Job Description

The Leibniz Institute SAFE is seeking to fill the position of a



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



Timeframe



70% position



Fixed-Term



up to 3 years



Payment



TV-H E13



Start



starting on January 15, 2026.



The Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE - Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe -



www.safe-frankfurt.de



promotes scientific research, transfer work 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 the fields of economics, law, and political science collaborate at SAFE.

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 of the database 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 very 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 in particular 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:



gram@safe-frankfurt.de