"University Assistant (prae doc) - Vienna Doctoral College on Digital Humanism"

The newly established Vienna Doctoral College on Humanism invites applications from outstanding candidates eager to shape the future of this emerging interdisciplinary field. The Doctoral College is located across the TU Wien, University of Vienna, and WU Wien and its doctoral candidates tackle critical societal challenges arising from digital transformation.

Vienna Doctoral College on Digital Humanism

We are currently looking for PhD candidates for 5 different research topics. The position advertised here focuses on legal frameworks vs. technological realities. As digital technologies evolve at an unprecedented pace, legal and regulatory frameworks often struggle to keep up, creating tensions between promoting innovation, security demand, and safeguarding privacy and other fundamental rights. A key challenge lies in regulatory enforcement, which often faces structural limitations such as jurisdictional constraints, institutional capacity gaps, and the technical complexity of emerging technologies. Even the most thoughtfully designed privacy and security regulations often fall short due to weak enforcement mechanisms, inconsistent application, and insufficient penalties to ensure compliance. This interdisciplinary project seeks to address these challenges by exploring the dynamic relationship between legal frameworks, regulatory strategies, and technology development.

The successful candidate for this position will be employed by the University of Vienna and their research project will be supervised by an interdisciplinary supervisory team from the University of Vienna and TU Wien.

Your future tasks:

• Using comparative legal analysis, case studies, and other empirical research, you identify governance models that effectively balance security imperatives with privacy protections across different jurisdictions and technological contexts. You also propose practical enforcement strategies to bridge the gap between regulatory aspirations and real-world constraints and outcomes, offering innovative approaches to compliance monitoring in an era where traditional methods are increasingly inadequate.
• We expect you to conclude a doctoral thesis agreement within 12 months.
• You work on your dissertation and its completion.
• You hold courses and examinations independently and (co-)supervise students within the scope of the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.
• You take on administrative tasks in research and teaching.
• You become an active team member of the Vienna Doctoral College on Digital Humanism and the Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law, a subunit of the Faculty of Law.

This is part of your personality:

All candidates in the Vienna Doctoral College on Digital Humanism are expected to have the following qualifications as part of their profile:

• Strong interest in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of technology and society.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a research team in a collaborative environment.
• Proven ability to manage complex projects, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines.
• Excellent verbal communication skills for interdisciplinary collaboration and presenting research findings.
• Excellent English skills, both written and spoken.

In addition, the following specific requirements apply to the position advertised here:

• Relevant Master’s degree or Diploma in Law or a related subject that allows registration in a Law Faculty doctoral programme at the University of Vienna, for example in the doctoral programme Interdisciplinary Legal Studies.
• Desired: The ideal candidate will have a background that combines Law with Computer Science. Experience in programming, statistical analysis and legal research is a plus.
• Knowledge of OR interest in these areas: Knowledge of EU legal acts relating to digitalisation (GDPR, AI Act, DGA, DA, DMA, DSA, …), Interdisciplinary and mixed-methods research, Security, privacy, and data protection

What we offer:

The Doctoral College serves as a hub for Digital Humanism research, promoting a strong scholarly community in Vienna. Collaboration is supported by innovative strategies, including interdisciplinary supervision, shared working spaces, and regular seminars featuring international experts.

• Truly interdisciplinary work environment: Defined by an interdisciplinary faculty across three top universities, as well as doctoral projects that are supervised and conducted across disciplines and institutions.
• Further training & Coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. The Doctoral College will offer all candidates a bespoke doctoral training plan.
• Fair salary: The monthly gross salary is EUR 2,786.10 14 times/year for 30 hours/week (corresponding to 75% of a full position).
• Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an interdisciplinary and international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.
• Work-life balance: You have flexible working hours and the option to partly work from home (from an Austrian domicile) upon agreement.
• Good public transport connections: Your workplace is easily accessible by public transport.
• Equal opportunities for all: We welcome every new personality to the team!

The intended start date is November 2025. The employment duration is 4 years. Initially limited to 1.5 years, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 4 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration.

It is that easy to apply:

• With a letter of motivation, detailing previous research achievements, research goals, career plans, motivation for applying, and to what extent your profile covers the expectations of the research topic of the position. Important: If you are applying for more than one topic, please clearly specify all topics you apply for and include a preference ranking in your letter of motivation;
• With a complete CV, including a list of previous scientific expertise, awards, grants, stays abroad, attended lectures, attended summer schools, attended workshops, skills, and publications (if applicable);
• With an abstract in English of your MA/MSc thesis, BA/BSc thesis, or of a research project you were involved in;
• With a complete list of finalised studies and transcripts of all grades;
• With 1-2 names of academic references and their contact addresses (e.g., your Master’s thesis supervisor);
• With any other material you think is relevant;
• Via our job portal / Apply now - button.