Doctoral Candidate for MSCA Doctoral Network REGULAIRE, DC5: Procurement as a Learning Instrument

Chair for Public Policy, Governance and Innovative Technology - Open PhD position for MSCA Doctoral Network REGULAIRE

Doctoral Candidate for MSCA Doctoral Network REGULAIRE, DC5: Procurement as a Learning Instrument

25.09.2026, Wissenschaftliches Personal
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Are you curious how governments can use public procurement not just to buy new technologies, but to learn about them? TUM is hiring a doctoral researcher for REGULAIRE, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network exploring how regulation learns in the governance of emerging technologies. This is a paid, three-year employment contract with full training, international mobility and close supervision.

Position details

• Employer: Technical University of Munich, School of Social Sciences and Technology. You must be willing to enroll in a doctoral programme at the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology.
• Contract: Full-time employment contract (40 hours per week) for 36 months, with social security, health insurance and pension contributions
• Salary: A gross monthly salary of approximately €3,800, before taxes and social security contributions (remuneration in accordance with the MSCA Grant Agreement), includes a MSCA mobility allowance and, if you have a family, the MSCA family allowance is available.
• Location: On site in Munich, Germany, as required by the MSCA programme; with travel for network events. The position requires full-time commitment with a physical presence at the recruiting institution. Teleworking is not permitted.
• Language: The working language is English. German is not required.
• Expected start: 01.02.2027, or upon agreement
• Application deadline: 31 October 00:00 CET

About REGULAIRE

REGULAIRE (Regulatory Learning for the Governance of Transformative Technologies) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network bringing together 15 doctoral candidates at ten European universities to study how regulation can learn to govern transformative technologies such as AI, quantum computing and neurotechnology. Its projects examine how regulators sense emerging problems early, how balanced interventions encourage learning without overcorrection or underreaction, how such interventions alter institutional capacities, and how feedback can be institutionalised so that insights travel across organisations and jurisdictions. Across the network, regulatory learning means treating regulation as a learning architecture that generates, tests and refines knowledge about what works, rather than as one-off rulemaking.

As part of the network, you'll join an international cohort and be supervised across institutions. You will take part in three residential summer schools, methods workshops, monthly paper development seminars and joint work with regulators, standardisation bodies, and international organisations. The network is coordinated by Prof. Urs Gasser (Chair for Public Policy, Governance and Innovative Technology) and Prof. Sandra Cortesi (Chair for Participation and Diversity in Digital Societies) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

The doctoral project

Public procurement can be more than purchasing: it can be a way for governments to learn about emerging technologies, develop institutional capabilities, and shape emerging markets and practices. This doctoral project examines how knowledge, standards, expectations and security practices travel across networks spanning ministries, public agencies, private labs, firms and standardisation bodies with regard to transformative technologies. You will study pre-commercial and challenge-based procurement as learning interventions and compare how procurement-led initiatives generate evidence, foster interaction among different actors, and influence the development and governance of emerging technologies.

Concretely, the project will develop a governance framework and typology of procurement mechanisms as instruments for learning and experimentation. It may combine comparative case studies, network analysis, institutional analysis, interviews, document analysis, or other suitable methods to investigate how procurement affects knowledge flows, technological development, organisational capabilities and emerging norms. The project will also explore practical outputs such as procurement design principles, templates, metrics and evidence pathways, while identifying the conditions under which procurement can accelerate learning while safeguarding security, accountability and other public values.

Within the network, the project advances Work Package 3, which focuses on interventions for regulatory learning, by examining how procurement can serve as a deliberate mechanism for generating evidence, connecting actors, testing assumptions and adapting governance as technologies develop.

This project is a good fit if you are interested in technology governance, public policy, innovation and science and technology studies, public administration, security studies, standardisation, political science, law, or related fields. We welcome applicants from different disciplinary backgrounds and are particularly interested in candidates who enjoy working across disciplinary boundaries and engaging with both conceptual and empirical questions.

What you will do

• Shape the research questions and design together with the supervision team, and prepare the ethics, data-management, and open-science materials.
• Collect, manage, and analyse data, for example through network analysis of how knowledge and security norms spread between ministries, supervisors, private labs and standardisation bodies, process tracing, comparative case studies of procurement-led pilots, and the co-design of procurement clauses with practitioners.
• Write a doctoral thesis and related publications within the doctoral programme and the REGULAIRE plan.
• Take part in local and network-wide training and cohort activities, including three residential summer schools and monthly paper development seminars, and share your work with researchers and practitioners.
• Complete a three-month secondment with a non-academic partner.
• Contribute to research integrity, equality and diversity, open science, and FAIR data practices.

What we are looking for

Essential

• A Master's degree, or an equivalent qualification that gives you access to doctoral studies, completed by the start date. Relevant fields include political science, public administration, law, security studies, innovation studies, and other social science or interdisciplinary fields.
• A genuine interest in how public procurement can help governments learn about emerging technologies, particularly in quantum and cybersecurity.
• Skills in, or a demonstrable interest in, network analysis, process tracing and comparative case studies.
• Professional working proficiency in English, spoken and written. Non-native speakers are very welcome.
• Willingness to travel for the secondment and network activities.
• Eligibility under the MSCA rules (see “Am I eligible?” below), and willingness to enrol in the doctoral programme at the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology.

Helpful, but not required

• Hands-on experience with network analysis, process tracing or comparative case study research.
• Familiarity with public procurement, including pre-commercial or innovation procurement.
• Knowledge of quantum technologies, cybersecurity policy or standardisation processes.
• Work experience in public administration, procurement authorities, security agencies or standards bodies.

Don't meet every point? Please apply anyway. We know that strong candidates often hold back unless they match every item on a list. If this project excites you and you meet the essential criteria, we would like to hear from you. Non-linear career paths, career breaks and experience outside academia are all valued.

Supervision, training and mobility

You'll be supervised by Prof. Urs Gasser (TUM, primary supervisor). You'll meet your primary supervisor at least once a month and the full team at least four times a year. Your progress and training are recorded in your Career Development Plan.

Your three-month secondment will take you inside a leading public-sector procurement authority, giving you first-hand insight into how procurement clauses, security norms and evidence pathways are put into practice.

Network-wide training includes three residential summer schools (regulatory learning and foresight at TUM; methods and analytics at BI Norwegian Business School; academic writing and impact at the University of St. Gallen), monthly paper development seminars, and annual network reviews aligned with major community events. Over the project, you'll earn at least 20 ECTS through local and network-wide training, including at least 10 ECTS from network-wide activities.

Am I eligible?

Applicants of any nationality can apply. Because the position is funded by the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, a few rules apply:

You must be able to enrol in the TUM doctoral programme in time.

You must be “mobile”. In the 36 months before your start date, you must not have lived, worked or studied mainly in Germany for more than 12 months. Holidays, compulsory national service and time spent in a procedure to obtain refugee status do not count.

You must not already hold a PhD. If you have defended a doctoral thesis but not yet formally received the degree, you are also not eligible.

Example: If you start on 1 January 2027, look back to 1 January 2024. If you spent more than 12 months of that period living, working or studying mainly in Germany, you are not eligible for this position. You may still be eligible for REGULAIRE positions in other countries, so please check the network's other openings.

Formal wording: Applicants may be of any nationality. To be eligible for MSCA funding, the selected candidate must, on the first day of MSCA employment: (i) not hold a doctoral degree; candidates who have successfully defended a doctoral thesis but have not yet formally received the degree are not eligible; (ii) comply with the MSCA mobility rule, meaning they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Germany for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding that date, excluding compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent in a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention; and (iii) be enrolled in, or meet the conditions required for timely enrolment in, the doctoral programme leading to the degree specified in this notice. The appointment is conditional on documentary verification of these conditions and fulfilment of the host institution's doctoral admission requirements.

How to apply

Please submit your application through the online application form by 31 October 00:00 CET. Your application should include:

• A CV (no photo, date of birth or marital status needed).
• Copies of your degree certificates and transcripts. English translations are fine if the originals are in another language; certified copies are only needed if you are offered the position.
• A short research proposal of no more than 2 pages, explaining how you would approach this project, what interests you about it and what you would bring to it. We are not looking for a finished research design; we want to see how you think.
• Contact details for two referees. Letters requested only from shortlisted candidates.

Additional Information

Questions?

We're happy to answer questions about the project, eligibility or life in Munich. Please contact Prof. Urs Gasser (urs.gasser@tum.de) or Prof. Sandra Cortesi (sandra.cortesi@tum.de).

Equal Opportunity

We want REGULAIRE to reflect the diversity of the societies that regulation serves. We welcome applications from people of all nationalities, genders, ethnic and social backgrounds, ages, religions or beliefs, sexual orientations and abilities, and we particularly encourage applications from groups that are underrepresented in academic research, including first-generation university graduates.

The position is suitable for disabled persons. Disabled applicants will be given preference in case of generally equivalent suitability, aptitude and professional performance.

Data Protection Information:

When you apply for a position with the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you are submitting personal information. With regard to personal information, please take note of the Datenschutzhinweise gemäß Art.13 Datenschutz-Grundverordnung (DSGVO) zur Erhebung und Verarbeitung von personenbezogenen Daten im Rahmen Ihrer Bewerbung (data protection information on collecting and processing personal data contained in your application in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)). By submitting your application, you confirm that you have acknowledged the above data protection information of TUM.

Contact:

TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology

Chair for Public Policy, Governance and Innovative Technology

Richard-Wagner-Straße 1, 80333 Munich

Germany

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Kontakt: urs.gasser@tum.de

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