Research and teaching assistant in media effects

KU Leuven is a leading academic institution in Europe. Owing to KU Leuven’s cutting-edge research, KU Leuven is a charter member of LERU, has been ranked as Europe’s most innovative university and it is among the Top 10 of European universities.

Within KU Leuven, the School of Mass Communication Research (SMCR, see our website) represents a pioneering institution for media effects research. SMCR’s ultimate intent is to inspire key players and stakeholders in society as well as individuals and their families with robust evidence on both adverse and beneficial effects of media and with a sound understanding of how media can be employed to achieve goals of social relevance. Issues studied in recent years include alcohol and drug abuse, sexuality and sexism, mental health, body image, sustainability and sleep. Within this context, Prof. Beullens conducts research on the opportunities and risks of digital media use, media psychology and health communication and is looking for a research and teaching assistant who will conduct research in one of these domains.

Project

The assistant will provide teaching assistance (50%) with the bachelor and master of communication science, contributes to the research projects of the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, and will conduct research within the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research (50%).

The specific topic of the PhD will be agreed upon in interaction with the selected candidate. The methods will be adapted to the specific research question although a strong interest in quantitative research methods is required (including survey research, daily diary research, eye tracking methods etc.).

The assistant will provide teaching assistance for the following courses :

• Start-to-research : Communicatiewetenschap
• Kwantitatief seminarie
• Sociale marketing
• Kinderen en media : Theorie, onderzoek en toepassingen
• Master dissertations

Profile

Each applicant should be highly motivated to study media effects and learn about explanatory mechanisms. He / she is able to work independently but is also motivated to work within a team. Candidates need to have the social skills necessary to have fruitful collaborations with colleagues and to conduct research in different settings.Applicants have a master in communication sciences (cum laude), or related fields (e.g., psychology, cum laude). Applicants are required to have excellent knowledge of Dutch and English (both oral and written), and have excellent writing and presentation skills. Given that the candidate also needs to provide teaching assistance in Dutch, excellent knowledge of Dutch is an absolute requirement. The applicant needs to have quantitative (e.g. survey, experiment) and qualitative research skills and data analytic experience (e.g., SPSS, AMOS, R, Python...). Clear strengths are experience with experimental, diary or longitudinal research. He / she should be motivated to further develop their methodological and data analytical skills.Academic writing skills (e.g., publications in academic journals or papers to be presented on conferences) need to be further developed over time.

Offer

We offer a full time employment in a two-year contract, which can be extended up to 6 years. The starting date of this vacancy is preferably January 15, 2024. Salary (barema 43 is applicable here) and benefits are in line with the university salary scales for PhD candidates and highly competitive according to international standards.PhD candidates will be enrolled in KU Leuven’s Doctoral Programme of the Social Sciences, in which they acquire many other important career skills.Applications should be submitted in English.

Interested?

Interested candidates are asked to submit the following documents before November 17, 2023 when applying for the position : CV and a motivation letter explaining your personal background and interest in an academic career. Please email the supervisor if you want to receive more information about the position :  Prof. Dr. Kathleen Beullens ([email protected]).