presently includes more than twenty research members in addition to PhDs and Postdocs. The ACLE functions as an interdisciplinary platform, promoting law & economics cooperation between different groups and faculties at the UvA, as well as in the international academia. The ACLE cooperates, among others, with the Informatics Institute of the University of Amsterdam within AI4Fintech

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.