This PhD project takes a quantitative approach and includes a panel survey and an experiment. Over the course of the project, you will conduct four interconnected studies: (1) A survey to establish the prevalence, types, and antecedents of adolescents’ synthetic relationships, (2) an experiment to investigate how characteristics of conversations with conversational AI tools influence the formation of synthetic relationships, and a three-wave panel survey, to test if (3) adolescents’ synthetic relationships elicit companionship or isolation and (4) to what extent synthetic relationships foster empowerment or a loss of autonomy.

You will:

• Engage in research that bridges communication science with recent advances in conversational AI technologies

• Manage the research project, including scheduling meetings with the supervisory team, preparing agendas, and documenting meetings and research activities

• Design and prepare the studies, including designing and pretesting questionnaires and working with schools to recruit participants for the panel study

• Set up, pre-test, and fine-tune a secure conversational AI environment, securely record and analyze interaction data, and apply advanced computational methods to quantify engagement metrics

• Collect and analyze data for the studies (e.g., recruit participants for the survey and experiment, collaborate with schools to collect data from adolescents, supervise data collection for the experiment, and analyse data from the surveys and experiment)

• Write academic articles for publication in high-impact scientific journals, and present findings at (inter)national conferences

• Contribute to the ASCoR research community by participating in workshops, meetings, and lectures.

• Support teaching activities at the bachelor’s level (up to approximately 10% of your time)

You have:

• A (research) master’s degree in communication science, psychology, or a related field, or expect to obtain it before September 1, 2025. Evidence of methodological training and/or experience in quantitative research methods (notably survey and experiment) is required to be considered for the position.

• Interest in developments around emerging communication technologies and their social consequences and creative ideas of how to study them; proven experience with research (e.g., in Master Thesis) on emerging communication technologies and/or adolescents’ digital media use is a plus

• Experience with quantitative statistical analyses techniques, preferably for longitudinal data; existing proficiency in programming languages like Python and R is a plus

• An interest in learning and implementing latest natural language processing methods including fine-tuning transformer-based large language models

• Willingness to learn how to set up and manage secure, GDPR-compliant, large data collection environments for experimental research; existing experience and/or knowledge about this is a plus

• An interest in open science principles and a commitment to methodological rigor and scientific integrity

• Proven proficiency in the English language. For more information on what is considered evidence of English language proficiency, please consult this link (section ‘4. English language proficiency)

• Proficiency in or willingness to learn Dutch

You are able to:

• Show curiosity in exploring insights from various disciplines and a readiness to learn new skills and methods as the project evolves, adapting to challenges with resilience and creativity

• Maintain a proactive attitude, be open to feedback, and pay attention to detail

• Manage your own time effectively and work independently while collaborating well within a team

• Keep a cool head and stay organized when juggling multiple tasks

• Communicate research findings clearly to both academic and non-academic audiences

The planned starting date for this project is September, 2025, but there is some flexibility with regard to the starting date. The position concerns temporary employment for a maximum term of four years. The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of three years, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum that will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be tasked with teaching (Bachelor’s) students for up to approximately 10% of the contract.

What else do we offer

• Guidance and training in survey and experimental design and state-of-the-art computational methods, enabling you to work at the forefront of research on AI-mediated communication

• A position in which initiative and input are highly valued

• A position centred on your growth, with ample opportunities for scholarly and professional development, including the opportunity to take Dutch language courses

• A supervision team with the goal to supervise and advice the PhD candidate in their work and professional development through regular team meetings

• A daily supervisor who is available for the PhD candidate for regular contact on all matters relevant to the candidate

• An enthusiastic and warm department that is open to new colleagues

• A large, welcoming community of PhD candidates working on various projects within Communication Science

• While frequent presence at the office is valued in terms of cohesion and team building, we offer the opportunity to work hybrid (i.e., to work from home from time to time)