PhD Position in Social Data Science

Are you eager to pursue a PhD in social data science, and skilled at working with large, complex datasets and investigating illicit online marketplaces? Then join our research team!

PhD Position in Social Data Science

Your function

This fully funded four-year PhD position is part of the Vidi project “The economy of digital influence operations”, led by Associate Professor Jon Roozenbeek. The project investigates the market infrastructure that supports disinformation and influence operations in digital environments. Through a series of studies, you will map out the “online manipulation economy” where fake accounts, engagement, and even sophisticated bot armies are readily for sale. You will examine who the buyers and sellers are within this marketplace, conduct interviews with key players to understand their motivations, and build bespoke analysis pipelines of social media and financial data to understand the downstream consequences of the buying and selling of these services.

The PhD will be supervised by Associate Professor Jon Roozenbeek, who directs the Influence and Technology Lab at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the University of Cambridge, along with Associate Professor Ivar Vermeulen (VU Amsterdam).

As a PhD candidate, you will complete a cumulative dissertation within four years at one of the world’s leading Communication Science departments in Amsterdam. You will also have close links with Cambridge, where Dr Roozenbeek’s lab is partially based.

Working closely with your supervisory team, you will plan and execute empirical studies as envisioned in the project. You will design experiments, collect and analyse quantitative data, including social media data and qualitative interviews, and publish your findings in top international journals, conference proceedings, and publicly accessible brief reports. You will also be responsible for building and maintaining public-facing outputs such as the Cambridge Online Trust and Safety Index.

You bring a strong foundation in experimental research within data science, quantitative psychology, or (behavioural) economics, and have experience with quantitative data analysis and scientific writing. Throughout the project, you will further advance these skills and refine your ability to report research according to international standards and open-science principles. All data and materials will be made reproducible and publicly available.

As a member of our vibrant, internationally renowned department, you will broaden your professional network and develop collaborations with scholars in related fields. As a PhD candidate, you will also take part in the Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS), which offers a wide range of courses for your further academic development.

Your profile

We are looking for a PhD candidate who:

• holds a completed (research) master’s degree in (Social) Data Science, Communication Science, Psychology, or Economics; excellent grades, particularly for final-year dissertations, are preferred.
• is deeply interested in understanding how information spreads in online environments, and the market infrastructures that enable the proliferation of inauthentic content such as bots.
• has strong skills in designing and conducting quantitative empirical research, and is comfortable with advanced statistical analyses, including time series analysis; experience with Python and R is essential.
• possesses excellent academic writing skills in English. Knowledge of Russian and/or Mandarin is a plus.
• is sociable, open-minded, friendly, and communicative with colleagues, including other PhD students; is autonomous and responsible, taking ownership of research studies; and is diligent and conscientious in advancing research and publications. The ability to work independently is particularly essential for this position, as Dr Roozenbeek spends parts of the year in Cambridge, which limits how many in-person meetings can be organised. Virtual meetings are, of course, an option.
• can collaborate effectively across disciplines and communicate clearly, both orally and in writing.

What do we offer?

We offer a rewarding, field-advancing PhD position within a vibrant, ambitious, and socially engaged department, home to internationally renowned communication science, media psychology, and computational social science scholars. Moreover, you will join the Influence and Technology Lab at Cambridge and VU Amsterdam, a friendly and collaborative environment with a strong track record of producing world-leading research.

At VU, you are embedded in an interdisciplinary environment that fosters substantial academic as well as professional development.

We offer:

• An employment contract of initially 1 year. After a satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, based on a portfolio including academic products as defined by the GSSS, the PhD contract will be extended for a total duration of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• Contribution to commuting expenses
• Optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
• A wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge.

About us

The Influence and Technology Lab

The Influence and Technology Lab seeks to answer questions about why people believe some things but not others, why they share information about themselves and the groups they belong to or dislike, the effects of propaganda during wartime, how communication technologies shape how people feel, think, and behave, what makes interventions to address policy challenges effective, and how these phenomena can be measured.

To do so, the lab relies on advanced methods in the social and computational sciences, building on methodological and theoretical frameworks from computer science, psychology, and area studies. The lab has a strong cross-cultural focus, collecting data and conducting experiments in many countries around the world and combining methodological rigour with an in-depth understanding of the societies under study.

The ITLab sits between the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology and the Department of Communication Science at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is headed by Associate Professor Jon Roozenbeek. This position is advertised via the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and the successful candidate will work primarily from here.