Applications are invited for an EPSRC-funded
studentship at The University of Sheffield commencing on 1 October
2018.
The PhD project will examine the intersection
of online political debates and misinformation, through big data
analysis. This research is very timely, because online mis- and
disinformation is
reinforcing the formation of polarised partisan camps, sharing
biased,
self-reinforcing content. This is coupled with the rise in
post-truth politics,
where key arguments are repeated continuously, even when proven
untrue by journalists
or independent experts. Journalists and media have tried to
counter this
through fact-checking initiatives,
but these are currently mostly manual, and thus not scalable to
big data.
The aim is to develop machine learning-based methods for large-scale analysis of online misinformation and its role in political debates on online social platforms.
Application deadline: as soon as possible, until the funding is filled
Interviews: interviews take place within 2-3 weeks of application
Supervisory team: Professor Kalina Bontcheva (Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield), Professor Piers Robinson (Department of Journalism, University of Sheffield), and Dr. Nikolaos Aletras (Information School, University of Sheffield).
Award Details
The studentship will cover tuition fees at the EU/UK rate and provide an annual maintenance stipend at standard Research Council rates (£14,777 in 2018/19) for 3.5 years.Eligibility
The general eligibility requirements are:- Applicants should normally have studied in a relevant field to a very good standard at MSc level or equivalent experience.
- Applicants should also have a 2.1 in a BSc degree, or equivalent qualification, in a related discipline.
- ESRPC studentships are only available to students from the UK
or European Union. Applications cannot be accepted from
students liable to pay fees at the Overseas rate.
Normally UK students will be eligible for a full award which
pays fees and a maintenance grant if they meet the residency
criteria and EU students will be eligible for a fees-only award,
unless they have been resident in the UK for 3 years immediately
prior to taking up the award.
How to apply
To apply for the studentship, applicants need to apply directly to the University of Sheffield for entrance into the doctoral programme in Computer Science- Complete an application for admission to the standard computer science PhD programme http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply
- Applications should include a research proposal; CV; academic writing sample; transcripts and two references.
- The research proposal of up to 1,000 words should outline your reasons for applying to this project and how you would approach the research including details of your skills and experience in both computing and/or data journalism.
- Supporting documents should be uploaded to your application.
