Location

Duisburg

Application area

Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security

Doctoral Researcher/PhD Candidate (f/m/d, No. 443-25)
EG 13 TV-L

The project: You will work on the Horizon Europe-funded project RESPOND – Rescuing Democracy from Political Corruption in Digital Societies, specifically contributing to research investigating how citizens engage in anti-corruption efforts and how they perceive democracy and digital anti-corruption technologies. Your role will include designing and analysing cross-national survey experiments, conjoint designs, and perception measures focused on legitimacy, efficacy, and concerns around digital technologies such as AI-based whistleblowing platforms, open data portals, and civic tech tools. This part of your work will involve close collaboration with a transdisciplinary EU-wide consortium, including political scientists, sociologists, and technologists. You will have the opportunity to shape the research agenda, conduct original empirical work, and contribute to high-impact publications and policy outputs.

The team: The position will be at the newly founded Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security. The RC Trust addresses the trustworthiness of intelligent systems in safety-critical applications. Its human-centred research approach covers a wide-range of interdisciplinary research of trustworthy data analytics, explainable machine learning, and privacy-aware algorithms. As a doctoral researcher (PhD candidate), you will be part of Nils Köbis’ lab on “The Human Understanding of Algorithms and Machines”.

Start of employment

as soon as possible

Duration of employment

3 years

Working time

100 percent of a full time position

Your main tasks

• Conduct independent and collaborative research at the intersection of psychology, political science, and data science, with a focus on understanding the impact of digital technologies on democracy and anti-corruption.
• Design, implement, and analyze experience sampling studies, survey experiments, and conjoint studies related to the perceived legitimacy and efficacy of digital anti-corruption technologies.
• Contribute to the Horizon Europe project RESPOND by leading the development of survey instruments, coordinating cross-national data collection, and co-authoring research outputs.
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary, international team of scholars from the University of Duisburg-Essen and other leading institutions.
• Present research at international conferences and contribute to peer-reviewed publications and policy briefs.
• Optionally contribute to university teaching and outreach activities related to the psychology of technology and public trust in AI.

Your profile

Excellent degree (Master of Science) in psychology, political science, or project-related fields such as business informatics, communication science, computer science, data science, economics, media studies, or other relevant fields

Further requirements:

• Strong interest in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of psychology, political science, and technology studies
• Demonstrated experience with quantitative or qualitative research methods, preferably survey design, experimental methods (e.g., conjoint, vignette), and statistical modeling (e.g., mixed-effects models)
• Motivation to develop an independent research agenda while contributing to the broader goals of the RESPOND project
• Strong organizational skills and a structured, proactive working style
• Fluent English (written and spoken); knowledge of German is a plus
• Strong interest and high motivation to work on the described project relating to the impact of emerging digital technology on democracy and (anti)corruption (see for instance this paper)

We offer you

• Integration into a dynamically growing, committed, and international team of leading researchers at the newly founded research center RC Trust
• Diverse responsibilities in a lively and research-intensive environment
• Develop and execute exciting projects
• Working with leading experts
• Opportunity to participate in university teaching (optional).
• Opportunity for habilitation and intensive support on the path to developing your own research focus
• Flexible arrangements for working hours and the possibility of home office, long-term contracts
• A quiet, research-oriented atmosphere while being close to leisure and cultural facilities of the Ruhr metropolis and the Rhineland, one of Europe’s largest but also greenest metropolitan areas with the highest university density in Germany.
• Diverse possibilities for your place of residence: In the vicinity of the university, you will find large cities (Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf), as well as medium-sized cities (Moers, Krefeld) and rural regions on the Lower Rhine with wonderful nature
• Family-friendliness through flexible and individual care for your children
• Continuing education and training offers
• A discounted public transport ticket
• Sports and health offers (university sports)

Application deadline

2025-08-21

Code number

443-25

Application

Please send your application containing

a) a motivation letter,

b) a CV

c) and copies of your certificates (in one PDF document) stating the reference number 443-25 in an email to Prof. Nils Köbis, University of Duisburg-Essen, Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security, Bismarckstr. 120, 47057 Duisburg, Email: sekretariat.koebis@uni-duisburg-essen.de

Research Alliance Ruhr

As the densest university landscape in Europe, the Metropole Ruhr offers attractive career opportunities for excellent scientists from all over the world.

In order to bundle their top international research on the major challenges facing humanity, the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, the TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen founded the Research Alliance Ruhr in 2021. Four research centres and a college have been established here.

This is the latest development in the long-standing cooperation as the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr), a community of 14,000 researchers and 120,000 students.

Learn more

In accordance with the State Equal Opportunities Act, women with the same qualifications are given referential considered.

Applications from suitable disabled persons and persons of equal status within the meaning of § 2 para. 3 SGB IX are desired.

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