Job Opportunity

For its Institutions and Political Inequality department (IPI), the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) is looking for 

two Student Assistants (f/m/x)

on a temporary basis, from 1st September 2026 for one year and for 10 hours per week (with the possibility to increase up to 15 hours/week from January 2027 on). 

The WZB Berlin Social Science Center is a publicly financed research institution that conducts leading edge theory-based and problem-oriented social science research (http://www.wzb.eu/en). WZB researchers come from across the globe and work across social science disciplines including sociology, political science, economics, law, and psychology. A member of the Leibniz Association, WZB’s research is directed at the science community, policy makers, the media and the general public.

The department’s research uses experimental and observational approaches to study the political economy of inequality, intergroup conflict and post-conflict reconciliation, and informal institutions. The successful applicant will work in a dynamic, international research environment. The position would be an ideal substantive fit for students interested in development, political and economic inequality, and in processing and analyzing large-scale online data.     

 

Your tasks and duties

  • Support empirical social science research projects in the areas of political inequality, conflict, development, governance, and related fields
  • Clean, manage, merge, document, and analyze quantitative datasets
  • Contribute to reproducible research workflows, primarily using R, and where relevant Stata, Python, Git/GitHub, or other research tools
  • Participate in research discussions, contribute to the development of research ideas, hypotheses, empirical strategies, and project documentation
  • Conduct literature reviews and prepare structured summaries of academic research on topics related to IPI’s work

  • Provide occasional support for teaching or research-related materials, in areas related to comparative politics, ethnic politics, African politics, political economy, conflict, and empirical social science

     

Your qualifications

  • Enrolment in a Bachelor (advanced) or Master program with a focus on political science, public policy, economics, sociology, development studies, African studies, data science for social science, or a related discipline
  • Strong interest in empirical social science research, especially in areas such as political inequality, conflict, development, governance, intergroup relations, or the political economy of institutions
  • Excellent knowledge of the English language (the working language of the research department is English)
  • Good training in quantitative methods, including statistics, econometrics, causal inference, or related approaches; Competent handling of MS Office applications

  • Additional assets: knowledge of German; regional interest in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, or other conflict-affected settings; experience with survey data, administrative data, experimental research, text data, or formal modeling

     

Our offer

  • Remuneration according to the TdL guidelines (currently €15.20 per hour without a Bachelor's degree and €15.81 per hour with a Bachelor's degree)
  • A well-equipped workplace in the center of Berlin
  • International, cooperative, and diversified working environment
  • In-depth integration into the scientific community in the form of colloquiums and conferences
  • Thorough instruction and guidance
  • Flexible working hours and the possibility of mobile working (at least 20% of the weekly working hours agreed in the contract)
  • We promote a good work-life balance
  • Cafeteria with modern recreation rooms
  • Discounted leisure and recreation opportunities with a membership in Sozialwerk.Bund
  • Counselling and support services for WZB employees in difficult life situations

We value diversity and welcome all applications – irrespective of gender, nationality, ethnic or social origin, religion, disability, age, or sexual orientation. WZB expressly encourages women or persons with migration backgrounds to apply. Equally qualified applicants with disabilities will be given preference.

If you have any questions regarding the job opening, please contact the IPI office at ped-application@wzb.eu .

Job interviews will likely take place in the week starting on July 6th, 2026.

For more information about the IPI research group, click here.

For more information about WZB, see https://www.wzb.eu/en.

Have we caught your interest? In that case, we are looking forward to receiving your application (cover letter and CV (in English), alongside any supporting certificates in the form of a single PDF) via our online application tool by June 21st, 2026. 

Apply now