Are you an expert in quantitative and computational social science research? Do you specialise in political science or political communication, with the interest in information exposure and effects?

Within the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, we have a Postdoc vacancy as part of the ERC Starting Grant entitled “Citizens exposed to dissimilar views in the media: investigating backfire effects” directed by Prof. Magdalena Wojcieszak.

This project combines panel surveys on systematic samples in three countries (U.S., Netherlands, and Poland) with online behavioural trace data (i.e., actual online exposure among the same participants). We also rely on innovative experimental designs combined with the collection of online behavioural trace data. We use these data to examine communication effects on polarization, beliefs in misinformation, attitude extremity, among other outcomes.

In the second part of the project, the focus will be on using theoretically relevant nudges to incentivize news consumption in the online environment. We will use innovative selection designs to test the effects of various nudges on participants’ information selection from a mock websites. We will also implement innovative designs, ideally a field experiment on a social media platform or other tests of the effects of incentivization strategies on user engagement with and/or exposure to news content. You will have the opportunity to shape the specific questions and designs, and envision and implement innovative technological solutions to increase the external validity of these designs.

What are you going to do

The project entails analysing communication effects on political attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors using computational methods and advanced quantitative analyses.

You will:

• co-design and program innovative online experiments combining random assignment, content selection and online behavioural data;
• co-design and oversee online field experiment/s on social media platforms;
• use statistical models to test hypotheses using large amounts of data;
• write papers to be submitted to high-impact international conferences and journals;
• write journalistic pieces to increase the visibility of the findings and work;
• present findings in international high-impact conferences and academic gatherings.

What do we require

You are:

• a good communicator and an excellent organizer;
• proactive, reliable and independent;
• an energetic team player;
• stress resistant;
• able to keep a cool head when things get busy.

Your experience and profile:

You have:

• a PhD in communication science, political science, information science, data science or any other field relevant to the substantive and methodological interests of the project (e.g. psychology, computational sociology, economics). Candidates who are due to submit their dissertation manuscript are welcome to apply;
• proven expertise in quantitative research methods (e.g., survey and experimental data analysis using advanced multivariate models);
• strong computational skills: years of experience working in R, python, and any other programming languages;
• expertise in designing, executing and analyzing complex research designs that combine self-reports (experiments/surveys) with digital trace data (e.g., tracking data);
• experience answering relevant social science questions using computation skills;
• good written and spoken English skills;
• experience analysing survey and/or experimental data and visualizing the results;
• track-record of publications on international journals on at least some of the substantive and/or methodological areas of interest to the project.

The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours per week (based on 1F TE, an option to work for 0.90 FTE is also possible) for a maximum term of 20 months (until August 31, 2023). The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended until the end of the ERC EXPO project (August 31, 2023). The opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events is also possible.

Depending on your experience, the minimum salary is €3,807 and a maximum salary is €5,211 gross per month based on a full-time appointment for a 38-hour working week, in keeping with salary scale 22 as per the  Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities.

We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. The UvA offers excellent possibilities for further professional development and education.

What else do we offer

• A position in which initiative and input are highly valued.
• An enthusiastic and international team that is open to new colleagues.
• Being part of a high-impact ERC-funded research project that uses state-of-the art data and methods (i.e. online trace data and deep machine learning models) to address crucial societal issues.
• The opportunity to present work in top academic conferences, increase your professional network, and submit work to top academic journals.
• An inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.

University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

Curious about our organisation and attractive fringe benefits such as a generous holiday arrangement and development opportunities? Here you can read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

A challenging work environment with a variety of duties and ample scope for individual initiative and development within an inspiring organization. The social and behavioral sciences play a leading role in addressing the major societal challenges faced by the world, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, now and in the future.