Postdoc in Macro-Financial Modelling of Biodiversity Risk

Join the EU Horizon NATURE 3B project in September 2025 as a postdoctoral researcher. In this role you will develop advanced macro-financial models to assess the impact of biodiversity loss on financial stability. Collaborate with leading scholars, central banks, and financial regulators to mainstream biodiversity risk assessment into risk management and drive policy impact.

Your job
As part of the Horizon Europe project NATURE 3B (Including NATURE in decision making of central banks, investment benchmarks & bond issuers), you will work with the Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) team under the lead of Professor Irene Monasterolo. Next to the project, you will also be a member of the Finance Section at U.S.E.

In this role, you will be developing a Stock-Flow Consistent behavioural models and biodiversity stress tests, to assess the macroeconomic and financial stability impacts of biodiversity risks. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with top scholars from prestigious institutions, including the University of Oxford and the University of Venice, and engage directly with central banks, regulators, the European Commission, and the NGFS network. Your work will have a tangible impact, informing macroprudential policies and financial regulations to manage biodiversity risks in Europe.

Your key responsibilities include:

• further developing a Stock-Flow Consistent behavioural model and a biodiversity stress test model to assess biodiversity risks and their macroeconomic and financial stability impacts;
• contributing to academic output through publishing high-quality research with the team;
• supporting the project dissemination activities by participating in relevant conferences, workshops, and seminars.

Requirements:

We are looking for a motivated postdoc with the following qualifications:

• a PhD in Economics, Finance, Statistics, Physics, or a related field, with a strong foundation in financial risk modelling;
• extensive and documented experience with either Stock-Flow Consistent models, Agent-Based models, or financial network models;
• familiarity with climate finance; interest in biodiversity finance;
• strong coding skills in Matlab and Python;
• ability to work in a team, to deliver quality and relevant work, to manage tasks independently, and to meet deadlines;
• ability to write and present research for academic and policy audiences;
• fluency in English and willingness to travel within Europe for conferences and meetings

Location: You are expected to work from Utrecht, with access to facilities and a dynamic international research environment.

Salary Benefits:

We offer:

• a temporary position for 24 months, starting in September 2025;
• a working week of 28 hours and a full-time gross salary between €4,537 and €6,209 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 11 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

28 - 32 hours per week

Kriekenpitplein 21-22