Postdoctoral Fellowship Position on Educational Approaches to Misinformation

100%, Zurich, fixed-term

The Professorship for Research on Learning and Instruction at ETH Zurich strives to discover effective, evidence-based ways to improve educational practice with an eye toward generalizable principles across content areas and issues of societal relevance. The group is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to contribute to ongoing research on educational approaches to misinformation.

Project background

Misinformation has severe negative effects on personal decision-making and societal integrity. In today’s information environment, misinformation is rampant. Over the past years, the research group has investigated the effects of training that helps people recognize misleading data visualizations, thereby reducing their negative impact on information extraction (for example, see Ramly et al., 2021 ). The group now seeks to broaden these efforts to the broader landscape of misinformation, including text-based and multimedia sources of misinformation.

Job description

The postdoctoral position aims to develop educational interventions that reduce the negative impact of misinformation and test their effects through experiments that combine quantitative and qualitative methods. You are expected to develop your personal research agenda grounded in a thorough review of prior research. You will conduct and publish research on educational approaches to combatting misinformation and present findings at conferences. You can benefit from the group’s well-connected international research network and the inspiring context of ETH. Teaching courses for ETH’s teacher education program and engagement in co-mentoring lab members is expected. The start date is flexible. The position is initially offered for 2 years but can be extended.

Your profile

• You should hold a PhD in Educational Psychology, Learning Sciences, Cognitive Science, or a related field
• Prior experience in research on topics related to the position as well as a strong publication record are expected
• You should be highly motivated to conduct independent research in the fields of Learning and Instruction, Learning Sciences, Educational Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Educational Technologies
• You must be a highly committed, inherently curious individual who is excited to work with an interdisciplinary team and demonstrates a strong motivation to learn
• Excellent knowledge of spoken and written English is required; additionally, fluency in written and spoken German is preferred

Your workplace

Your workplace

We offer

• Excellent research infrastructure and supportive work conditions
• Support for developing your own research agenda and network
• Collaboration in a tight-knit, highly motivated research team
• High level of autonomy
• Inspiring academic environment

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We value diversity

In line with

our values

, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our

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Curious? So are we.

Please submit the following application documents using the ETH online portal in a single merged PDF document, titled with your last name and first name (for example SmithJohn_application) in the following order:

• Letter of motivation describing your qualifications and interest for the position
• Detailed CV with publication list
• Transcripts of all degrees (English or German)
• Names and contact information of three references
• 2-3 representative publications

We look forward to receiving your online application by March 31, 2024. We will consider applications as they come in until the positions are filled.

Please apply exclusively via the online application portal. Applications sent by e-mail or post will not be considered.

You can find more information about the Professorship of Research on Learning and Instruction and the research lab here . You can also contact Professor Dr. Martina Rau ([email protected] ) with questions about the position.

About ETH Zürich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.