Research Assistant in Quantitative Online Discourse Research

ETH Zurich seeks a part-time Research Assistant for quantitative online discourse research. The role involves data analysis, coding, and developing interventions to improve online discussions and reduce hate speech.

This position supports a collaborative research team focused on rigorously studying and improving public discourse on social and online media. The team investigates how platform policies affect discussions and partners with organizations to design and test interventions that enhance online conversation quality and mitigate harm from hate speech.

Responsibilities

• Monitor weekly data import failures and maintain or enhance the underlying code and database systems.
• Address GitHub issues, debug R and Python scripts, submit pull requests, document changes, and co-develop new features.
• Examine online comment data to identify patterns or unexpected shifts.
• Design and implement strategies to improve discourse quality and reduce hate speech.
• Collaborate with online newspapers and utilize social media data.
• Apply advanced statistical methods for causal inference and build machine learning classifiers for harmful and high-quality speech.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a social science field, preferably Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Data Science, Computational Social Science, or a closely related discipline.
• Strong proficiency in R.
• Excellent English writing skills.
• At least B1 level German.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with causal inference methods and/or machine learning.
• Strong command of Python.
• Experience with GitHub and collaborative workflows.
• Knowledge of Docker, SQL, and automated data pipelines.
• Ability to work effectively with project team members and external stakeholders.
• Basic French.
• Interest in social media platforms and content moderation policies.
• Interest in the societal applications of research.

What the company offers

• Highly collaborative work environment within a very motivated and supportive team.
• Opportunity to develop a network with academics and practitioners.
• Career mentoring by experienced researchers.
• Salary in accordance with ETH guidelines.
• Possibility to work remotely with flexible work hours (~10h/week, subject to fluctuating demand).

About the company

ETH Zurich is a leading research institution. The team collaborates with a nonprofit dedicated to tackling hate speech, the Public Discourse Foundation, and various newspapers to translate research into impact.

• The team is committed to rigorous research on improving public discourse on social and online media.
• The team collaborates with a nonprofit dedicated to tackling hate speech, the Public Discourse Foundation, and various newspapers to translate research into impact.