Post-Doctoral Researcher – Digital Democracy Center

The DDC stands for a socio-technical, interdisciplinary approach combining theory and methods from social sciences and computer science, to study the impact of digital technology and AI on media, politics, and democracy. One of the largest challenges in this area is that research and new solutions are developed in single disciplines, which neglect the fact that current challenges are technological and social, legal, and ethical in nature. Through its research DDC will bridge this gap.

Job description

We seek applications for the following projects (It is possible to apply for more than one project. If you wish to be considered for more than one project position, please see information under “Application” below)

I. Trust and News Authenticity
Many people find it hard to judge the quality of information online. This contributes to worries and a sense of feeling unsafe in the digital information ecology. Much attention thus far has gone towards flagging problematic (‘fake’) content and providing post-hoc fact checking. This project proposes a new approach: it develops a digital signature to be attached to journalistic content and a recognizable label for users to see if the content is authentic and verified. The project develops, tests, and provides a large scale test of the effectiveness of this system which can help to improve trust and a sense of safety in the online information environment. For the project we are looking for a candidate with a (computational) social science/ communication science background.

II. The Social Media News Consumer
How do news consumers navigate social media when it comes to news? What are mechanisms of selection and engagement? Or mechanisms of avoidance? Citizens’ news use on social media platforms has significant democratic implications. In this project we aim at understanding why people select and avoid certain news stories on social media, including the roles played by characteristics of the individual news consumer, the individual news items, and the context of the social media site. The project will mainly be based on experimental studies. A main part of the project will be co-testing and developing a mock social media platform for this purpose in close collaboration with a software developer. The successful candidate will work on an interdisciplinary project in the intersection of social science and computational science.

III. Buying you (or your data): legal challenges from a user perspective
Data buyers operate, among other things, by paying for code space to embed a script in a commercial service or commercial IoT device, such as a watch or a refrigerator. The script acts as a subscription to the user's data, by providing access to the respective metrics, which can then be resold to the highest bidder. The data sets are used for precise (micro-) targeting. This targeting can be commercial, but politically motivated.  This project will study the "user conditions" that allow subscriptions to user data, mainly in relation to IoT devices, including the extent to which subscription traps exist. Is the redistribution of your data to third parties a precondition for (fully) using the device? Are such terms of use at all compatible with data protection law and the fundamental right to privacy. What are the variations and commonalities in the applied terms of use, and how do the retail price of the service/IoT-device reflect the hidden "data price".  The successful candidate will work on an interdisciplinary project in the intersection of law and empirical social science.

IV. The AI newsroom
News media organisations are changing in response to processes of digitalization, new (audience) metrics, and AI. News organizations increasingly implement automated production tools, audience metrics and new ways of producing journalism based on AI. This poses challenges for existing practices and conventions in journalistic work. This project has two components: the first will study the effects of the implementation of AI, audience metrics and automated content generation on journalistic practices, routines and the organization of the journalistic production process. The second will focus on the development of automation and AI tools for journalistic practice. This will involve developing (prototype) an AI application which will subsequently be test in-house with partner news organisations. For the first project we are looking for a candidate with a social science/ communication science background.

V. The Evolution of AI-based Organizations
Organizations evolve over time in response to environmental demands, including new digital technologies and AI. How has the ecology of news media organizations developed over time? In what way has the digital transformation of society influenced the evolution of news organizations? Why do some news organizations thrive and adapt, while others do not? And how do the observed demographic changes in the population of news organizations relate to higher-level changes in the news-ecosystem? And in what ways do these developments imply changes in the quality of news provision in society To address these questions, this project will develop an organizational population ecology, as applied to news media organizations as a collection of competing and cooperating organizations. It will examine the life histories of the relevant population(s) of news media organizations, including their composition and diversity as well as their creation, change, and demise over time. The project is highly interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on state-of-the-art methods in demography, organizational adaptation and evolution as well as recent advances in psychology and law. While the project is general in principle, the focus is on Danish (European) news media organizations. For the project we look for a candidate interested in interdisciplinary work with a background in business, economics, or a related discipline, including (preferably) econometric skills.

Further information can be obtained from the Director of the Centre, Prof. dr. Claes de Vreese; email chv@sam.sdu.dk.

Application, salary, etc.

Appointment to the position requires a PhD or equivalent and will be in accordance with the salary agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

The position is temporary, for a period of 2 years with the possibility of extension.

Talented postdoc applicants might be elgible to apply for a DIAS asssitant professor fellow position or an assistant professorship (tenure track). There are separate applications, but it might be of interest to talented applicants.

Research will be predominant in the position. Contribution to the Centre activities is expectated. Teaching assignments can be agreed individually. Furthermore, other types of assignments (e.g., grants application support) may occur to a limited degree.

The University determines the distribution of the various assignments. The weighting of the different assignments may vary over time.

Upgrading of pedagogical qualifications is not a part of this position. Employment as Postdoc alone will thus not qualify to appointment as Associate Professor/Senior Researcher.

An application must include: