PhD Scholarship Programme: Researcher in Computational Social Science

Job: Investigador/a
Department: Data Science & Big Data Analytics
Location: Barcelona (Spain)
Contract: Temporary
Working day: Full time
Sector: Engineering and automotive
Vacancies: 1
Discipline: R&D

EURECAT

Eurecat is the second Research & Technology Organisation in Spain and one of the largest applied research and technology transfer organisation in Southern

Europe. It brings together the experience of more than 800 professionals who generate an annual turnover of 69 million euros and provides services to more than 2,000 companies. Eurecat integrates advanced digital capabilities and experience in biotechnology, industry and sustainability and collaborates with industry in R+D+I activities and projects, offering advanced scientific and technological services and specialized knowledge to respond effectively to the technological needs of very different business sectors, accelerating innovation, reducing both risks and spendings on scientific and technological infrastructures. The technology center participates in more than 200 large national and international consortium projects of high strategic R&I, has 230 patents and 10 spin-offs. Eurecat has eleven centers in Catalonia and presence in Madrid, Malaga and Chile.

Job description

Eurecat Big Data and Data Science Unit develops and applies novel methods to analyse large amounts of data. Their research focuses on obtaining actionable knowledge from people’s digital interactions and content on the web and using this knowledge to efficiently support innovative applications. The computational social science research line is focused on understanding collective dynamics in socio-technical systems by applying artificial intelligence and complex systems sciences.

Eurecat Big Data and Datas Science Unit in partnership with Universitat de Barcelona are searching for a candidate with a strong willingness to develop his/her career as a researcher and to enroll in a computational science PhD Scholarship Programme in order to write a thesis.

The thesis will be focused on the studying of information spreading and the opinion dynamics in complex techno-social systems. In particular, the spreading of misinformation and false narratives, their relations with organic and inauthentic coordinated behaviour, and their effect on the emergence of polarized structures in online social media will be the main objectives of the research. To do this, both the developing and the study of epidemic-like formal and computational models and the construction and analysis of large datasets from online platforms with network science methods will be performed.

Functions and Responsibilities

Conduct innovative research in the field of computational social science and particularly in the study of information spreading and opinion dynamics. The main objective consists of developing tools for collecting, analysing and modelling social big data. Building models that characterise different social phenomena (e.g., polarization, hate speech, false narratives, etc.) and their social impacts
Collaborate with researchers coming from various disciplines such as cognitive and behavioural science, computer vision, journalism, citizen science, etc.
Provide R&D support to the other colleagues
Conducting the research, write drafts of scientific papers, and deliver a PhD thesis
Disseminating research results to various audiences

Requirements

Studies and Knowledge:

Holding a bachelor’s degree and a master in Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, Engineering or related disciplines.
The candidate should have excellent programming skills in Python, following good practices on reusable code, and software documentation
He/She should have previous knowledge on complex systems and artificial intelligence.

Soft Skills:

The person who will join the team should have time management skills.
He/She should be an organized person.
He/She should be able to work in a multidisciplinary team.
He/she should also be able to work in an autonomous way and communicate/document the results in a comprehensible and professional way
He/she should be self – motivated and passionate about the project and he/she should have strong sense of curiosity and experimentation.
A certain degree of mobility is expected due to PhD requirements (Conferences and Institutional visits)

Languages:

High oral and written communication skills in English
High oral and written communication skills in Catalan and/or Spanish are desirable

Job closed

Job: Investigador/a
Department: Data Science & Big Data Analytics
Location: Barcelona (Spain)
Contract: Temporary
Working day: Full time
Sector: Engineering and automotive
Vacancies: 1
Discipline: R&D

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