Post Doctoral Research Fellow

• Melbourne Burwood Campus with travel across rural Victoria required
• Full-time and fixed-term until October 2028
• Level B $122,391 - $144,759 + 17% Superannuation

Benefits for working with us!

At Deakin, we offer more than just a job - we offer a lifestyle. Across our campuses in Geelong, Melbourne, and regional Victoria, you’ll find everything you need to thrive: on-site childcare, gyms, medical centres, cafes, accessible public transport, and convenient parking. Enjoy flexible working arrangements that support your work-life balance, generous leave entitlements including extended parental leave and the option to purchase additional time off, plus a wide range of staff discounts on travel and more. Our health and wellbeing services, ongoing professional development opportunities, and inclusive, supportive culture make Deakin a place where you can grow - whether you're working remotely or immersed in the vibrant energy of campus life.

Who are we?

Deakin is a cutting-edge public university headquartered in Victoria, revolutionising education with 61,000 students across our campuses: Melbourne Burwood, Geelong Waurn Ponds, Geelong Waterfront, Warrnambool, Deakin University Lancaster University Indonesia (DLI), GIFT City, India, and our vibrant online environment. We're proud to be a progressive and open-minded university, delivering the highest student satisfaction in Victoria and consistently ranked in the top 1% of the world's universities.

About the Role

The Faculty of Business is dedicated to being at the forefront of teaching, learning, creating and social development and fostering cutting-edge research and discovery. The Centre for Disaster Resilience and Recovery (CDRR) at the Economics Discipline Group places high emphasis on research that makes a difference and is solution-led. We work closely with industry partners and the government to put findings into practice.

The ideal candidate is an applied microeconomist who combines behavioural measurement, field-RCT expertise, and strong fieldwork management.

The successful candidate will have a substantive intellectual role in refining the RCT and the opportunity to co-author high-quality academic publications. Working with the Chief Investigators and project partners, the Postdoctoral Research Fellow will take substantial day-to-day responsibility for experimental design, survey and behavioural-measure development, farmer recruitment, regional workshops, field-team coordination, research ethics, data quality, causal analysis, and the preparation of academic publications and policy outputs.

As an affiliate of the Centre for Disaster Resilience and Recovery (CDRR) within the Economics Discipline Group at Deakin, the successful candidate will also support CDRR activities, as needed.

Essential Selection Criteria

1. Relevant qualifications and research expertise: PhD (completed or submitted) in economics with a strong focus on agricultural or resource economics, behavioural or experimental economics, development economics, or environmental economics.
2. Experimental design and quantitative analysis: Extensive experience designing, implementing, and analysing randomised controlled trials or field experiments, supported by advanced econometric, causal inference, and statistical programming skills (e.g. R or Stata).
3. Survey, data, and research management: Experience developing surveys and experimental instruments, managing high-quality quantitative data, coordinating multi-site field research, supervising field teams, meeting project milestones, and ensuring reproducible research practices.
4. Research communication and collaboration: Demonstrated research outputs (e.g. publications or working papers), strong written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to build productive relationships with farmers, communities, government, industry, and multidisciplinary research partners.
5. Ethics and field engagement: Sound understanding of research ethics and approval process, data governance, and responsible research practices, with willingness to undertake regular travel to regional and rural Victoria to support fieldwork and stakeholder engagement.

Desirable Criteria

1. Strong knowledge of behavioural and experimental research methods, including lab-in-the-field experiments, design of survey or experimental measures relating to decision-making under risk, intertemporal choice, cooperation, social preferences, or related behavioural outcomes.
2. Direct experience designing incentive-compatible measures of risk preferences, time preferences, cooperation, or social preferences.
3. Experience with agricultural producers, rural communities, climate adaptation, drought resilience, technology adoption, or environmental decision-making.
4. Experience working with farmer organisations, government departments, or community partners.
5. Experience producing policy briefs, stakeholder reports, practitioner resources, or other research-translation outputs.
6. Experience writing external competitive grant applications

Here's how to apply: 

Please submit your updated resume, a short cover letter and responses to the Key Selection Criteria.

For a confidential discussion regarding this role, please contact Pallavi Shukla (Senior Lecturer) on p.shukla@deakin.edu.au  

For a copy of the position description, please see below:

 PD-Postdoctoral Research Fellow- 588414.pdf

Applications for this position close on 31st August 2026.

Are You Ready?

Deakin is a Victorian university with a global impact. We are an agile, dynamic, and innovative university committed to making a positive impact through our excellence in education, research and innovation and the contributions we make to the wider community.

We understand that our reputation has been built on the dedication and expertise of our staff and we offer a dynamic and diverse working environment with opportunities to grow and develop careers. We believe that a progressive, thriving culture will ensure that people choose to come, and stay at Deakin and contribute to our ongoing success.

We value diversity and aim to build an inclusive environment that champions, embraces and respects differences. We support and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people of all abilities, cultures, sexual orientation, and genders.

Pre-employment safety and suitability checks: In accordance with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence, appointment to this role is subject to successful completion of relevant pre-employment checks, including Working With Children Checks and candidate gender-based violence declarations.

Candidates may be asked to declare whether they have been investigated for an allegation of Gender‑based Violence, or determined to have engaged in conduct that constitutes Gender‑based Violence during the course of their previous employment, or otherwise in a legal process.  A declaration is not required from individuals who have experienced gender‑based violence.  A ‘Yes’ response does not automatically exclude a candidate from employment, and any information provided will be treated confidentially and considered only for relevance to the role and the University’s safety obligations.