Research Assistant/Doctoral Student (f/m/d) in the Research Data Center

Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE – Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe; Frankfurt; Vor Ort; EUR 50.000 - 65.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

A leading research institute in Frankfurt is seeking a Research Assistant/Doctoral Student to join their Data Center team. This position involves building a historical firm and stock market database and requires a master's degree in related fields with strong programming skills, especially in Python. Candidates should have good English and German language skills. This role offers a collaborative environment and aims to enhance women's participation in research.

Leistungen

Excellent contacts to the scientific community

Attractive working environment

Support for female scholars

Qualifikationen

• Candidates have acquired (or are about to complete) a master’s degree with excellent grades.
• Programming skills and experience with relational databases are particularly welcome.
• Good English and German language skills are required.
• Candidates should work independently and be willing to familiarize themselves with new topics.

Aufgaben

• Design and build a historical German firm and stock market database.
• Extract, transform, and load raw data into a relational database.
• Identify economic entities for each reporting year and link them over time.
• Contribute to SAFE’s research agenda.

Kenntnisse

Programming skills

Experience with relational databases

Good knowledge of Python

English language skills

German language skills

Ausbildung

Master's degree in economic history, finance, economics, business informatics, computer science, or mathematics

Tools

Stata

R

Julia

Matlab

Jobbeschreibung

Overview

The Leibniz Institute SAFE (Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe) seeks to fill the position of a Research Assistant/Doctoral Student (f/m/d) in the Research Data Center.

Position details

Timeframe: 70% position

Fixed-Term: up to 3 years

Payment: TV-H E13

Start: January 15, 2026

About SAFE

The Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE promotes scientific research, transfer to the public, and independent policy advice on all aspects relating to the structure and functioning of the financial system. It aims to contribute to strengthening a sustainable and resilient financial system that drives innovation and serves the needs of the economy and citizens. Researchers from economics, law, and political science collaborate at SAFE. Website: safe-frankfurt.de

Your tasks

The research assistant/doctoral student will be part of the research group that designs and builds a historical German firm and stock market database from historical data sources starting in the late 19th century. The project is part of the “Financial and corporate research from a long-term perspective” project funded by the Academy of Sciences and Literature in the Academies' Programme. The construction process includes extracting, transforming, and loading raw data (derived from scans of historical sources) into a relational database. After that, economic entities are identified for each reporting year, linked over time, and merged across sources. The database will be enriched with publicly available data (e.g., georeferencing and Wikidata). After completing data validation procedures, the database will be made available to the research community. The database will provide unique research opportunities that PhD students can benefit from when writing their thesis. The research assistant/doctoral student is invited to contribute to SAFE’s research agenda in this area. As a member of the Data Center team, the research assistant/doctoral student will contribute to the center’s mission to create new European, combining and processing existing data sets.

Your profile

• Successful candidates have acquired (or are about to complete) a master’s degree in economic history, finance, economics, business informatics, computer science, mathematics, or a related field with excellent grades. Candidates without a background in economics, finance, and accounting are expected to be willing to acquire solid knowledge therein.
• Programming skills and experience with relational databases are particularly welcome. Good knowledge of Python is a plus. Skills in other programming languages like Stata, R, Julia, or Matlab are also welcome.
• Ideal candidates have implemented their first empirical project(s) and are strongly motivated to conduct high-quality research.
• Good English language skills are required. The same applies to German language skills, as most data sources are in German.
• Candidates should work independently and be willing to familiarize themselves with new topics and methods, including machine learning and the handling of large data sets.

We offer

The infrastructure of a modern research center with excellent contacts to the scientific and financial community. You will be working in a very attractive working environment in the House of Finance at Goethe University and with an enthusiastic team of colleagues. Compensation will be 70% of a full-time position in accordance with the standards of the public services wage agreement of the State of Hesse (TV-H E 13). The employment contract has an initial duration of up to 3 years, depending on the state of qualification. SAFE seeks to increase the share of women in research and thus strongly encourages female scholars to apply. We are also committed to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities and therefore invites them to apply.

Interested?

We look forward to receiving your online application! Apply now until 22.10.2025 by using the button "Online Application"

Questions?

Should you have any questions, please contact Dr. Dennis Gram via e-mail: [e-mail]