Do you enjoy:

• Engaging in cutting-edge research as part of an interdisciplinary consortium on pressing information law questions;
• To participate in a consortium of internationally renowned scholars, and join a nationwide peer network, with many opportunities to engage and develop your career;
• Being part of a state-of-the-art prestigious programme, innovative in focus and approach, which aspires to have impact in academia as well as society;
• Benefit from a well-funded future-oriented training and development programme, including personal-professional development?

Then the job of PhD researcher for the project on the Emerging Regulatory Framework for Algorithmic Decision Systems in the Media at the University of Amsterdam is perfect for you.

What does this job entail?

Europe is a space of ambitious regulatory experimentation to discipline the power of large social media companies and create the conditions for fair competition and diverse media markets. Regulations such as the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act or the Data Act must together ensure that the key technologies that power the algorithmic society, such as automated content moderation and recommendation algorithms, will respect fundamental rights and public values. Now is a unique moment in time to study how the emerging regulatory framework will organise a complex web of societal stakeholders and hold powerful technology players to account for the societal risks their technologies create. The overall goal of this project is to study the role that the new regulatory framework has in realising public values and influencing the power dynamics in the overall media ecology.

This project is part of the Gravitation program Public Values in the Algorithmic Society (algosoc). The Gravitation program is an initiative by the Dutch government to support excellent research in the Netherlands. The funding is reserved for scientific consortia that have the potential to rank among the world's best in their field. Algosoc is a response to the urgent need for an informed societal perspective on automated decision-making. Funded by the ministry for Education, Culture and Science for a period for 10 years, research in the algosoc program will develop a deep understanding of the systemic changes that automated decision making entails for core public institutions, for society, and for how public values are realized. The research will focus on three sectors: justice, health and media. The program brings together researchers in law, communication science, computer science, media studies, philosophy, public governance, STS, economy and social sciences from five Dutch universities (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Tilburg, Delft and Rotterdam). Together, the algosoc community will develop solutions for the design of governance frameworks needed to complement technology-driven initiatives in the algorithmic society.

Tasks include:

• Develop, conduct, and publish research on the emerging European regulatory framework for the regulation of media markets;
• Contribute to the public debate and organise outreach activities of algosoc;
• Contribute to the overall program in terms of events, research meetings, activities;
• Collaborate with other researchers within the algosoc consortium;
• Give guest-lectures in the area of your expertise at BA or MA level at the University of Amsterdam;
• Help co-supervising research projects of students working on related topics.

In addition, you have:

• A (research) master degree in information law, political science or a comparable discipline;
• A strong affinity with the research topic and in working together with a team of people from different disciplines including an interest to learn and work with researchers from communication science, political science, digital humanities and media economics.
• An excellent written and spoken command of English, for instance demonstrated by publications in English-language journals, blogs or comparable publications (written and spoken command of other languages, including Dutch, French, and/or German is a plus);
• The ability, willingness, and commitment to do autonomous work in a multidisciplinary team that includes legal scholars, communication scholars, media economists, digital humanities, ethicists and data scientists;
• Interest in having an active role in organising workshops, lecture series, and similar events.

If the vacancy appeals to you, but you are doubting whether you might be THE person we are looking for, please do apply. We encourage all qualified applicants, including minorities, women, people with disabilities, and members of other groups underrepresented in academia to apply. We wish to create a consortium that consists of persons who each contribute in their unique way to the team. Complementarity and not homogeneity is what we are looking for.

Developing a societal vision on automated decision making concerns us all. We believe that a diversity of perspectives in our consortium will be important in developing an inclusive societal vision and strive therefore also in our hiring policy for encouraging applicants from diverse backgrounds. We are committed to creating an environment of mutual respect, inclusiveness, equal opportunities with room for situated experiences, diverse perspectives, and ideas to flourish. This commitment applies to our research, organisation, room for flexibility, training, and community activities as well as our hiring strategy.

We offer a temporary employment contract for the period of 36 months. The first contract will be for 12 months, with an extension for the following 24 months, contingent on a positive performance evaluation within the first 12 months. The employment contract is for 38 hours a week. The preferred starting date is April 1, 2023.

Your salary, ranges from €2.541 in the first year up to a maximum of €3.247 per month on the basis of a full working week of 38 hours. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8.3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) is applicable.

Amsterdam Law School

The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 39,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.

With over 5,000 students and more than 500 staff members, the Amsterdam Law School is one of the larger law faculties in the Netherlands. We educate lawyers who know how to apply the law effectively with the aim of making a real contribution to solving social problems.

The Amsterdam Law School stands for progressive and trail-blazing education and research, for stronger legal institutions, solutions to social problems and a better and juster society.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about the position, please contact:

• Prof. dr. Natali Helberger
  E: n.helberger@uva.nl

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