Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Abteilung Haushalt und Personal

Faculty of Life Sciences - Department of Psychology

The interdisciplinary Einstein Research Unit "Coping with Affective Polarization" ties
in with current debates on polarization and its consequences for social cohesion. The overall goal is to identify strategies for dealing with the negative consequences of affective polarization. Specifically, the Einstein Research Unit pursues three goals:

(1) the establishment of a Berlin Polarization Monitor;

(2) the identification of strategies for coping with affective polarization at the level of the individual, social interactions, and civil society groups;

(3) the derivation of applied interventions.

The interdisciplinary research team of eleven principal investigators combines expertise from psychology, psychiatry, political science, sociology, communication science, and philosophy. The team works with a strong network of civil society partners to combine basic research with regional application. By doing so, the team can build on work from the BUA Exploration Project "Social Cohesion and Civil Society: Interaction Dynamics in Times of Disruption" (https://www.explore-interactions.de). The project is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Jule Specht and Prof. Dr. Hanna Schwander (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Prof. Dr. Swen Hutter and Prof. Dr. Christian von Scheve (Freie Universität Berlin).

The Einstein Research Unit is made possible by the Berlin University Alliance (BUA). Subject to approval by the funding agencies, the research alliance is scheduled to begin its work on October 1, 2024.

Job description:

• scientific services in research in the ERU-BUA-Project „Coping with Affective Polarization", in particular working as part of the Research Stream (2) on identifying strategies for coping with affective polarization at the level of the individual and the research focus on the role of personality (e. g., Big Five) and socio-emotional competencies (e. g., empathy)
• scientific work within the research network

Requirements:

• university degree (Ph.D. desirable) in psychology, political science, sociology, or a related social science discipline
• desired:
  • excellent academic track record
  • interest in political psychology and questions related to affective polarization and social cohesion, personality and socio-emotional competencies, civic engagement and interventions
  • first experience with the publication in international scientific journals with peer-review
  • first experience with communicating scientific findings within one's own discipline, in the context of an interdisciplinary setting, and with the general public and with data collection in the context of quantitative online surveys, online experiments, longitudinal studies, and psychological interventions
  • very good skills in statistical analyses and of syntax-based statistical software (e. g., R, Stata, Mplus)
  • very good skills in English and good skills in German ability and interest to work independently as well as in an interdisciplinary team

We offer:

• collaboration in an interdisciplinary team of top scientists at different research
  institutions in Berlin, Germany, and internationally
• joint publications with principal investigators
• opportunity to develop your own scientific qualifications
• a research position in the heart of Berlin, one of the most exciting cities in Europe with a dynamic and lively research environment

For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Jule Specht (jule.specht@hu-berlin.de).

Please send your application (including letter of motivation, CV, relevant certificates and academic degrees, if applicable a manuscript/paper), quoting the reference number DR/079/24, to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Prof. Dr. Jule Specht (located: Rudower Chaussee 18), Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany or preferably by e-mail in one PDF document with the subject "Application ERU-CAP-Individuals / Postdoc" to Birgit Altner (Birgit.Altner@hu-berlin.de).

HU is seeking to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching, and specifically encourages qualified female scholars to apply. Severely disabled applicants with equivalent qualifications will be given preferential consideration. People with an immigration history are specifically encouraged to apply. Since we will not return your documents, please submit copies in the application only.

Data protection information on the processing of your personal data in the context of the tender and selection procedure can be found on the homepage of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: https://hu.berlin/DSGVO.

Please visit our website www.hu-berlin.de/stellenangebote, which gives you access to the legally binding German version.