项目介绍

2025年2月11日

As misinformation continues to threaten democratic functioning in a digital communication era, the call for effective mitigation strategies persists. One promising, strategy is citizen corrections, where ordinary citizens, rather than established authorities like fact-checkers, refute misinformation on social media. This has become especially relevant in the aftermath of large social media platforms opting out of fact-checking, and polarizing political actors refuting the potential of established content moderation. A concrete example is the Community Notes on X, and soon to come on Facebook, which enable users to add corrective information to posts. Citizen corrections may be a promising way to combat the threats of online misinformation but they remain relatively understudied and undertheorized. We are looking for a PhD candidate to join a new research project led by dr. Marina Tulin, dr. Michael Hameleers and Prof. dr. Guda van Noort, which aims to fill crucial gaps in our understanding of the role of citizens in the fight against misinformation. Over the course of a 4- year project, the PhD student will examine who participates in citizen corrections and how frequently (using large-scale secondary survey data), how these corrections are embedded in online environments (through qualitative content analysis), and to what extent citizen corrections effectively counter misinformation and its negative impacts (through experimental research).

What are you going to do

This PhD project takes a mixed-methods approach, complementing quantitative with qualitative research. Over the course of the project, you will conduct three interconnected studies on questions like: Who engages in citizen corrections, what do citizen corrections look like when they occur “in the wild”, and how effective are they?

As a PhD candidate, you manage the project, including scheduling meetings with the supervisory team, preparing agendas, and documenting meetings and research activities. You contribute to the Amsterdam School of Communication Research community by participating in workshops, meetings, and lectures. Most importantly, you are responsible for setting up the individual studies, recruiting participants, collecting and analyzing data, and writing scientific articles that culminate in your dissertation. As the project will have both scientific and societal impact, the insights obtained within this PhD project will be shared with stakeholders within and outside of academia. The PhD candidate is expected to contribute to such outreach activities. Specifically, your tasks will be to:

•          Complete an English-language PhD dissertation consisting of a minimum of three scientific articles within the appointment period;

•          Analyze secondary cross-country quantitative data on citizen corrections, conduct qualitative content analyses (and possibly expert interviews), and set up a series of experiments and quantitatively analyze the collected data;

•              Present scientific work at national and international conferences;

•              Support teaching activities at the Bachelor’s level (up to approximately 10% of your time);

•              Share research insights with stakeholders, like fact-checkers and misinformation experts

•          Contribute to the vibrant academic life at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research by attending workshops, meetings, and lectures.

What do you have to offer

You are passionate about political communication and empirical research, and creative in problem solving within these areas. You are able to successfully balance the demands of several tasks (e.g., combining research and teaching), while managing your own time effectively, and able to work independently while collaborating well within a team.

You have:

• Master’s degree in communication science, media studies, political science, or a closely-related social science discipline – or are expected to obtain it soon (a Research Master’s or strong research profile is a pre);
• a strong interest in topics associated with misinformation, disinformation, digital citizenship and persuasion;
• proven experience with quantitative research methods and analyses (survey analysis, experiments) and preferably also qualitative research methods (content analysis, interviews);
• excellent proficiency in English, both verbally and in writing;
• interest in open science principles, such as preregistrations, and a commitment to methodological rigor and scientific integrity.

What else do we offer you

• a position in which initiative and input are highly valued
• A position centered on your growth, with ample opportunities for scholarly and professional development, including the opportunity to take Dutch language courses;
• an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues
• the possibility to write a PhD dissertation on a both societal and academic “hot” topic
• an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.

The planned starting date for this project is between May and June 2025, in consultation September 2025 is possible. The position concerns a temporary employment of 38 hours for a maximum term of four years. The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 36 months, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum which also includes the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be tasked with teaching (Bachelor’s) students for approximately up to 10% of the contract. For this position the University Job Classification profile Promovendus applies.