PhD or Postdoctoral position, Machine learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities, 60%

The Digital Humanities Lab at the University of Basel is looking for a research assistant (with a Master's or PhD) as of 1st February 2025 or by arrangement.

The Digital Humanities is an interdisciplinary institution at the University of Basel. Its task is to coordinate and promote research, teaching and infrastructure for questions of technological and digital worlds in the humanities and social sciences. It is also a central institution in Switzerland for the theory and practice of digital humanities and offers a master's degree and a doctorate in digital humanities. It has collaborative ties with several departments of the university, including (but not limited to) Departments of Arts, Media, and Philosophy, Languages and Literatures, History, Ancient Civilizations, Social Sciences, as well as the faculty of Psychology. There is a broad focus of research and teaching in the lab, including computational photography, media studies, science and technology studies, videogame studies, critical making and design, AI and society, computational social science, and psychology.

Your position

In addition to the academic qualification at the University of Basel, the assistant's tasks include participation in teaching (2 hours per week per semester), academic administration, and cooperation in the supervision of students and the scientific projects of the Digital Humanities Lab. Specifically, the candidate will be working closely with incoming Associate Professor Rosa Lavelle-Hill on projects that intersect social science topics and data science / machine learning methods.

Your profile

A master's degree or equivalent (licentiate, Magister Artium) and a doctorate (for the post-doc position) in either digital humanities, computer science or data science (with an interest in applications to the social sciences / digital humanities) or in a social science or humanities discipline (e.g., psychology, sociology, economics, cognitive science, political science, education science, media studies) where experience in data / computer science methods and coding can be demonstrated.

The ideal candidate will have an interest in methods at the intersection of data science and the social sciences (e.g., machine learning, eXplainable AI (XAI), inferential statistics), as well as an understanding of how digital data and technologies can be used to study human behavior. Experience in coding computational analyses (e.g., in Python, R) is also required.

Strong language and communication skills in English are a requirement. Additionally, a strong command of the German language is highly desirable.

We offer you

The PhD assistant position is initially for 1 year with a possible 3-year extension.

The postdoctoral assistant position is initially for 2 years, with the possibility of a 4-year extension after evaluation.

The University of Basel stands for excellence through diversity and is committed to equal opportunities and family friendliness. The employment conditions are based on the personnel and salary regulations of the University of Basel.

In addition to the academic qualification at the University of Basel, the assistant's tasks include participation in teaching (2 hours per week per semester), academic administration, and cooperation in the supervision of students and the scientific projects of the Digital Humanities Lab. Specifically, the candidate will be working closely with incoming Associate Professor Rosa Lavelle-Hill on projects that intersect social science topics and data science / machine learning methods.

Application / Contact  Further information on the Digital Humanities Lab can be found on our website : https : / / dhlab.philhist.unibas.ch / en / .If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Lavelle-Hill ( [email protected] ) or the DHLab administration team ( [email protected] ).We look forward to receiving your complete application by 15th January 2025 via the university's online application portal (see button below). Late applications and applications by other means will not be considered.