Research Associate (Postdoc) (m/f/d) Information and Opinion Dynamics on Digital Platforms

The third-party funded position is part of the DIFIS-SOFO research consortium and embedded in a joint subproject between the Weizenbaum Institute, the ZeMKI at the University of Bremen, and the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS). The project focuses on digital discourses surrounding climate, energy, and societal transformation in platform publics, as well as their dynamics in the context of algorithmic recommendation systems and digital opinion formation.

The Team

The research group “Digital News Dynamics” investigates the role of digital platforms, algorithmic intermediaries, and data-driven communication in democratic publics.

Your Responsibilities

Independently design, conduct, and further develop platform analyses and discourse monitoring on climate, energy, and transformation discourses on digital platforms
Develop and expand an analytical infrastructure for platform data in the context of the Digital Services Act (DSA)
Collect, process, and analyze platform data (including TikTok, YouTube, X, Facebook) using APIs, scraping, NLP- and LLM-based methods
Plan and conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses of platform and media discourses
Develop analytical strategies to investigate platform dynamics, algorithmic visibility, and digital opinion formation processes
Publish scientific articles and present research findings at international conferences
Contribute to transfer and policy activities within the project and the DSA40 Collaboratory
Coordinate and supervise student research assistants
Contribute to the further development of research infrastructure and collaborative research processes within the project consortium

Your Profile

Completed university degree and PhD in communication and media studies, Computational Social Science, political science, sociology, data science, computer science, or a related field
Excellent knowledge of quantitative social science methods and computational data analysis
Experience in the analysis of digital platform data and/or automated content analysis
Good programming skills in Python and R
Initial experience with NLP-, API-, scraping-, or LLM-based methods
Interest in platform regulation, platform governance, and digital publics
Experience with scientific publications and independent academic research
Excellent English skills (written and spoken) and sufficient German skills for analyzing German-language discourses, or willingness to further develop existing German language skills for this purpose
High level of initiative, teamwork, and organizational skills

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Research Associate (Postdoc) (m/f/d) Information and Opinion Dynamics on Digital Platforms

Weizenbaum Institute

Hardenbergstraße 32, 10623 Berlin, Germany