Project Leader

This track provides the explanatory, mechanism-testing perspective within the project. It examines how and why individual and contextual factors make people susceptible to hazardous health hacks, by testing the cognitive processes at work during actual exposure to these hacks. Your work draws on dual-process theories of reasoning, distinguishing fast, intuitive processing from slower, reflective evaluation. Your work will include:

• Conducting a multimodal content analysis of hazardous online health hacks.
• Designing and fielding a large-scale panel survey on individual and contextual susceptibility factors.
• Conducting controlled online and/or laboratory experiments on intuitive and reflective processing during exposure to health hacks.
• Experimentally evaluating intervention strategies co-developed with the parallel track.
• Integrating quantitative findings with participatory research from the parallel track in a joint mixed-methods synthesis.
• Publishing research, presenting at conferences, and contributing to knowledge exchange with practice partners.

• A completed (research) Master's degree in Communication Science, (Media, Social, or Cognitive) Psychology, or a related social science discipline, obtained by the start of the position.
• Strong quantitative research skills, including survey design and experimental design.
• Proficiency in statistical analysis (e.g., in R) and, preferably, experience with advanced techniques such as multilevel modelling, mediation/moderation analysis, or structural equation modelling.
• Affinity with, or willingness to quickly develop expertise in, dual-process theories of reasoning and cognitive processing paradigms.
• Genuine interest in health communication, misinformation, and the psychology of persuasion.
• Excellent academic writing and communication skills in English.
• A collaborative mindset and willingness to work closely with a parallel PhD track with a different methodological orientation, and to contribute to genuinely interdisciplinary integration.
• The ability to work independently and take ownership of a substantial part of a multi-year, multi-stage research project.

• A full-time PhD position for a total of four years (initial contract of one year, extended after a positive assessment).
• Embedded in a university's Department of Communication Science and its graduate school.
• Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.
• Close supervision, embedded in a well-resourced, interdisciplinary team.
• A genuinely collaborative research environment, with a sister PhD position at another university and links to national networks in media literacy and digital wellbeing.
• We also offer attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:
• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year (pro rata for part-timers).
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Contribution to commuting expenses.
• Optional model for designing a personalized benefits package.
• A wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge.