DC11 - Data-driven business models for ecosystems of farmers

Host Organisation: University St. Gallen (USG), Switzerland

PhD awarding University: University St. Gallen (USG), Switzerland

DR11 will be hosted by the research group of Prof. Stanoevska-Slabeva at the Institute for Media and Communications Management (MCM-HSG) of the University of St. Gallen.

The MCM-HSG has a long tradition in data driven research and is celebrating its 25th anniversary in year 2023. Prof. Stanoevska-Slabeva focuses on data-driven research on digital communication by collecting and analysing available data from different sources such as social media as well as APIs of companies and platforms.

One research goal is to assess the effectiveness of digital communication through different channels. Another research goal, which should be enforced in the future by DR11, is the development of data driven business models and concepts for data exchange within ecosystems of different players.

A special focus is thereby on the exchange of data related to sustainability or other corporate responsibility goals of companies. The goal is to define concepts and data exchange processes that are driven by an ecosystem business model as well as supply and demand processes of involved companies.

The research should follow the whole value chain of data: from development of concepts for selection of the relevant data (particularly data that supports sustainable products and processes) that need to be shared to support a common business model, to development of concepts to collect and analyse the data and provide the basis for data-driven decision making beyond one company in cooperative business models such as ecosystems.

DR11 will be integrated in the research group of Prof. Stanoevska-Slabeva and can leverage existing knowledge and infrastructure at MCM-HSG related to collection and analysis of data.

DR11 will furthermore participate at training activities provided to PhD students of the University of St. Gallen and will also have the opportunity to select courses from the Global School of Empirical Research (GSERM) initiated and co-organized by the University of St. Gallen.

About Host Organisation:

The University of St.Gallen (USG) was founded as a business academy in 1898. Today, the University of St. Gallen received EQUIS and AACSB accreditation for its holistic education at the highest academic level, making it the first German-language university in Europe to have received both leading international seals of quality.

Many rankings place the University of St. Gallen among the leading business universities in Europe. At USG, EnTrust will be hosted by the Institute for Media and Communications Management (MCM). The institute is fully equipped to host doctoral students, with dedicated workspaces with necessary IT infrastructure.

To read more about the University of St. Gallen please check the website

Eligibility

The applicants need to meet several requirements to be eligible for this position.

Mobility rule: Researchers can be of any nationality, but they are required to undertake physical, transnational mobility (i.e., move from one country to another) when taking up their appointment. Consequently, applicants for this position will have to move their centre of life to the greater area of host beneficiaries’ country. Additionally, researchers shall not have resided or carried out their main activity in the country of their host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date. Time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention97 will not be considered for the mobility rule.

Doctoral Researchers (DRs) rule: Applicants at the date of recruitment, must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.

Criteria

•  Hold a Master’s degree. We encourage the application of participants with a master’s degree with a relevant data science component. These include, but are not limited to, the following areas: Data Science, Data Analytics, Statistics, Survey Methodology, Digital Information and Media/Digital Communication, Marketing/Consumer Behavior, Behavioral economics, Public policy
• Meet the admission requirements of the doctorate degree program of the corresponding university of this position
• Language Skills: Applicants should have professional knowledge in (Scientific) English language and ideally basic knowledge in the host beneficiary country.
• Academic writing proficiency: Writing sample. This should be a piece of the applicant’s individual work without any edits from others. If your application is shortlisted, you will be asked to produce a new short writing piece. This could take the form, for example, of a short essay in response to an academic topic, or a review of an academic research paper.
• English proficiency: IBT TOEFL – minimum score: 84, TOEFL Revised Paper Delivered Test – Reading = 23; Listening = 23; Writing = 21, IELTS academic version – minimum score 6.5, ECPE – certificate of proficiency

• Exempt from English proficiency: Individuals who are native speakers of English or have earned an undergraduate (at least four years of classes) or graduate degree (at least 2 years of classes) from an academic institution for which the language of instruction is English only.

How to apply?

All Candidates must apply electronically and follow the instructions to fill the details and compile the documents in one pdf file, following the order:

• Completed application form (available at above online link)
• Cover Letter
• A detailed Curricula Vitae (CV) of maximum 3 pages
• Master’s degree transcripts that are validated
• Any additional documents that prove the eligibility for the corresponding doctorate degree program
• Proof of sufficient English language skills
• Two Letters of Recommendation
• Proof of current residency/residence country (i.e., official document with the applicant’s name, surname, and address).

Note 1: Please be informed that the application must be written in English.
Note 2: Applicants can apply for up to a maximum of three Doctoral positions.

Employment

All Entrust DCs will be internationally recruited for a period of 36 months, will receive full-time employment contracts, will be enrolled in a PhD programme and actively participate in the Entrust Training Programme. Entrust will provide training equivalent to 30 ECTS over the duration of the programme.
The candidate is supposed to study and pass successfully numerous of doctoral courses and to design and execute an advanced research project that will constitute the doctoral dissertation

Supervisors:

• Professor Katarina Stanoevska- Slabeva, University St. Gallen (USG)
• Professor Markus Helfert, National University of Ireland Maynooth

Secondment Plan:

Secondment to HL Design in month 24 for 3 months, to collect measures from practice and to examine the measures

Intersectoral Secondment supervisors:

Henrik Löwenadler -HL Design (HLD)

Contract Type: Fixed term – 36 months
Contact Term: Full-time

Opening of the Online Application: 14 March 2023
Application Deadline: 07 May 2023

For more information, please contact Professor Katarina Stanoevska-Slabeva via katarina.stanoevska@unisg.ch