GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences is an internationally active research institute, funded by federal and state governments and member of the Leibniz Association.
Starting on the next possible date our Department Data Services for the Social Sciences (DSS) project “Ephemera”, located in Cologne, is looking for a
Researcher (Postdoc)
(Salary group 13 TV-L, working time 100 %, initially for 4 years)
The project “Digital Ephemera and the Challenges of Preserving Collective Memories from the Web (Ephemera)”, funded by the Leibniz Association, is studying the role of social media and other web content as a contemporary source of information on social developments and historical events.
The selected candidate will be part of the department Data Services for the Social Sciences. This department offers sustainable infrastructures and services for data management, curation, and long-term preservation. Its mission is to foster FAIR data, open science, and reproducible research in the quantitative and computational social sciences.
Your tasks will be:
- Research in the context of the “Ephemera” project, planning and conducting data collections (e.g., via Online Platform APIs or data donations) and publication of results
- Cooperation with other research institutions in the thematic context of the project, e.g., archiving institutions and institutes in the area of digitalization research
- Science communication of the project results (e.g., presentations at conferences, writing blog posts)
- Contributing to the department's service tasks, in particular in the area of archiving research data from social media or research data management for digital behavioral data
Your profile
- Completed Master’s degree. Plus completed (or soon to be completed) doctorate, ideally with a thematic reference to the project, for example in areas such as computational social science, internet studies or digital humanities
- Experience with collecting data from social media platforms (e.g., via APIs, web scraping, web tracking, data donations) or with web archiving
- Programming skills (e.g., Python or R)
- Publications in international peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings
- Very good knowledge of English; German language skills are not expected at first but will be required by the start of the tenure process
Our Benefits:
- A fast growing, international and interdisciplinary working environment with strong ties to regional and international labs and experts in related fields
- Interdisciplinary team and diverse opportunities for networking and further qualification
- Flexible working hours and regulations for mobile working
- Very good conditions for balancing work and family life, e.g. subsidies for childcare for children who are under the age of compulsory schooling
- Holistic occupational health management and discounted membership in the university's sports programme
- Generous support for pension provision as a direct insurance policy
- Promotion of your skills through further training measures and, if required, support in acquiring German language skills
Contact
You are explicitly welcome to apply even if you do not meet all the requirements listed above and we encourage you to contact us informally with questions if you are interested in applying.
For further information concerning the tasks please contact Prof. Dr. Katrin Weller (katrin.weller@gesis.org) via E-Mail. If you have questions about the application process, please contact Franca Tosetti via E-Mail (franca.tosetti@gesis.org).
Interested?
Please apply via our Online-application portal until 25.09.25.
Our reference number is: DSS-22
Apply for this job
About us
GESIS is one of the world's leading social science infrastructure facilities, supporting researchers at all levels of their research projects with expertise and infrastructure services. We help ensure that socially relevant questions can be answered based on reliable data, the latest scientific methods and research information. We help with study planning and data collection, provide high-quality research data, support with data preparation and analysis, and finally with data archiving.
GESIS helps you gain further qualifications. We offer our employees a wide range of career opportunities in an appealing work environment with a high degree of personal responsibility and creative freedom. With us, you will work in an international environment in the heart of Mannheim and Cologne and benefit from a flexible work environment as well as internal and external networks.
GESIS ensures compliance with the guidelines for the severely disabled and promotes professional equality between women and men. Full-time positions can also be filled on a part-time basis.
As a family-friendly employer, we have been certified by the “berufundfamilie” audit since 2010.
Further information on working at GESIS can be found here.
