The research group “Political Behavior and Digital Media” (Prof. Karsten Donnay) in the Department of Political Science at the University of Zurich (http://www.ipz.uzh.ch) invites applications for a Student Assistant / Hilfsassistent*in (20-30%) starting April 1, 2024 for a fixed duration of 9 months. Research in the group substantively focuses on the role of new digital media channels for political behavior. The group’s second main research interest is in the area of computational social science more broadly.
Responsibilities
The position mainly supports a study in collaboration with the team of Prof. Nils Weidmann (University of Konstanz) that uses large-scale text analysis to map how ethnic groups strategically communicate salient issues on social media. Data collection has already been concluded and the main responsibilities would be refining the data processing pipeline and then, after merger with contextual data on groups, analyzing group-level dynamics. The position requires a strong background in text-mining/ NLP as well as statistical methods.
Level of employment
20-30%
Qualifications
The position is ideal for MA students with strong quantitative skills and prior experience working with text data. More generally, the position is a starting point for all of those students, who would like to get hands-on experience in academic research projects.
Applicants for this position should meet the following requirements
- Completed BA in political science (or equivalent)
- Currently enrolled in a political science MA program
- Good overall study performance
- Excellent statistical skills and experience working with R/RStudio
- Strong prior knowledge of text-mining/ NLP approaches
- High degree of self-motivation and excellent work ethics
- Knowledge of Python is an asset
Language requirements
English
We offer
- Working in an interesting, cutting-edge project together with an interdisciplinary team of researchers
- First experience working in an academic research project
- A work space at the institute in the common pool of desks reserved for student assistants at the IPZ
Starting date
The starting date for the position is April 1, 2024.
Further information
If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit your application via the institute’s job portal. Please include your motivation letter, CV, proof of academic performance and a seminar / research paper or your BA thesis as a single PDF. The application can be found here: https://www.ipz.uzh.ch/de/ueber-uns/offene-stellen/2024-RA-Donnay.html
Closing date for applications
Review of applications will begin after March 3, 2024 and continue until the position is filled. Interviews will likely take place already in March (and can be done virtually, if need be).