Researcher in AI-Assisted and Computational Social Science Research

The Swedish Defence University is an internationally renowned university in the area of defence, crisis management and security. We offer a unique academic environment where military and civilian researchers, teachers and students interact. We educate and train top-level executives, experts, and researchers for the task of analyzing and managing current and future crises, security issues and conflicts. The university educates all military officers in the Swedish armed forces and leads the academic progression of the military profession. We conduct research in the areas of Law with a focus on International and Operational Law, Leadership and Command & Control, Military History, Political Science, Systems Science for Defence and Security and War Studies.

Political science at the Swedish Defence University is unique in its special focus on security and crisis management. The subject is at the same time theoretically broad, and draws on a wide range of related fields, such as international relations, political communication, public administration, and political theory as well as drawing inspiration from other research within and outside of political science.

Description

The position is focused on AI-assisted social science research, computational social science and quantitative methods. The research may, for example, address information influence, political and strategic communication, media and narratives.

A central part of the position is to develop and evaluate scientifically rigorous ways of using large language models (LLMs) and other AI-based methods in social science research.

The researcher will work in a team that conducts commissioned research on information influence and disinformation.

Duties

The researcher is expected to plan and conduct both independent and collaborative research and to contribute to scientific publications and conference presentations.

The researcher will work in a research team conducting commissioned research on information influence and disinformation. A central part of the position is also to strengthen the research group's competence in AI-assisted research, computational social science and quantitative methods. The researcher is therefore expected to actively train and supervise other researchers in the group and to contribute to building long-term methodological capacity.

Duties include, among other things:

plan and conduct independent and collaborative research using AI-based, computational and quantitative methods;

develop and evaluate methods involving LLMs, quantitative text analysis, machine learning and NLP;

explore the use of local and open-source language models with research data, with particular attention to validation and reproducibility;

strengthen the research group's methodological competence through workshops, individual guidance, and support in programming and analysis;

contribute to scientific publications, conference presentations and research funding applications.

Qualifications

Applicants must hold a doctoral degree, or an equivalent international degree.

The following qualifications are also required:

experience of quantitative and/or computational social science methods, including computational text and/or image analysis and processing of social media/platform data, as well as the ability to use Python and/or R for analysis and research

experience of machine learning, NLP or quantitative text analysis, with particular emphasis on LLM-based methods

a good understanding of research design, validation and reproducible research;

excellent ability to communicate in English.

Experience of local or open-source language models, RAG, fine-tuning, multilingual NLP or advanced quantitative methods is considered an advantage.

Experience of research in political science, political psychology, media studies, computational social science, or another relevant social science field is considered an advantage.

Great importance will be attached to the ability to communicate advanced methodological issues clearly and pedagogically, and to collaborate effectively with researchers with varying methodological backgrounds. Experience of supervision, training or methodological support is considered an advantage

Knowledge of Swedish or another Scandinavian language is considered an advantage.

Great importance will be attached to personal suitability. We are looking for a researcher who is independent, proactive and communicative and who has a strong ability to collaborate with researchers from different methodological backgrounds.

Application

The application must include:

a cover letter explaining why you are qualified for the position;

a CV including a list of scientific publications or a project portfolio

copies of official academic degree certificates.

Applications must be submitted via the Swedish Defence University's recruitment system by clicking on the 'Apply' link on the job advertisement page. The recruitment system contains a number of screening questions to be answered. Here you should enter your experience and qualifications and upload any supporting documents you wish to submit in support of your application.

The complete application must be received by the Swedish Defence University no later than midnight on the closing date, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

Terms om Employment

The position is a full-time fixed-term appointment for 12 months.

Location: Stockholm.

Employment at the Swedish Defence University may be subject to security screening in accordance with the Swedish Protective Security Act (2018:585).

Starting date

January 1, 2027, or by agreement.

The Swedish Defence University applies individual salary setting

You are welcome to submit your application until October 11th!

To get in contact with union representatives please send an e-mail to saco@fhs.se, OFR/O@fhs.se and OFR/S@fhs.seIn the event of any disagreement between the English and the Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.Please do not send offers of recruitment or advertising services.