Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Digital Technology for Democracy

Staff Posting: Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Digital Technology for Democracy

The Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia (UVA) invites applications for 2-year postdoctoral fellowships in the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab. The fellowships will begin in August of 2025 and run through August 2027. We will be hiring up to six fellows who will join our existing cohort of fellows to build a robust transdisciplinary cohort that will play a key role in animating this pan-university project spanning across all thirteen UVA schools.

Our understandings of democracy and technology, and their intersections, are broad and interdisciplinary. We expect candidates to be creative in their approaches and, at the same time, to clearly articulate their personal understanding of technology and democracy in their project proposal.

A new cohort of 6 fellows to join our existing cohort.

We welcome a wide range of disciplines, methods, and approaches as well as forms of scholarly output, including but not limited to:

• Art, Drama Music

• Architecture and Urban Planning

• Business, Commerce, Innovation

• Computer Science, Data Science, Information Science

• Education

• Engineering

• Environmental Sciences and Geography

• Health Sciences

• Humanities

• Law and Public Policy

• Social Sciences

We are particularly interested in transdisciplinary research that address key topics at the intersection of digital technology and democracy and are eager to bring in a cohort addressing these issues at global, regional, and local levels. We seek a broad range of viewpoints, perspectives, and experiences and particularly encourage applicants from under-represented groups to apply. We welcome applications from all over the world. The Lab will work through the UVA International Studies Office to sponsor visas as needed.

The Digital Technology for Democracy Lab (DTD) at the University of Virginia works to explore how rapidly evolving digital technologies can challenge, but might also fortify, democratic institutions and practices. We seek to create collaboration and exchange between academia and thought-leaders, technologists, policymakers, activists, civil society organizations, artists and creative practitioners, and others, taking a broadly transdisciplinary and global approach. DTD is supported by a Grand Challenge research investment in Digital Technology and Society which will be facilitating faculty hires and a range of projects across UVA.

In addition to actively pursuing their own research projects, fellows will be an integral part of the DTD Lab. They are expected to participate in Lab-sponsored seminars and workshops; actively engage with the community of scholars formed by a cohort of fellows, Lab Faculty Leads, and other affiliated faculty; and, contribute to Lab-sponsored initiatives (such as white papers or other forms of intellectual output). Fellows will be invited to participate in our Technology and Democracy covenings aimed at bringing together different sectors, including the technology industry and policy-makers, in conversation. We will also connect fellows with relevant departments, units and schools at UVA to support their work and engagement with colleagues during their fellowship. Fellows will be part of a broader community at the Karsh Institute of Democracy, and be included in professional development activities offered to postdoctoral fellows at UVA.

The applications will be evaluated by the current Faculty Co-Leads for the Lab: Steven L. Johnson, McIntire School of Commerce; Mona Kasra, Departments Art & Drama; Aynne Kokas, Department of Media Studies; David Nemer, Department of Media Studies; Jess Reia, School of Data Science; Bertrall Ross, School of Law; and Mona Sloane, School of Data Science & Department of Media Studies.

The annual salary for each position is $65,000 with additional research funding of $5,000 per year. In addition to salary and research funding, standard UVA resources will be provided, including healthcare, computing resources, and access to library support and VIVA-negotiated collective agreements that lower or eliminate APCs with select publishers.

Applicants must have their Ph.D., S.J.D. or equivalent terminal degree in hand by the beginning of the fellowship, and should submit their application materials by January 15, 2025, with an expectation of final decisions made by March 1st, 2025.

• A statement of interest (not to exceed 3 single-spaced pages) with a description of your scholarly areas of focus, the reasons for your interest in being a fellow in the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab, and a summary of the scholarly work you propose to pursue during the fellowship period at UVA including your goals, projected research questions and potential outcomes, and an indication of Lab and UVA faculty that you anticipate could potentially help to advance that work.

• A CV

• A sample of your work (examples include but are not limited to a dissertation chapter, published article, white paper, policy study, or portfolio of artistic or digital work)

• Names and contact information for three referees who can be contacted for letters of reference. We will only request letters from referees for those candidates who are invited for interviews.

The DTD Lab will hold two information sessions for interested candidates:

Join a November 21st, 2-3:00pm EST, DTD Lab Postdoctoral Fellows Info Session here.

Join a December 5th, 4-5:00pm EST, DTD Lab Postdoctoral Fellows Info Session here.

The University of Virginia is fundamentally committed to the diversity of our faculty and staff. We believe diversity is excellence expressing itself through every person's perspectives and lived experiences. We are equal opportunity and affirmative action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information.

Location: Hybrid located in Charlottesville, VA.

Position Type: This is an Exempt level, benefited position.

Visa Sponsorship: This position will sponsor applicants for work visas

This position is a restricted position and is dependent upon project need, availability of funding and performance.

The University will perform background checks on all new hires prior to employment.

To Apply:

Please apply through the UVA Job Board and search R0066806. Internal applicants must apply through their UVA Workday profile by searching 'Find Jobs'.

Complete an application online with the following documents (as listed above).

Upload all materials into the resume submission field, multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission. Applications that do not contain all required documents will not receive full consideration.