University assistant predoctoral at the Department of Communication

University assistant predoctoral at the Department of Communication

49 Faculty of Social Sciences

Startdate: 01.08.2026 | Working hours: 30 | Collective bargaining agreement: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc)

Limited until: 31.07.2030

Reference no.: 5698

Your personal sphere of influence:

As a predoctoral university assistant, you will join the research team of Univ.-Prof. Desirée Schmuck in the area of Media Change and Media Innovation. You will work in the Vienna Media Change and Innovation (VMCI) Lab, which is based at the Department of Communication, a subunit of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The research area focuses on media use and effects among children and adolescents, political engagement in digital media environments, media change and intergroup relations, the self-determined use of media innovations such as artificial intelligence, and many other exciting topics related to the evolving media environment.

Your future tasks:

• You contribute to research projects and scientific studies in the field of media change and media innovation, while further developing your own research interests.
• You work on your dissertation and its completion in the area of media change and media innovation.
• You publish in scientific journals and present your findings at relevant (international) conferences.
• You contribute to project proposals and the acquisition of third-party funding.
• You participate in the organization of conferences and symposia.
• You teach courses independently within the scope of the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement and contribute to student supervision.
• You take on administrative tasks in research and teaching.

This is part of your personality:

• Strong interest in theoretically and empirically researching topics in communication science
• Completed Master/Magister degree in Communication Science, Psychology, Political Science, or Sociology
• Very good knowledge of quantitative, qualitative and computational social science research methods, in particular experiments, (automated) content analysis, surveys, and interviews
• Very good knowledge of statistical data analysis
• Very good skills in using data analysis software, in particular R
• Didactic competencies
• Excellent English skills, both written and spoken (C1)
• Team player with strong social and communication skills
• Flexibility and commitment