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Announcing 2 postdoc positions (up to 5 yrs) on ERC-funded project to develop network theory of attitudes (www.ul.ie/dafinet).
This will be exciting for people with interest in social identity, networks & computational social science!
This interdisciplinary project is developing a theory for understanding attitudes, how attitudes and groups co-constitute each-other in networks, and how group identity both structures and is structured by attitude transmission in networks.
One outcome will be better understanding of opinion dynamics, but we’re aiming for something bigger: a new paradigm for understanding attitudes as a means of producing social identity and collective action -- a *functional* rather than *informational* theory of attitudes.
The first post is for someone in social sciences with interest in social identity. Will run experiments in networks to discover how people use attitudes to form/defend groups, and how processes vulnerable to bot influence. Search Job ID 030409 at http://www.ul.ie/hrvacancies
The second post is for someone with interest in computational social science, network science, social media research or similar to develop agent-based models of opinion-based groups in multilayer/multimode networks. For info search Job ID 030408 at http://www.ul.ie/hrvacancies
These positions are structured as 5-YEAR contracts to provide best possible conditions for synergy in the project. At the same time, we understand that postdocs usually want to get into secure permanent employment as soon as possible, and we see it as our job to facilitate this.
So while positions are secure for up to 5 years, we will encourage candidates to transition into higher-level positions as soon as opportunities arise for them. The long maximum duration is to provide job security while ECR’s establish their careers, not to hold them back!
The UL psychology department has a strong social identity focus & we're working with MACSI (Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry) supported by Lero – The Irish Software Research Centre
Most people have not heard of Limerick, the 3rd largest city in Ireland. It’s a city of about 100,000 people on the river Shannon in West Ireland. It’s about 2 hrs from Dublin or Cork and 1 from Galway – ideal for exploring Ireland.
The campus itself is spectacular, spanning the river Shannon. Working here you are both close to the (small) city and also in the heart of the countryside. We’ll be happy to show you around if you want to visit!
Note that you do not have to be an Irish or EU citizen to apply: most often the University is able to negotiate work permits for accepted candidates. See https://www.ul.ie/hr for more information on this.
Interviews can be by Skype/Videoconference, so don’t let distance put you off.
This project is funded by an ERC grant, so will be well resourced. While we need to achieve the goals of the project, we also want to make sure that ECR’s can develop their independence and we will support them in this as far as possible.
The deadline for applications is 12 Noon Sharp Irish Time on 1 Feb. This is very strict, so please be aware of timezones etc (Ireland is out of sync with most of Europe).
Please be in touch for more information. Happy to email, DM (@quayle), chat on Skype etc. Hopefully, this will be an opportunity to meet lots of ECRs with these research interests!