项目介绍

2025年3月5日

PhD Position: Interventions for Adolescents’ Susceptibility to Misinformation (1.0 FTE, 4 years)
Teenagers grow up deeply immersed in the digital world, relying on social media as a primary source of information. Given the widespread issue of misinformation online, this raises concerns about its impact on their beliefs, social norms, and (political) identity formation. We are seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic PhD candidate to investigate and reduce adolescents’ susceptibility to misinformation. This project involves designing innovative behavioral experiments and translating findings into novel interventions. These interventions will be co-created with adolescents and key societal stakeholders to ensure their relevance and effectiveness.

What you will do
You will work on a PhD project with strong practical implications for strengthening youth resilience to misinformation. If you are passionate about research with societal impact and enjoy engaging young people in science, we invite you to join our team in unraveling the complexities of online behavior and shaping a smarter, safer digital future for adolescents. For more details on the project, visit: https://tinyurl.com/4kuey6t5 

Your responsibilities include:

• Designing and conducting behavioral experiments to examine adolescents’ susceptibility to misinformation
• Developing interventions in collaboration with adolescents, schools, and societal stakeholders
• Recruiting participants and collecting data, including social media data (age range: 11–24 years)
• Performing advanced data analyses, including computational modeling of behavioral data
• Publishing research findings in international scientific journals, culminating in a PhD dissertation
• Presenting research at national and international conferences
• Supervising BSc and MSc thesis projects

This is a four-year position with a preferred starting date of July 1st 2025, and is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) grant awarded to Dr. Ili Ma (Leiden University). The supervisory team consists of Dr. Ili Ma (Leiden University), Dr. Anna van Duijvenvoorde (Leiden University), and Dr. Wouter van den Bos (University of Amsterdam). 

Where you will work 
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences consists of five institutes: Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Political Science, and Psychology. The faculty has approximately 7000 students and 1000 staff members. Within the institutes, not only education is provided but also groundbreaking research is conducted that pushes the boundaries of our understanding of human behaviour and societal structures. What makes our faculty unique is the diversity of research topics, the various styles of teaching, and the way professional support is organized; this provides you with the opportunity to explore and develop your interests and expertise. Visit our website for an impression: Welcome to the Leiden Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences – Leiden University.

Institute of Psychology
The Institute of Psychology educates new generations to contribute to the challenges of our society, now and in the future, based on leading behavioral scientific research and education. This is achieved through collaboration both within and outside our institute in the field of Psychology and related research areas, both fundamental and applied. The broad bachelor’s program and a wide variety of master’s specializations also contribute to this goal. Within the institute and the academic community, there is a committed and passionate atmosphere. The themes of Health and Well-being, Social-Cognitive-Affective Decision Making, Development and Learning, and Advanced Behavioral Research Methods guide research and education. The institute values conducting these activities in a safe and inclusive environment and provides space for new developments such as open science, recognition and appreciation, and interdisciplinarity, which are anchored in its strategy. With approximately 5,000 students and 600 staff members, the institute includes the Institute Office, the Department of Bachelor Education, and 6 units for education and research: Health, Medical and Neuropsychology, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology, and Methodology and Statistics. The PhD position is embedded in the Unit of Developmental and Educational Psychology.

What you bring

• A completed or upcoming (research) master’s degree in Developmental Psychology, Data Science, Methods & Statistics, Cognitive Science, or a related field
• Strong analytical, research, and organizational skills
• Experience with R and/or Python, as well as experiment programming
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• Proficiency in Dutch is highly preferred, as the role involves frequent interaction with youth
• Affinity for working with adolescents and young adults, and a strong interest in the research topic
• A collaborative mindset, openness to learning new skills, and willingness to share knowledge
• Enthusiasm for translating scientific findings into practical applications

If you immediately recognise yourself in this profile, or if do you not quite meet all the requirements, but you believe that this is the right job for you, we look forward to your application!

What we offer
Our goal is to work together to create a transparent and inclusive work environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated. Our organisation is always evolving and we need your ideas for improvement and innovation to take us further. We want to devote attention to your personal development. 

You can expect an enjoyable job within the socially relevant world of education and research. The University’s challenging and international work environment is located just steps away from Leiden’s lively city centre or the bustling city centre of The Hague. We also want to work with you to devote attention to your health and vitality, for example with the fun activities we organise through Healthy University.

We also offer:

• An employment contract for (38 hours per week) as a PhD candidate, initially for a period of 1 year, with the possibility of extension for 3 years after a positive evaluation. This contract falls under the CLA of Dutch Universities;
• A salary of a minimum of € 2,325 gross per month in the 1st year up to € 2,972 gross per month in the 4th year, based on a full-time appointment (38 hours) (scale P); 
• A holiday allowance (8%), an end-of-year bonus (8,3%), and an attractive pension scheme at ABP;
• Flexible working hours: as a standard, you are entitled to a minimum of 29 leave days on the basis of a full-time working week of 38 hours; you can also save for extra leave, for example by working 40 hours a week, and in this way accrue an extra 96 leave hours, or exchange 96 leave hours for a 36-hour week.
• Lots of options when it comes to secondary employment conditions; we can, for example, discuss options for a sabbatical or paid parental leave. Within our terms of employment individual choices model, you can exchange leave days and/or salary for benefits such as an advantageous sports subscription or bicycle scheme, and we also offer child-care options;
• If your work allows it, hybrid working is possible within the Netherlands;
• A home-working allowance (day and internet allowance) and attention for good workplaces. The University will also provide you with a laptop and a mobile telephone (if applicable for the position).

For more information about employment conditions, see https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/werken-bij/sollicitatieprocedure-en-arbeidsvoorwaarden 

What we find important
Promoting an inclusive community is central to Leiden University’s values and vision. Leiden University aims to be an inclusive community in which all students and staff members feel valued and respected, and are able to develop to their full potential. Diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High-quality education and research means inclusive education and research.

Want to apply or find out more?
If you want to apply straight away, click the application button.

If you would like more information about what the job entails, please contact Dr. Ili Ma: i.ma@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

You can apply until April 1st 2025; applications will be processed immediately.

To help us get to know each other better, we follow a number of steps in the application procedure. For more information, see https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/werken-bij/sollicitatieprocedure-en-arbeidsvoorwaarden

• We believe mobility is very important. That is why we are also publishing this vacancy internally. In case of equal suitability, we will give priority to the internal candidate.
• A pre-employment screening (references, diplomas, certificate of good conduct (VOG)) may be part of the selection procedure. 
• Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated. If you nevertheless choose to send us CVs, no rights can be derived from this. #LI-Hybrid