The University of Vienna is a community of over 10,000 individuals, including approximately 7,500 academic staff members, who passionately pursue answers to the profound questions that shape our future. They represent individuals driven by curiosity and a relentless pursuit of excellence. With us, they find the space to try things out and unfold their potential. Are you inspired by their passion and determination? We are currently seeking a/an

University assistant predoctoral 

49 Faculty of Social Sciences  

Job vacancy starting: 09/01/2025 | Working hours:  30,00  | Classification CBA: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc) 

Job ID: 4009

Explore and teach at the University of Vienna, where more than 7,500 academics thrive on curiosity in continuous exploration and help us better understand our world. Does this sound like you? Then join our accomplished team!

The Department of Communication, a subunit of the Faculty of Social Sciences, invites applications for the position of University Assistant (Predoc) in the group of Univ.- Prof. Hajo Boomgaarden, PhD. Communication Science is an integrative social science characterized by methodological diversity, with a focus on indirect public communication mediated by mass media.

Your personal sphere of influence:

As a University Assistant (Predoc) you will be part of the Computational Communication Science Lab (CCL), an interdisciplinary research network under the direction of Prof. Dr. Annie Waldherr and Prof. Hajo Boomgaarden, PhD. The aim of the CCL is to improve our understanding of the causes, processes and effects of mediated communication using computational methods. We strive to advance core fields of communication science such as public sphere and public opinion research, journalism and political communication through the use of innovative, computerized tools and algorithms for collecting, processing, analyzing and visualizing large-scale, complex data. The research area of Computational Communication Science includes, for example, agent-based modeling and simulation, network analysis, automated text and image analysis.
In addition, your dissertation project will be integrated into the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (ViDSS) and its structured doctoral program. The ViDSS promotes innovative, excellent, problem-oriented research that contributes to initiating social debates and tackling major global challenges. The cohorts trained and supported by ViDSS are part of a vibrant research environment and international networks.

As a team, we value a culture of appreciation and mutual support. We believe that treating each other with respect and recognizing the individual strengths and contributions of each team member are crucial to our collective success.

Contract duration: The contract duration upon employment is 4 years. Initially limited to 1.5 years, the contract is automatically extended to 4 years if the employer does not submit a declaration of non-extension within the first 12 months.

Your future tasks:

You actively participate in research, teaching & administration, which means:

•  You contribute to research projects and scientific studies in the field of Computational Communication Science.

• You work on your dissertation and we expect the completion of your dissertation agreement within 12-18 months.

• You work on scientific publications and presentations.

• You teach courses independently in accordance with the provisions of the collective agreement.

• You supervise students.

• You are involved in the organization of meetings, conferences and symposia.

• You take on administrative tasks at the institute in research and teaching.

This is part of your personality:

• Completed Master's or Magister degree in media and communication studies or political science or computational social science.

• Sound knowledge of empirical social research methods, especially quantitative methods

• Experience in learning methods of Computational Communication Science, e.g. computer-assisted text or image analysis, agent-based modeling and simulation, or network analysis.

• Programming experience in R and/or Python

• Interest in research on political communication.

• High level of written and oral communication skills

• Very good written and spoken English skills

• Very good IT application skills

• Ability to work in a team

• Good time management skills

• Reliability

What we offer:

Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible working hours and can partially work remotely. 

Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.

Good public transport connections: Your workplace is easily accessible by public transport.

Internal further training & Coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.

Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 3,714,80 (on a full-time basis) increases if we can credit professional experience.

Equal opportunities for all: We welcome every additional/new personality to the team!

It is that easy to apply:

• With your letter of motivation
• Your CV
• A PDF of your Master's thesis or other coursework
• The notification of your completed Master's degree
• The certificates of your completed Master's degree
• List of publications (if available)
• Transcript of records
• Via our  job portal/ Apply now -  button

If you have any questions, please contact:

Hajo Boomgaarden  

hajo.boomgaarden@univie.ac.at

We look forward to new personalities in our team! 
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We lay special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions among the academic and general university staff and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

University of Vienna. Space for personalities. Since 1365.

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​Application deadline: 06.06.2025