PRR Project

Summary

Rationale for the ICS-ULisboa Strategic Planning: Computational Social Science (CSS) is an interdisciplinary field that employs data analysis, machine learning, and simulations to interpret the immense amount of material generated by digital technologies. It allows researchers to use digital data — text, images, sounds— to gain insight into complex phenomena such as human behaviours, attitudes, and social and political structures. In the political domain, CSS can play a crucial role in measuring public sentiment, political discourse, policy impacts, the spread of ideas, and patterns in online interactions. The study of social and political inequality can be informed by CSS, identifying trends in social and gender gaps in representation, forecasting future developments, the propagation of stereotypes and social representations, and evaluating the impacts of policy measures. CSS can also play a crucial contribution to all social science research at ICS. For example, by leveraging computational methods and tools, researchers in social science can enhance their ability to analyze large and complex datasets, gain deeper insights into social phenomena, and address research questions that might be challenging with traditional methods alone. ??Social media platforms, online forums, and other digital sources provide rich datasets for understanding social behaviors, opinions, and interactions.Computational tools can identify patterns and trends within large datasets that may be challenging for researchers. This can help researchers uncover hidden relationships, detect anomalies, and gain insights into social dynamics. Computational approaches enable the analysis of social networks, helping researchers understand the structure and dynamics of relationships within a population. This is valuable for studying social influence, information diffusion, and community structures. Computational models can also simulate complex social processes and interactions. Researchers can create virtual environments to test hypotheses, explore scenarios, and understand the potential outcomes of various social phenomena without relying solely on observational or experimental data. As such computational models can be used to make predictions about social phenomena based on historical data. ?????????????? Required Scientific Profile: The recruited PhD Researcher will help consolidate and expand ICS-ULisboa’s role as a research institution that already has a leading role both in the use of sophisticated data analysis tools and in contributing to the study of the quality of democracy. In addition to a demonstrated interest in the topic, the PhD researcher to be recruited should have: a) a PhD in Political Science; b) Solid training and background in computational social science, such as machine learning and online data collection, management, and analysis c) a relevant CV in applying CCS to social science research, particularly of methods of analysis of digital data, resulting in an internationalized CV (e.g. international collaborations, a repertoire of publications, participation in research networks, experience in project-based research and outreach activities); d) proven experience in initiating innovative, cutting-edge, research strands and topics; e) proven experience in coordinating and teaching post-graduate courses; f) a track record in highly competitive funding, both at an international and national levels; g) experience in coordinating teams, and research units; and h) preferable experience in the outline and co-development of recommendations to decision-makers in both private and public sectors. Tasks to be assigned: The Assistant Researcher to be recruited will carry out activities in the sub-field of computational social science. These activities include a) designing research projects for national and international calls; b) support other research projects in what concerns applications of computational methods; c) conducting training activities in computational social science methods; d) supervising Master’s and PhD students; e) proposing outreach interventions based on results obtained in research projects conducted in this scientific domain; f) contributing to academic management at the ICS-ULisboa. This Researcher will develop activities which cross-cuts all TLs , potentially contributing to several ongoing projects, including ERCs, Horizon Europe and FCT projects. This Researcher will be contribute to transform the (PASSDA) infrastructure into a Data Science Centre to serve the whole ICS-ULisboa. ???????