项目介绍

2025年4月29日

Maastricht University invites applications for a fully-funded PhD position to gather novel insights into how online platforms work and build more resilient digital infrastructures.

Job Description
Are you looking to have a real-world impact and shape how online platforms affect societies? We are looking for a motivated computer scientist to join us on an ambitious four-year research project across Maastricht (Netherlands), two universities in Switzerland, and the Open Data Institute – a non-profit organisation based in London.

Our research project is motivated by the fact that online platforms increasingly play a key role in our societies. This creates systemic risks to democracy, such as undermining freedom of information and online privacy. These risks are, however, merely symptoms of a root cause: the high concentration of control and data with dominant (online) platforms. Both computer science (CS) and legal scholarship (Law) have been developing countermeasures, but typically in disciplinary silos. In CS, researchers have tried to find workarounds for the lack of explicit research platform data access methods by combining available technical methods (e.g., data scraping, blackbox testing, network traffic analysis). However, those approaches face challenges, stemming from platform-imposed restrictions and limited legal support. In Law, the EU enacted the Digital Services Act (DSA) in late 2022 to enable vetted researchers to better access dominant online platforms. However, there is a significant risk that, without sufficient technical support and alignment, these promising legal mechanisms become moot in practice.

To overcome the challenge of having computational methods without (legal) teeth, or legal solutions that are not implementable or miss important technical aspects, there is a strong need for CS and Law to work closely together to develop a mutual understanding and integrated implementations of concepts, viewpoints and methods.  Thus, we are looking to hire an ambitious computer scientist to join an interdisciplinary team and overcome these issues.

Within your PhD you will contribute to two main objectives: 1) combine existing technical data access methods with novel legal approaches like the DSA and create new technical methods on this foundation, and to 2) advance current legally mandated platform data access methods and make them work in practice. Your research will be grounded in two use cases in the domains of social media and mobile applications. A small proportion of the appointment may be devoted to teaching activities, which commonly amount to teaching activities in eight weeks per year.

You will collaborate with researchers from different disciplines, including machine learning, human-computer interaction, and law. You will be part of an exciting, vibrant, and quickly growing community where researchers from different disciplines meet and form interdisciplinary teams that conduct academically and societally relevant research. You will be offered the opportunity to gain insights not only on applying computational techniques but also on law, regulation, and ethics. For this, you will be encouraged, coached, and allowed to attend courses, conferences, and workshops that will add social and legal knowledge to your skill set. PhD researchers participate in the Maastricht University Graduate School of Law.

Requirements

• MSc degree in Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning, Data Science, or equivalent. Interdisciplinary degrees are particularly welcome.
• Strong interest in working with other disciplines, and law in particular.
• Community-friendly team player.
• Excellent oral and written English communication.
• Optional: Experience with reverse engineering and/or large-scale data scraping.

What we offer
As a PhD candidate at Faculty of Law, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded according to UFO profile PhD, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €2901,00 in the first year and €3707,00 gross per month in the fourth year (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE. Upon a positive evaluation, an extension of 3 years will follow. 
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model. 
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students. 
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as ‘acknowledge and appreciate’. 
   

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.

Maastricht University
Why work at Maastricht University?

At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.

Click here for more information about UM. 

Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law at Maastricht University is a top-quality provider of challenging and rewarding Dutch and European legal education at bachelor’s, masters and PhD-level. A true pioneer in small-scale education and the teaching of legal skills for a broad range of future legal professionals.  
 

The clear research focus on European and international aspects of law and technology. On the empirical dimension of law provides both students and staff with a stimulating work environment. The faculty values its open and inclusive community, which contributes to creating a productive and pleasant place for work and study.  

The Faculty of Law offers a wide range of bachelor and master’s programs. Would you like to learn more about our programs? Visit our website for more information on the courses, career perspectives, and admission requirements of our programs.  

Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact Dr. Konrad Kollnig at konrad.kollnig@maastrichtuniversity.nl or +31 43 388 1835 for more information.

Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new PhD candidate? Apply now, no later than 25 May 2025, for this position.

Applications should include:

• a letter of motivation that gives an insight in your research interests;
• a curriculum vitae, showing your demonstrated programming experience;
• an academic transcript of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, including list of grades;
• a master thesis (if applicable) or another substantial piece of writing by the applicant.

The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.