Vacant job

Description

The Department of Geography, Media and Communication announces a PhD position in Media and Communication Studies.

The department consists of Media and Communication Studies as well as Cultural Geography and Tourism Studies. The department is responsible for undergraduate education within several educational programs as well as programs at advanced level. Media and Communication Studies is part of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and constitutes an attractive educational and research environment. Cross-border contacts and global perspectives are self-evident in our work. Undergraduate education is primarily conducted within two major educational programs, Communication & PR and Media and Communication. The latter includes two tracks: Visual Communication and Design, and Digital Media and Analysis.

Research in Media and Communication Studies is conducted within two prominent research groups within the department: the research center Geomedia http://www.kau.se/geomedia/ (http://www.kau.se/geomedia/) and the research environment NODE (The Ander Centre for Research on News and Opinion in the Digital Era) http://www.kau.se/node/ (http://www.kau.se/node/). The announced PhD position is linked to the research project Beyond Fact-Checking: Detecting Frames and Disinformation in News and Social Media Content with Computational Methods, which is itself connected to the NODE research center. The dissertation project has an interdisciplinary focus and aims to apply advanced methods for digital (computational) text analysis to detect frames and opinions in political texts. It also has a comparative perspective, meaning that texts in different languages are treated (English, Swedish, German, etc.).

NODE's research areas include journalism, opinion formation, and media in a broad sense. We are particularly interested in what happens to news dissemination and opinion formation in a time of profound digitalization and increased influence from social media platforms in political communication. We are also interested in political discourse and audience perspectives. Within the framework of the research project to which the PhD position is linked, so-called computational methods play a crucial role. The successful applicant is therefore expected to work with these methods.

Researchers at NODE and Geomedia regularly publish in international scientific journals and are successful in obtaining external research funding.

More information about the university can be found at www.kau.se (http://www.kau.se) and more information about the subject can be found at http://www.kau.se/media (http://www.kau.se/media).

Responsibilities

As a PhD student, you will primarily focus on your own doctoral education. The doctoral education, which consists of 240 higher education credits for a doctoral degree and 120 higher education credits for a licentiate degree, is an opportunity for studies with salary combined with work and a chance to start an academic career. As a PhD student, you work independently and are prepared to contribute in various ways to the subject's and department's work and development.

You will have the opportunity to deepen your interest areas together with others. It may, by agreement, be relevant to participate in teaching and administration, so-called departmental service. Such work can comprise a maximum of 20% of full working time. The work as a PhD student gives you great freedom to plan and structure your day yourself, which requires commitment, drive, and the ability to organize your work to successfully complete a dissertation. To contribute to a good working environment and support both the organization's and your own development as a researcher, you are present and actively participate in the daily work and community.

The PhD position is linked to NODE's research program Beyond Fact-Checking: Detecting Frames and Disinformation in News and Social Media Content with Computational Methods funded by the Anne-Marie and Gustaf Ander Foundation for Media Research. As a PhD student linked to the program, you are expected to conduct an independent dissertation project relevant to the program's focus and questions.

Eligibility

To be admitted to the doctoral education, you must meet both general and specific eligibility requirements (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 7 § 35).

General eligibility is held by those who have obtained a master's degree, completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at advanced level, or who have otherwise acquired largely equivalent knowledge within or outside the country (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 7 § 39).

Specific eligibility is held by those who have completed courses of at least 90 higher education credits in Media and Communication Studies or related subjects (e.g., computer science, journalism, etc.) corresponding to basic course, advanced course, and specialization course. Those who have otherwise acquired largely equivalent knowledge within or outside the country are also eligible.

Admission and Assessment Criteria

To be admitted to the doctoral education, you must be assessed to have the ability to benefit from the education (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 7 § 35). Admission is based on individual assessment.

Great importance is placed on the applicant's interest in issues of political communication in the digital era, and the applicant's knowledge of computational methods in Media and Communication Studies, particularly digital/computational text analysis.

Great importance is placed on the applicant's previous study results with an emphasis on the quality of the independent written works of a research and investigation nature that have been part of the education, especially at the advanced level.

Great importance is placed on the quality and originality of the applicant's proposed dissertation project; and on how well the applicant's research direction fits into the research project. Read more about the research project at https://www.kau.se/media/node (https://www.kau.se/media/node).

Great importance is also placed on the quality of the applicant's potential scientific publications (e.g., articles in scientific journals, scientific reports, conference papers).

Importance is placed on the applicant's familiarity with (or interest in learning) programming languages such as R and Python used within this research area.

Importance is also placed on the applicant's intention to be present and participate in the subject's research environment.

Importance will be placed on the applicant's language skills, particularly proficiency in English, Swedish, and/or German.