Toulouse School of Economics | Postdoc position in Social and Behavioral Sciences

General Info

The Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) of the Toulouse School of Economicsis recruiting two Postdoctoral Researchers with a PhD in psychology, cognitive science,anthropology, or related disciplines. The positions are part of the project ENFORCE, funded bythe French National Research Agency (ANR).

ENFORCE will study how human groups develop reputational systems, social norms, andinstitutions to regulate the use of punishment. The project combines cross-cultural surveys inboth industrialized and small-scale societies with behavioral experiments.

The project is led by Catherine Molho (Toulouse School of Economics & Institute for AdvancedStudy in Toulouse) in collaboration with Zach Garfield (University Mohammed VI Polytechnic)and Giulia Andrighetto (Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR).

For this project, we aim to hire two postdoctoral researchers to conduct high-quality researchon questions related to punitive systems and their variation across human societies. Oneresearcher will be responsible for designing surveys and vignette experiments, coordinatingonline data collection across countries, analyzing cross-cultural datasets, and publishing results.

A second researcher will be responsible for developing and conducting laboratory and onlineexperiments on punishment norms and institutions, analyzing the data, and publishing results.

The postdoctoral researchers will be embedded in the interdisciplinary community of the SBS department and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST). English is the workinglanguage. These are full-time research positions, with no teaching duties expected.

Requirements

• PhD in social psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, or related fields (PhDexpected to be completed by the start date)
• Strong research interest in human cooperation, punishment, or social norms
• Demonstrated ability to publish in peer-reviewed academic journals
• Advanced quantitative skills, including multilevel modeling and proficiency in R
• Excellent organizational and communication skills

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with cross-cultural research and/or fieldwork
• Experience with behavioral experiments
• Programming for experiments (e.g., Python, oTree)
• Ability to conduct interdisciplinary research

Terms of Employment

Duration: 24 months (fixed-term contract; full-time basis)

Salary: competitive salary based on experience; research and travel funds (e.g., conferences,fieldwork) available

Starting date: September 2026

Application Process

To apply, please prepare a single PDF that includes:

• A cover letter (max. 2 pages) detailing your research interests and fit with the position (if primarily interested in one of the two profiles, specify which)
• CV, including a list of 2–3 references
• Two writing samples (working papers or publications)

Please send your application PDF by email to Catherine Molho (catherine.molho@iast.fr) withthe subject line “ENFORCE Postdoc Application – [Your Name]”.

Deadline: The deadline for applications is January 23, 2026.

After that deadline, applications will be examined on a rolling basis and until the positions arefilled. The first round of interviews will take place online in the second half of February 2026.

Application and more details: https://www.tse-fr.eu/groups/department-social-and-behavioral-sciences?tabs=7