Postdoctoral Position in Digital Social Sciences and Humanities

About us

The University of Oldenburg is receiving €22.5 million from the Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) and the Volkswagen Foundation from the “Strategic Development of Potential” funding line to sharpen its profile and strengthen its national and international competitiveness through the project "A Programme for Excellence. Developing Strengths and Building Potentials by Interdisciplinary and International Networking". Among other things, this is to be achieved through consistent networking across national and international borders, the promotion of students and scientists in early career phases and the strengthening of interdisciplinary research priorities in socially relevant and innovative areas. 

One component of the project is the strategic development of Digital Social Sciences and Humanities (DSSH), with the aim of permanently establishing the University as an internationally visible centre for digital innovation in the humanities and social sciences. Further information is available here: https://uol.de/dssh. The position advertised here forms part of this strategy. It is initially fixed-term until 30 September 2030 and is one of several positions currently being advertised (see the homepage mentioned above).

Your tasks

This position is intended for researchers with the following traits and experience:

• independent research in the field of DSSH;
• enthusiasm for developing structures that span institutes and schools;
• interest in interdisciplinary work;
• experience in acquiring external research funding.

This is an outstanding opportunity to help lay the foundations for a new academic profile—one that brings together the social sciences, educational sciences, humanities and data science, particularly at a time of disruptive developments in artificial intelligence, and that has a lasting impact on research, teaching and the knowledge society more broadly. The position is one of several new posts that will contribute to the development of an internationally visible DSSH profile and the structures required to support it in Oldenburg.

A shared vision - the core of the initiative

• Establishing a sustainable and internationally recognised DSSH research focus and the associated research infrastructure;
• contributing to the establishment of a DSSH Lab as a vibrant and dynamic research and teaching centre for the development and testing of computational methods within individual academic disciplines and across disciplinary boundaries;
• contributing to the development of a shared, forward-looking curriculum that is attractive to students from School I (Educational and Social Sciences), School III (Linguistics and Cultural Studies), School IV (Humanities and Social Sciences), and the Department of Computing Science, and that also prepares students for careers outside academic research, particularly in public institutions, the cultural heritage sector, the digital industries and the education system;
• contributing to the integration of digital research skills into future teacher education.

This position will take a lead coordinating role in the field of Computational Social Science. Its thematic focus will be on research and development tasks in the social and educational sciences, while also serving as a bridge to research on other social and political phenomena in dialogue with the relevant professorships across the three schools. You will share responsibility for methodological development within the DSSH initiative and will contribute to establishing the digital infrastructure together with the relevant postdoctoral researchers and professors from the three schools. In addition to the activities listed above, your responsibilities will include:

• developing an innovative research project of your own in the field of DSSH methods, with a disciplinary basis in sociology, political science, communication studies, educational science, special education or educational psychology (as German habilitation project or equivalent);
• contributing to the development of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research questions at the intersection of the humanities, social sciences, education and data science, preferably in the field of participation and the related reflexive digital transformation;
• contributing to the development of a collaborative DSSH third-party funding proposal together with the relevant professors from the schools and other institutions, targeting major funding bodies (German Research Foundation, Horizon Europe, Volkswagen Foundation, etc.);
• providing research-related services;
• organising and conducting workshops and teaching courses on DSSH methods;
• contributing to the development of a DSSH study programme that can be combined with other studies as a minor subject or as a certificate programme that is attractive to students in the humanities, educational sciences, social sciences, cultural studies, computing science and teacher education;
• assisting in the development of DSSH modules, for example a module integrating digital research skills into future teacher education.

Your profile

Essential requirements

• A university degree (Diploma or Master’s degree) in the social sciences, communication studies, educational science, special education, educational psychology, applied cultural studies or a comparable subject, or a completed university-level teacher education degree (Staatsexamen or Master of Education);
• a completed doctorate in one of the fields listed above or in a comparable subject;
• publications in Computational Social Science, Digital Social Science, Digital Humanities or related fields;
• expertise in computational text, image or language analysis using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), large language models (LLMs), reverse engineering or big data to investigate political, social or educational phenomena.

Desirable qualifications

• International publications in peer-reviewed journals;
• experience in interdisciplinary collaboration;
• experience in acquiring external research funding;
• experience in designing innovative, interdisciplinary curricula that are both academically rigorous and relevant to professional practice.

We offer

Through this and related new positions, the University of Oldenburg is strategically developing an innovative profile in the humanities and social sciences. This is your opportunity to:

• Shape the future of the humanities and social sciences in the digital age.
• Develop an internationally competitive degree programme that prepares students for research, innovation and leadership roles.
• Establish a DSSH Lab that can serve as a model for others.

Our standards

The University of Oldenburg is dedicated to increase the percentage of female employees in the field of science. Therefore, female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. In accordance to § 21 Section 3 NHG, female candidates with equal qualifications will be preferentially considered. Applicants with disabilities will be given preference in case of equal qualification.

Further information

Candidates are expected to pursue their own further academic qualification (German habilitation or equivalent), within the framework of the project. Candidates invited for an interview will be asked, following the invitation, to submit a research and teaching concept in the field of DSSH in line with this job advertisement. Further details will be provided to the selected candidates. Please do not submit a concept as part of your initial application.

The position may include the option of an extension for an additional year.

The intended starting date is 1 November 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Contact

For questions concerning the position, please contact the Managing Director of School I, Sabrina Biondi ().