We are hiring!

The group on Computational Social Science (CSS) in Stuttgart is seeking applicants for two postdoctoral positions to start in January 2024 (latest April 2024). The position is up to 6 years. We offer a competitive salary (depending on the candidate’s prior experience, see below) and excellent research conditions (own budget for teaching assistants, travel, and experiments).

The CSS lab focuses on the intersection of social and computer sciences. Successful candidates may participate in ongoing projects, among those:

• analyzing social mechanisms in politics, media, science, and the economy,
• mining and organizing “new” types of data,
• developing innovative statistical methods

The University of Stuttgart is an interdisciplinary research university with great intellectual and technological possibilities in one of Europe’s most vibrant industrial regions. The lab on CSS collaborates with many of Stuttgart’s excellent institutes, for instance, the High-Performance Computing Center (HLRS), the Institute for Parallel and Distributed Systems (IPVS), and, in particular, the Institute for Natural Language Processing (IMS). Successful candidates would also have the opportunity to participate in ongoing collaborations with researchers from leading universities around the globe (Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, or Amsterdam).

The postdoc positions offer high-potential researchers an exceptional opportunity to conduct state-of-the-art research and sharpen their profile. Our work is published in leading outlets and funded by several national and international agencies. Hence, we have resources available that are dedicated to both postdocs exclusively, e.g., to hire your own teaching assistants, travel to conferences, conduct experiments, or buy specific equipment.

Furthermore, lab members may utilize unique data sources (e.g., political speeches, social and print media, patents, or scientific track records) or existing pipelines for annotations, simulations, or large language models. In addition, we have convenient access to high-performance computing. Stays abroad are also supported (e.g., via programs of Alexander-von-Humboldt or Fulbright).

• Both positions are TV-L13 (100%) according to the German federal wage agreement.
• Salary depends on prior experience. It usually starts for postdocs at level 4 (~63.000€/yr) and may reach up to level 6 (~79.000€/yr).
• The position is paid for from basic funds (no external grants), therefore it is available for up to 6 years.
• The position comes with teaching obligations of two undergrad classes per term (material is already available).
• The start date is as soon as possible, but latest April 2024.

Suitable candidates should have completed, or be near completion of, a PhD. Relevant disciplines include sociology, computational linguistics, computer science, political science, communication, and economics, among others. In particular, we seek candidates with experience in natural language processing, social network analysis, and/or machine learning. While we are open to a broad range of substantive topics, candidates focusing on mechanisms underlying innovation and creative performance (in science, business, organizations, etc.) or political communication would be ideal.

As an equal opportunity employer, the University of Stuttgart particularly encourages applications from women and persons with disabilities.

To apply, please send a short research proposal (0.5-1 page), a CV including publication record and teaching experiences, and one paper as a writing sample. Please send applications to lukas.erhard@sowi.uni-stuttgart.de. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.