1. médialab Sciences Po
  2. News
  3. [Filed position] Hiring Postdoc in Computational Social Sciences

[Filed position] Hiring Postdoc in Computational Social Sciences

The médialab is hiring a Postdoc (20 months) in computational social sciences to work on the Social Media for Democracy (SoMe4Dem) project, funded by the European Commission Horizon “Reshaping Democracy” programme.

Notice, Job

About the project SoMe4Dem

The SoMe4Dem (Social Media for Democracy) project is a highly interdisciplinary initiative by Sciences Po and 8 partners, including University of Amsterdam, the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig and Berlin, University of Venice, and University of Bristol. This project analyzes the impact of social media in different aspects of politics, including political polarization, collective mobilization, petitioning and fundraising.

This project involves social media data collection operations and data analysis across Europe.

The main objective of the project is to understand and assess the impact of online media in offline politics, working from diverse epistemological perspectives.

About the position and the profile

We are looking for candidates that have a solid background in data analysis with a deep interest in the role of social media in politics. This mainly includes phd holders coming from political sciences, sociology, psychology with a strong data analysis background, or coming from physics, computer science and mathematics, but having worked extensively with behavioral trace data (e.g. social media data). Other profiles are welcome to send applications: if in doubt, let us consider your application.

The hired postdoc will work in the SoMe4Dem project, in which we are analyzing social media data across Europe to measure how online activity impacts offline politics, but the candidate is welcome to develop a parallel personal research agenda and contribute new topics and perspectives to our team using our data.

We are collecting a large structured set of online activities across EU countries and social platforms, and that have the potential to impact offline politics: online debates around issues that can permeate the offline sphere, such parliamentary debates (e.g., regarding carbon taxation, immigration, gender equality and rights of minorities), and in particular online petition signing, fundraising, and crowdfunding of political causes.

What we offer:

  • A great and innovative environment to learn computational social science research. You will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers and engineers developing cutting edge social media research.
  • We work in collaboration with numerous partners around Europe and the world. You’ll be expected to meet with collaborators and to present in conferences.
  • No mandatory teaching duties, but we offer the opportunity to teach for a complement in the salary.
  • The opportunity to work with exciting data and on phenomena related to online political dynamics. We collect and curate unique data from several platforms across the world.
  • 3300€ to 3700€ per month gross salary depending on experience, for 20 months (possible renewal for 4 months), in addition to restaurant vouchers, partial commuting costs, 40 days paid leave per year and competitive health insurance complementary to the national healthcare system.

Calendar:

  • Deadline: applications sent by 3 January 2024 will receive full consideration.
  • Interviews: selected candidates will be invited to an interview the week of the 8 January 2024.
  • Announcement: we will announce the results of selection the week of the 15 January 2024.

How to apply

If you are interested in the position please send us :

If you have questions please use the same email address.