Offer Description
We are seeking to recruit a researcher for the development of the SIMODS project of the AID4SO research group of the IN3 of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.
The Code of Practice on Disinformation includes a provision for a measure of its effectiveness over time through Structural Indicators (SIs), to ensure that it meets its objective of fighting misinformation.
Early implementations of the SIs have shown that devising and implementing fit-for-purpose indicators is not a straightforward task.
Ultimately, these SIs will need to cover all major platforms and all Member States, be tracked over time, and offer a statistically significant measure of the state of play on multiple aspects of the d/misinformation phenomenon, all the while remaining methodologically sound and not be overly resource-intensive to measure.
As an applied research project, ours will strive to develop and implement a practical-yet-methodologically-rigorous measure for 4 of the dimensions identified in EDMO's second report on SIs.
We will cover 6 social media platforms (VLOP signatories of the Code + Twitter/X) in 4 EU languages (French, Polish, Slovak, and Spanish).
We aim to produce the most comprehensive and rigorous measure of SIs to date.
We expect our project's findings to be critically useful to inform the EU-wide debate on what works, what doesn't, and how to overcome hurdles encountered along the way.
As scientists and fact-checkers, methodological rigour will be at the heart of our approach.
Particular attention will be paid to the proper measure of the statistical uncertainty of each indicator published.
We will prioritize four areas highlighted by EDMO's report:
Prevalence of d/misinformation (i.e.
the proportion of content related to topics of critical public interest that contains d/misinformation).Sources of d/misinformation (i.e.
how popular is content from repeat sources of d/misinformation compared to high-credibility sources?
Is there, at the actor level, a 'misinformation premium' in terms of content popularity?
).Ad placement and, where possible, monetization (e.g.
percentage of frequent purveyors of d/misinformation that are being monetized by major ad actors, percentage of content rated as containing d/misinformation that shows ads).Cross-platform aspects of disinformation (i.e.
measuring the audience of content shared by the actors identified in point 2 across platforms).Our consortium will leverage three kinds of expertise:
Scientific research design and implementation.
Many consortium members, including Dr. Kaltenbrunner's team at UOC's AID4So, have an extensive record of scientific investigation into large-scale social media dynamics.
The project's coordinator, Dr. Vincent, has published multiple peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals on misinformation.Fact-checking, to evaluate whether the content contains d/misinformation and to devise lists of low- and high-credibility accounts.
All fact-checking consortium members are IFCN or EFCSN certified.Data collection capacities.
Consortium member CheckFirst offers Europe's leading independent social media data collection capacities.Responsibilities:
Develop and implement a methodology to estimate confidence intervals on the share of misinformation consumed online on different social media platforms.Other consortium partners will proportionate annotated content by fact-checkers which will also include popularity indicators like shares, likes, views, etc.The developed measure should take into account:
The distribution of the underlying data.Relevant information as to element-level labeling uncertainty (e.g.
using inter-annotator agreement measures for content annotation).Sample size.Appropriate statistical tests (when applicable).Comparison with randomized naive baselines.The successful candidate will be awarded a temporary contract of approximately one year at 50% of full-time, starting in February 2025.
The work post will be located at 22@, Rbla.
Del Poblenou, 154, in Barcelona.
We work with an open work model that combines teleworking with onsite work, depending on organisational needs and the nature of the tasks.
About the UOC:
The UOC is a pioneering university with expertise in the field of e-learning.
It delivers lifelong learning and focuses its research and innovation on interactions between technology and human and social sciences.
It is a global and digital native university, with a mandate for public service.
In its goal to attract and work with the best talent, the UOC does all it can to ensure equal opportunities, recruiting without taking into account candidates' gender, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or any other physical, personal or social aspects other than their merits and abilities.
The UOC's recruitment and selection processes are based on the principles of Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment (OTM-R).
Requirements:
Research Field: Computer science, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field.
Education Level: PhD or equivalent.
Specific Requirements:
PhD degree in Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, Data Science or a related field.3 years of research experience.Advanced knowledge of applied statistics.Data processing of social network data.Good writing skills.Good team working skills.Advanced knowledge of Python coding.Fluency in English.Additional Information:
Benefits: 24 working days of holidays + 9 days of conciliation per year, flexibility in working hours, eWork.
Selection process: In order to participate in the selection process, you must register as a candidate in the Join our team section of the portal and, once registered, and within the application section, submit the application form in the appropriate profile.
Additional comments: We also value:
PhD in Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, Data Science or related field with extensive research experience.Relevant publications in the field.Previous experience in disinformation analysis.Experience in the elaboration of research proposals.Fluency in Catalan, Castle, French and/or Polish.This contract is part of the project 'Structural Indicators for the Scientific Monitoring of Online Disinformation (SIMODS)', funded by the European Media and Information Fund.
Website for additional job details.
Work Location(s): Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
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