Research Fellow (Post-Doctoral Researcher) in Applied Social Sciences: 'Adolescents' Digital Lives, Online Engagement and Well-Being Outcomes'

Postdoc Position

The Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) seeks to appoint an outstanding and strongly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher in Applied Social Sciences. We search for a researcher with excellent skills in quantitative analysis and/or mixed methods to work on an innovative project that examines young people’s digital engagement, online experiences and well-being across demographic and socioeconomic groups in Ireland.

You will join the research team of Dr Pablo Gracia (PI) at TCD by doing fieldwork with schools in Ireland, helping to design questionnaires, arranging the data validity and analyses, and writing and submitting scientific papers and reports with team members. You will join DIGYMATEX, a €3.5 million international project on digital media and young people’s well-being, funded by the European Commission (H2020), which includes 12 leading European partners through an active interdisciplinary collaboration of psychologists, sociologists, health researchers, economists, business scholars, and computational scientists.

Person Specification

Main Responsibilities

• Do fieldwork by sampling schools and families in Ireland, arranging the questionnaire’s design, data validity and measurement implementation. 
• Analysing the newly collected data.
• Writing a project report and submitting scientific articles to high-impact journals.
• Participating in media, public, and academic dissemination of the project.
• Contributing to get new opportunities of external funding for the new Postdoc holder.

Qualifications

• A completed PhD (or being close to complete a PhD) in a relevant social science discipline, such as Sociology, Social Research, Education, Psychology, Social Policy, Social Work, Media, Demography, Economics, Geography or cognate fields.

Expected Skills & Experience

• An excellent trajectory in social science research.
• Exceptional skills in quantitative survey analysis and/or mixed methods.
• Proven research trajectory to handle data collection and management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills using English language.
• Leadership abilities and interpersonal skills.
• Good organisational skills.

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience in conducting fieldwork to collect new data.
• Experience in substantive research related to the key themes of the project.
• High-level training in using statistical software programmes (e.g., Stata, R, Python, SPSS).
• Experience in working with survey longitudinal data and/or experimental designs.

Personal Attributes

• Proactive teamwork attitude.
• Commitment to own professional development.
• Career driven, enthusiastic and motivated.

Application Procedure

The deadline to submit applications is September 5th 2022, 1pm (Irish time).

Every person with the required qualifications (see above) is eligible. There are no restrictions of nationality, age, and citizenship for this Postdoctoral Researcher position.

Informal enquiries about the position from interested applicants, referees, and organisations are most than welcome and can be made directly to Dr Pablo Gracia (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, TCD) by emailing at [email protected]

Interviews: Online interviews are planned for the middle of September 2022. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted shortly after the application’s deadline with all relevant details on the interview’s date, time, and requirements. 

Candidates should submit the following documentation (as attached PDFs) no later than September 5th 2022 at 1pm (Irish time) to Lorraine Ivers by emailing to [email protected] and indicating exactly “[Digymatex] application” in the subject line:

• A motivation letter clearly indicating how the applicant's profile and skills fit the requirements of this position (max. 2 pages).
• A full curriculum vitae.
• Names, affiliation, and contact details of 3 referees with their contact email addresses included.
• At least 1 example (maximum 3) of academic materials (written in English) showing the candidate’s relevant analytical, writing, and empirical skills.