Post-doctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Social Sciences

18 Jan 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

University of Warsaw

Department

Centre of Excellence in Social Sciences

Research Field

Computer science
Communication sciences
Political sciences
Sociology
Information science

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Country

Poland

Application Deadline

29 Feb 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/Warsaw)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

40

Offer Starting Date

1 Jan 2025

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

HE / ERC

Reference Number

OBM-NA-HEERC-1.2

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Are you an expert in computer science or computational social science research? Do you specialise in NLP models, LLMs, software development, with an interest in applying your work to social science questions and “the real world”? Are you interested in social media, their recommendation algorithms, polarization, and misinformation? We invite applications for the position of a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Social Sciences, University of Warsaw for the research project “NEWSUSE: Incentivizing Citizen Exposure to Quality News Online: Framework and Tools” directed by Prof. Magdalena Wojcieszak and funded by the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant).

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We have a vacancy for a post-doctoral researcher as part of the international ERC Consolidator Grant titled “NEWSUSE: Incentivizing Citizen Exposure to Quality News Online: Framework and Tools” directed by Prof. Magdalena Wojcieszak, University of California, Davis, University of Warsaw. The project aims to explore how social media users can be encouraged to use quality and verified political news and information to minimize polarization, misinformation, extremism, etc. In addition to focus groups and experimental research, the project includes computer and data science methods. Specifically, the project will entail the development of mock social media platforms for online experiments, the development of multilingual (and ideally multimodal) NLP models (LLMs, Language Models such as BERT, etc.) to identify quality news in four countries, and the development of open-source software extensions for three social media platforms. These software extensions will be implemented in experiments with large samples of social media users who will install these extensions to test the impact of incentive strategies on algorithmic recommendations and user information consumption. The project may also entail algorithmic audits of social media platforms using automated sock puppets and prompt engineering using LLMs (e.g., ChatGPT).

You will have the opportunity to shape the specific questions and designs, and to envision and implement innovative technological solutions to increase the external validity of these designs.

Requirements

Research Field

Computer science

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Communication sciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Political sciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Sociology

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Information science

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

The project entails analyzing information selection online and on social media, the impact of algorithms and user predispositions on information selection, and the impact of communication on political attitudes using computational methods and advanced quantitative analysis. 

You will:

co-design and program innovative online experiments combining random assignment, content selection and online behavioural data;

develop mock social media platforms for their adaptation in experimental settings

co-design and oversee online field experiment/s on social media platforms;

develop open source software extensions for social media platforms (for experimentation and on-platform behavior tracking);

use advanced statistical models to test hypotheses using large amounts of data; 

write papers to be submitted to high-impact international conferences and journals;

present findings in international high-impact conferences and academic gatherings.

Specific Requirements

Requirements: 

• a doctoral degree in computer and information sciences, social communication and media studies, political and administrative sciences, or sociology (or outside of these disciplines if it is an area related to the thematic scope of the project)
• proven expertise in NLP, LLMs, PyTorch, Huggingface Transformers API, BERT, scikit-learn.  
• experience implementing Machine Learning / Deep Learning Pipelines using Python;
• expertise in web scraping and automation (using Selenium, Puppeteer, OpenWPM, etc) for large-scale data collection
• experience with quantitative methods (e.g., advanced statistical analyses, data visualization); 
• experience working in Python (experience with R for data analysis a plus);
• good written and spoken English skills;
• interest in social science and computational social science (i.e., answering relevant social questions using computation skills);
• track-record of publications on international journals on at least some of the substantive and/or methodological areas of interest to the project;
• meeting the conditions set out in Art. 113 of the Act of 20 July 2018 - Law on Higher Education and Science ( Journal of Laws of 2022, item 574 as amended) and the Statute of the University of Warsaw (Resolution No. 443 of the Senate of the University of Warsaw, from 26 June 2019, Monitor item 190).

Additional assets:

• high communication and organisational skills,
• proactivity, reliability, and independence when conducting research;
• teamworking skills.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Research Field

Computer scienceCommunication sciencesPolitical sciencesSociologyInformation science

Years of Research Experience

1 - 4

Internal Application form(s) needed
OBM-NA-HEERC-1.2 EN.docx_.pdf
English
(256.99 KB - PDF)
Download
Additional Information
Benefits

The opportunity to be part of a high-impact ERC-funded research project that uses state-of-the art data and methods (i.e. online trace data and machine learning models) to address crucial societal issues. We also offer you the opportunity to present your work in top academic conferences, increase your professional network, and submit work to top academic journals and proceedings.

In addition, we offer:

• access to a wide range of training courses;
• access to infrastructure (office space, library, IT resources, sports infrastructure);
• work in an enthusiastic and international team with external collaborators in a research environment at one of the best universities in Central and Eastern Europe, with developed international cooperations;
• the opportunity to present your work at top conferences, increase your professional network and submit to top academic journals;
• the possibility of obtaining funds to conduct your own research;
• international research trips for field work and project meetings;
• some possibility to work remotely (to be arranged).

To work at the University of Warsaw is to work in a discerning, independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Warsaw and society.

Eligibility criteria

Requirements: 

• a doctoral degree in computer and information sciences, social communication and media studies, political and administrative sciences, or sociology (or outside of these disciplines if it is an area related to the thematic scope of the project)
• proven expertise in NLP, LLMs, PyTorch, Huggingface Transformers API, BERT, scikit-learn.  
• experience implementing Machine Learning / Deep Learning Pipelines using Python;
• expertise in web scraping and automation (using Selenium, Puppeteer, OpenWPM, etc) for large-scale data collection
• experience with quantitative methods (e.g., advanced statistical analyses, data visualization); 
• experience working in Python (experience with R for data analysis a plus);
• good written and spoken English skills;
• interest in social science and computational social science (i.e., answering relevant social questions using computation skills);
• track-record of publications on international journals on at least some of the substantive and/or methodological areas of interest to the project;
• meeting the conditions set out in Art. 113 of the Act of 20 July 2018 - Law on Higher Education and Science ( Journal of Laws of 2022, item 574 as amended) and the Statute of the University of Warsaw (Resolution No. 443 of the Senate of the University of Warsaw, from 26 June 2019, Monitor item 190).

Selection process

Apply by email to [email protected] with the title “OBM-NA-HEERC-1.2”.

Application - obligatory documents:

• a CV detailing the candidate's education and experience, the most important publications, an overview of previous activities and academic achievements (e.g., visits to conferences, courses, awards), data analysis skills, a link to your Google Scholar and GitHub profile.
• a cover letter presenting the candidate's profile, in accordance with the requirements stated in the announcement and the motivation to apply for the offered job,
• a scan of the document confirming the holding of a doctoral degree,
• a sample of scientific work in English (e.g., journal article, doctoral dissertation),
• a list of 3 individuals who could be consulted as references for the candidate (reference letters are not required),
• a statement in which the candidate signs a confirmation of having read and accepted the rules of conducting competitions, as set out in Ordinance No. 106 of the Rector of the University of Warsaw from 27 September 2019, on specifying the detailed rules and procedures for conducting a competition for the position of an academic teacher at the University of Warsaw,
• a signed declaration (scan) of consent to the processing of personal data, attached to this announcement.
• a signed and completed questionnaire for the applicant for employment (https://bsp.adm.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2020/07/Kwestionariusz-osobowy_kandydat_11_2019.docx)

Additional comments

The competition is the first stage of the recruitment procedure for the position of an academic teacher, as specified in the Statute of the University of Warsaw, and its positive outcome is the basis for further proceedings. 

The selection committee will perform a preliminary evaluation of applications prior to the full evaluation of applicants.  

After the initial evaluation of the submitted applications, selected candidates will be contacted for the interview.

The University of Warsaw reserves the right to close the competition without stating the reason.

Please direct your questions to [email protected] .

Website for additional job details

https://cess.idub.uw.edu.pl/en/kategoria/job-offers/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

University of Warsaw / Centre of Excellence in Social Sciences

Country

Poland

City

Warsaw

Postal Code

00-312

Street

Dobra 56/66

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

City

Warsaw

Website

https://cess.idub.uw.edu.pl/

Street

Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28

Postal Code

00-927

E-Mail

[email protected]
[email protected]

Phone

225524263

STATUS: EXPIRED