Are you exceptionally interested in new media technologies and communication research? Is it your ambition to become a top-tier researcher?  We are seeking a PhD candidate for the project ‘Blockchain in the Advertising Landscape (BAL): Consumer Empowerment and Trust’. The PhD track is part of the Persuasive Communication programme group. The candidate will work in close cooperation with the Digital Society Initiative.

The Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) is the research institute for the Communication Science department at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

The vacancy is for the project Blockchain in the Advertising Landscape (BAL): Consumer Empowerment and Trust.

Due to the spread of disinformation online, individuals have increasing difficulties distinguishing real information from fake and determining what information can be trusted online. This problem also affects commercial content: consumers are increasingly exposed to fake advertising, which communicates a source that in fact is not the real source behind the ad. Such fake advertising negatively affects the whole advertising ecosystem: brands whose names are falsely used in the ads, making them vulnerable to reputation damage, but also publishers and media platforms, putting them at risk of economic loss, and importantly, consumers who are being manipulated and misled. 

This three year PhD project investigates the opportunities and challenges of blockchain applications to help consumers cope with fake advertising. The project examines perspectives of private and public actors in the online advertising ecosystem on opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology for trusted advertising and collects current cases of blockchain applications. It also investigates how consumers evaluate blockchain technology applications for trusted advertising in terms of empowerment and examines effects and boundary conditions of timestamps, as a specific form of blockchain technology applied for disclosures of authenticity, on consumer trust in advertising and media. 

What are you going to do 

You will

• conduct research as outlined above, adopting mixed-methods (including interviews, surveys and experiments), and resulting in academic publications in leading journals and accumulating in a PhD thesis;
• present your work at international conferences;
• contribute to the vibrant academic life in Amsterdam by attending workshops, meetings, and lectures;
• spend 10% of your time on teaching-related tasks.

What do we require of you

You have:

• Master’s degree in communication science or a related field such as, sociology, but also computer science, information science, or similar;
• proven affinity with research on new media technologies;
• a firm basis in research methods and data analysis (especially interviews, survey design, experimental designs and content analyses);
• an excellent written and spoken command of English. As you will (also) be doing interviews with professionals, it is an advantage if you also have at least a passive understanding of Dutch or are willing to acquire it;
• excellent organizational skills.

You are:

• eager to contribute to the emerging field of new media technologies in persuasive communication, and specifically blockchain technology;
• motivated to engage with professional audiences and are well able to communicate with your fellow peers , the research population and societal partners;
• willing to learn and think across disciplines and integrate knowledge from different academic disciplines (e.g., computer science) in your research.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

The UvA is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We value a spirit of enquiry and endurance, provide the space to keep asking questions and cherish a diverse atmosphere of curiosity and creativity.

The position concerns a temporary employment contract of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of three years and two months. The initial term of employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 26 months, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be tasked with teaching Bachelor's students.

Your salary will be € 2395 gross per month in the first year and will increase to € 3061 in the final year, based on full-time employment and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

University of Amsterdam

With over 6,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences – Amsterdam School of Communication Research

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) is the largest educational and research institution in the social sciences in the Netherlands. The Faculty serves 7,500 students in numerous Bachelor and Master programmes in Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Science, Psychology, Social Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, and Educational Sciences. The academic staff is employed in education as well as research. There are over 1,100 employees at the Faculty, which resides in a number of buildings in the centre of Amsterdam.