Postdoc Position focused on Data Science in a Computational Social Science Team

100%, Zurich, fixed-term

Research at the Professorship of Computational Social Science (COSS) is focused on participatory, resilient and sustainable smart cities and digital societies,

• bringing modeling and computer simulation of social processes and transportation phenomena together with technology, experimental, and data-driven work,
• combining the perspectives of different scientific disciplines (e.g. social science, computer science, complexity science, transportation science, logistics, and sociophysics),
• bridging fundamental and applied work,
• developing digital tools to support people and studying the resulting behavior.

Project background

Information about the COSS team and its projects can be found on our website: https://coss.ethz.ch 

Job description

We seek a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher with expertise in data science and great interest in computational social science and complex systems. The successful candidate will design and implement advanced data science/machine learning techniques to study complex techno-socio-economic-environmental phenomena related to

• circular economy
• collective intelligence
• co-creation and
• digital democracy

The postdoc activities will involve developing interdisciplinary approaches, efficient data collection techniques, large-scale data analysis, complex network analysis and modelling, considering FAIR principles, privacy protection, and ethics. Your work may also connect to IoT technology and/or lab/web/real-life experiments.

You will contribute to ambitious European projects. While the position is primarily focused on research, it will also include handling of administrative and infrastructural tasks as well as some teaching commitments.

Your profile

You have a solid research background in some of the following areas (please specify in your application letter and CV): data and computer science, computational social science, artificial intelligence, complexity science, network science, with a strong international publication track record in areas mentioned above. Excellent scientific and computational skills, English language skills, social skills, and international experience are required.

Your workplace

We offer

• Excellent infrastructure and working conditions
• A high level of autonomy
• An inspiring and creative research environment
• Support for career development and for establishing an own research network
• ETH Zurich has developed a common understanding for a shared work culture based on ingenuity, respect, responsibility, openness, inclusion, and empowerment
• As a team we appreciate collaborating in a diverse, interdisciplinary and multi-cultural team to jointly and systematically address grand scientific challenges.

Working, teaching and research at ETH Zurich

We value diversity

In line with our values, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to find out how we ensure a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish.

Curious? So are we.

We look forward to receiving your online application until the 29th of February 2024 in a single PDF file with the following documents:

• Short motivational letter,
• CV,
• Detailed exam documents (bachelor, master and PhD diploma),
• Publication list,
• 2 to 3 letters of recommendation.

Job interviews are expected to take place around March 2024. The possible contract would probably start about 2 months later.

Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal.

Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.

Questions about the position should be directed to our office manager, Ms. Agnieszka Hamburger, email: secretary-coss@ethz.ch (no application documents).