Merlin Hebecker researches new forms of precarious work at the Public Data Lab.
Since September 2025, Merlin Hebecker has been a doctoral student in labor geography at the University of Zurich and a member of the Public Data Lab. In his dissertation, he examines how new forms of precarious work, such as platform work or short-term employment, affect social inequality.
His goal is to collect qualitative data on precarious working conditions and thus create a basis for data-driven, socially balanced decisions in administration and politics. In doing so, he attaches great importance to making the perspectives of those affected visible.
From Bonn to Bogotá, Kiel and São Paulo to Zurich – this is the geographical description of Merlin Hebecker’s journey. What connects these places is his interest in social inequalities.
Since 1 September 2025, Merlin Hebecker has been a doctoral researcher in Labour Geography at the University of Zurich and a member of the DIZH Public Data Lab(PDL). His PhD project on precarious work is one of the four flagship projects of the PDL.
The launch of the Public Data Lab will take place at ZHdK on October 23.
The PDL is dedicated to social, economic, and ecological change processes in the canton of Zurich. As a collaborative project supported by the Department of Geography and the Department for Mathematical Modeling and Machine Learning at the University of Zurich (UZH), the Institute for Contemporary Art Research at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), the Statistical Office of the Canton of Zurich, and the association opendata.ch, the lab activates interfaces between research, administration, policy-making, and society.
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