*Vacancy**: * *Up to 3 post-doc (or advanced pre-doc) positions at University Carlos 3 Madrid & IC3JM. * The Department of Social Sciences at the University Carlos III Madrid (UC3M) and the IC3JM institute <https://ic3jm.es/> seeks to hire multiple post-docs (or advanced pre-docs <#_ftn1>). Each recruit will be offered a 1-year contract, potentially renewable one time, for a maximum of two years. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vk1d7h1vnes51b5/VacancyPostdocs%20copy.pdf?dl=0 Salary is competitive and generous with regards to living standards. Post-docs can expect a pre-tax yearly salary > 50k euros (translating into around 3k euros/month take- home salary). Pre-docs can expect a 30-35k euros (pre-tax) yearly salary. Recruits may work remotely up to 25% of the time. The positions are funded through a European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant led by Dr. Simon Chauchard <https://www.simonchauchard.com/>. Accordingly, hires will be associated to the development of the new Polarization, Identity and Misinformation (PIM) Lab and to the “POLARCHATS” ERC project, focused on misinformation and its consequences in the Global South. If you qualify for the position and are selected, you will be part of an exciting, young, and dynamic department <https://www.uc3m.es/departamento-ciencias-sociales/inicio> connected to the IC3JM institute <https://ic3jm.es/>, in one of the best cities in the world <https://www.esmadrid.com/en>. Recruits will be core member of the POLARCHATS team and of the PIM lab, and they will (based on a roadmap determined during the final stages of the selection process) co-author some of the analyses at the core of the POLARCHATS project. As a rule of thumb, recruits should be expected to spend *at least* 30-50% of their time on POLARCHATS-related projects, in collaboration with Simon Chauchard <https://www.simonchauchard.com/> and a network of co-authors. The selected researchers shall also very much develop an independent research agenda on themes related to the focus of the grant and/or to the research interests of the PI or other UC3M faculty, including (but not limited to) social media and politics, polarization, intergroup relations, social and political psychology, network analysis or other themes broadly related to political behavior. This is meant to allow candidates to build a profile beyond that of the grant and to encourage excellent candidates whose current work does not exactly focus on the cases or the topic of the grant (but is compatible with its focus) to apply. Recruits will also contribute to the organization of the PIM lab. *Timeline* · *Pre-applications (see detailed instructions below) are due by November 1, 2022, though application will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and candidates are encouraged to apply before that date. * o Note: Dr Chauchard will be at the APSA meeting on September 15-17 and available for informal meetings on the 15th and 16th of September. Feel free to reach out to him directly. · *Short-listed candidates will be invited to submit additional documents before November 4th. * · *Initial cohort of recruits will be announced on or before January 1st, 2023.* o Note: students on the job market in 2022-23 are encouraged to apply! The position is ideal for candidates starting a longer-term position in 2024, provided they can commit to spending at least one academic year at the PIM lab. · *The start date is flexible in the 2023 calendar year. * *Requirements * *Applicants for pre-doc positions* must have earned a recent Masters’ degree in political science, data science, computational social science, psychology, sociology, economics, or a cognate subject (feel free to ask simon.chauchard@uc3m.es if you are not sure whether you are eligible) and be near the completion of their doctoral studies. Students *Applicants for post-doc positions* must have earned or be close to earning a Ph.D. degree in political science, data science, computational social science, psychology, sociology, economics, or a cognate subject (feel free to consult simon.chauchard@uc3m.es if you are not sure whether you are eligible). Proven knowledge of quantitative research methods/data science and the ability to develop a research agenda compatible with the focus of the POLARCHATS project are the two most important criteria according to which candidates will be evaluated. Experience in field research, survey methodology, experimental methods, data collection will also be valued, as will fluency in Portuguese or any Indian language, and programming skills. While applicants are NOT expected to come in with each of these skills, they ideally have some of them. Applicants must have excellent English language skills (i.e., both oral and written fluency). The operating language of the IC3JM, the project and of the PIM lab is English. *What is the POLARCHATS project about?* The POLARCHATS project researches the causes, consequences, and believability of misinformation in the Global South, with a geographical focus on India and Brazil. In line with the geographical focus of the grant, the project compares the production, the circulation, and the effects of misinformation on diverse social media platforms - including discussion apps - in these countries; it also is interested in the role that ethnic, partisan, and religious social identities play in the aforementioned phenomena. Most (though not all) of the research to be carried as part of the project is quantitative in nature and involves the collection/analysis of large social media datasets as well as the development/analysis of surveys, survey-experiments, and field-experiments. *How to apply* Initial pre-applications must be submitted via email to Dr. Simon Chauchard (simon.chauchard@uc3m.es). These should be in English and include: 1. A motivation letter (2 pages max), explaining the applicant’s current research interests and the research they hope to carry over the next few years. The letter should include functioning *links* to their website and to papers/PaP/publications. 2. A CV. 3. Graduate school transcripts. Short-listed candidates will subsequently be invited to submit additional materials and/or to an interview with Dr Chauchard and IC3JM colleagues. ------------------------------ [1] <#_ftnref1> The term “advanced pre-docs” here refers to doctoral students in the final year of their doctoral program.