Research Fellow / Postdoctoral Researcher x3

The CSST invites applications for the post of Research Fellow / Postdoctoral Researcher in Sustainable Structural Transformation with research expertise and interest in one or more of the following areas:

• Geography of production and trade, with a focus on the reorganisation of regional and global value chains driven by new trade regimes, sustainability and green competitive advantage


• New business models, with a focus on the new organisational and management models addressing the sustainability challenges, including public-private partnerships, supply chain management and scope for digital innovation


• Policy governance and industrial policy, with a focus on the ways in which industrial policy can reshape industries and markets towards sustainable structural transformation.


The Research Fellow / Postdoctoral Researcher is expected to have a strong training in relevant disciplines, including economics, development studies, geography, business, politics and engineering. The candidate will have a rigorous methodological training in either quantitative or qualitative methods and will be able to collect and use different types of evidence to inform research and policy relevant analyses. Regional expertise in Africa or experience in comparative analysis, experiences in relevant sectors and policy areas, are beneficial but not necessary.

Under the leadership of the Centre co-directors, the candidate is expected to co-develop one of the research streams of the Centre, and contribute to collaborative research projects within a multi-disciplinary research team involving other research fellows, as well as industry fellows and policy fellows hosted by the Centre. The candidate is expected to contribute to all stages of research, including publication of high-quality and impact academic papers, dissemination activities and policy engagement.

The candidate will have, or be close to completing, a PhD in relevant disciplines.

SOAS University of London is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East. SOAS University of London is positioned to play a leading role in reimagining higher education globally, with a new strategic plan in place as the basis for the renewal and revitalisation of the School which commits SOAS to both student responsiveness and research intensity. SOAS is moving towards a new model of international partnerships which is responsive to the transnational character of our global challenges.

About the Department:

The SOAS Economics Department has a mission to address the most urgent issues of our times. Today these include the rampant environmental catastrophe, historic levels of inequality, health, economic and social crises, etc. The Department exercises leadership internationally in political economy, development and heterodox economics, and does so by bringing a unique regional lens to bear on its analysis. Research in the Department proceeds along a set of themes including structural transformation, industrial development and policy; governance and political economy of institutions; money and finance; international financial institutions; labour and informal economies; nutrition, health and development; ecological macroeconomics.

The Centre for Sustainable Structural Transformation (CSST), which is scheduled to be launched in February 2024, is a newly established research centre hosted by the SOAS Economics Department. CSST will conduct path-breaking research in developing countries, especially those in Africa, to inform structural transformation and economic diversification strategies that are environmentally and socially sustainable. CSST will focus on four inter-linked research and policy streams: energy transition, mineral resources, reorganization of the international supply chain, and construction of new infrastructure. CSST will also advance concrete proposals on how private sector firms and governments can coordinate their efforts towards new industrial pathways for sustainable prosperity. As the Centre evolves, new research streams (e.g., mobility solutions, worker training, digital skills, development finance) will be added, depending on other funding opportunities, potential research
partnerships, and

demands from policymakers and businesses. Professors Ha-Joon Chang and Antonio Andreoni in the SOAS Economics Department will co-direct the CSST.