Your functionYour research will be part of “WHAT-IF”, a European research project aimed at creating a ‘digital twin’ of the (social) media environment, in order to test possible interventions at the individual and/or societal level. The empirical core of the project is formed by a combination of individual level data donation of (social) media usage, which will be used to train and validate a LLM-based simulation. Then, this will be used to examine the role of misinformation and hate speech, among others, as well as develop solutions to counter the negative effects of these phenomena. The project also explicitly considers the legal and ethical considerations of datafying and simulating individual media usage. Your main role in the project will be assisting in the development of the methodology and software for running virtual field experiments using the WHAT-IF simulation. This involves turning the simulated interactions into an immersive and user-friendly interface that can be used to program and run the experiments. You will lead one of the experimental studies and collaborate on the others, answering questions on the role of media diets and its effects on democratic outcomes. Additionally, you can be involved in improving the data donation infrastructure, help with the development and validation of the simulation, and/or help with the panels in 4 countries to engage a strong citizen perspective in the entire research process. Together with your supervisors, you will plan this research, execute it, and publish it in leading international journals. Please feel free to email Wouter van Atteveldt ([email protected]) for more information on the project or to receive a summary of the project description. Your profile
What do we offer?A challenging position in a socially involved and highly interdisciplinary organization. The job profile is based on the university job ranking system and is vacant for 1 FTE. We offer you:
We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements, such as:
About usAbout the project Faculty of Social Sciences Are you interested in joining Social Sciences? That means working with a team of colleagues from different disciplines in an inspiring work and study climate. Enjoy working in a professional organisation with an informal atmosphere, where we give you space for personal development. FSS employs over 350 staff members and enrols around 3,000 students. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education. Diversity We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services. Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community. InterestedAre you interested in this position? Please apply via the application button. In your application include 1) your curriculum vitae, 2) the cover letter, 3) link to Github page or code 4) link to an experiment pre-registration. Applications are accepted until October 27, 2024 at midnight. The job interviews will take place online on November 14, 2024, when possible, please take this date into account when applying for the position. Preferred starting date is January 1, 2025. Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.
Questions about the vacancy?Please contact
Wouter van AtteveldtFull professor
+31 20 598 6854 (secretariat)Send an email
|