Doctoral Researcher in Computational Social Science (CSS - 114)

GESIS – Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences is an internationally active research institute, funded by federal and state governments and member of the Leibniz Association.

Starting on January 15, 2026  our Department Computational Social Science (CSS), Team Designed Digital Data located in Cologne, is looking for a

Doctoral Researcher in Computational Social Science 

(Salary group 13 TV-L, working time 75 %, limited for 3 years)

The department Computational Social Science (CSS) collects digital behavioral data and provides computer-based methods for collecting and analyzing such data for social science research. It also supports scientists with the integration of digital behavioral data into their research designs. The department's research focuses on the quality of digital behavioral data, the development and validation of computational social science methods and the transformation of digital societies.

The position is part of the DFG-funded project “Understanding the Societal and Scientific Challenge of Digital News Audience Fragmentation”, which is conducted in collaboration with the University of Hamburg and comprises doctoral researcher positions across both locations. The project aims to advance the theoretical and empirical understanding of audience fragmentation in digital news use by combining innovations in web tracking, panel surveys, content analysis and network analysis. The advertised position focuses on linking digital behavioral and survey data with content-related structures. It offers the rare opportunity to work with large-scale digital behavioral and content data in a theoretically grounded and societally impactful research context — ideal for candidates interested in high-impact publications and long-term academic careers in fields like political communication, media research, or computational social science.

Your tasks will be:

• Conducting research at the intersection of user behavior and content structures in the context of digital news use, fragmentation and related phenomena such as polarization or echo chambers
• Developing and applying computational methods to extract, classify and integrate content-related features (e.g., from HTML, URLs, metadata) with digital behavioral data (from web tracking)
• Analyzing patterns, drivers and potential effects of news exposure across content, platforms and time (e.g., navigation paths, topical clusters, mapping of digital intermediaries)
• Supporting and linking workflows of the content analyses conducted in Hamburg with network analyses carried out by GESIS in Cologne 
• Presenting and publishing research findings in collaboration with the principal investigators and writing a doctoral thesis in the thematic area

Your profile:

• Master’s degree in Computational Social Science, Political Science, Communication Science, Sociology or Computer/Data Science
• Experience in analyzing digital behavioral data and linking it with content-related information –  preferably based on web tracking, social media or digital trace data
• Experience with web-based data structures (e.g., HTML, URLs) and corresponding analytical methods (e.g., scraping, parsing, annotation)
• Strong programming skills in R and/or Python; ideally with experience in developing data workflows for extracting, transforming, and storing web-based data (e.g., via scraping, APIs, or HTML snapshot processing)
• Excellent English language skills in speaking and writing; knowledge of German is a plus

Our Benefits:

• An international and interdisciplinary working environment that will support you in developing your own research profile 
• Integration into a well-funded, internationally visible DFG project, including close interactions with leading teams in Cologne and Hamburg, connections to a broad network of international collaboration partners across Europe and the US as well as the opportunity to write a doctoral thesis using hands-on access to unique, innovative data
• We support you in your doctoral studies with our Doctoral Program and further training measures
• Promotion of your research activities through stays at renowned partner institutions and the opportunity to participate in international conferences
• Flexible working hours and regulations for mobile working
• Very good conditions for reconciling work and family life, e.g. subsidies for childcare for children who have not yet attained the age of compulsory schooling
• Holistic company health management and discounted participation in the university's sports programme 
• Generous support for your pension provision as a direct insurance policy

Contact

For further information concerning the tasks please contact Dr. Frank Mangold via E-Mail (frank.mangold@gesis.org). If you have questions about the application process, please contact Franca Tosetti via E-Mail (franca.tosetti@gesis.org).

Interested?

Please apply via our Online-application portal until 20.11.2025.
Our reference number is: CSS-114