[Commlist] 4-year PhD position on Social Datafication and Spatial Mobility at TalTech

JOB VACANCY

Doctoral Researcher: SOCIAL DATAFICATION AND SPATIAL MOBILITY - Tallinn 
University of Technology

Deadlines for applications: 15th of June. Interviews will be scheduled 
soon after. Priority will be given to applications received on or before 
June 15 2019. Start of appointment: September 2019

Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance (RND) is one of 
the largest, most internationalized and leading social science research 
centres in Estonia. As part of Tallinn University of Technology 
(TalTech) and its School of Business and Governance, RND functions at 
the intersection of technological and social science research.

The emergence of big data era has led to serious discussions about 
social datafication – i.e. the socio-cultural consequences of big data 
on societies, individual lives, and governmental organizations. Positive 
consequences like control of spatial mobilities through algorithms
and negative consequences like discrimination through datafied decisions 
are central in these discussions. Estonian society with its 
contradictions – a highly digitalized environment, moderate use of open 
data, low awareness of algorithmic control and privacy concerns – offers 
a highly attractive environment for studying the societal consequences 
of big data, algorithms, and AI.

Key tasks:
• The main task of the doctoral researcher is to carry out research in 
data studies in the field of spatial mobilities (e.g. refugees, highly 
skilled immigrants, e-residents, ‘data rich’ and ‘data poor’ mobile groups).
• Participation in the research activities in the domains of
(1) data justice - how to avoid discrimination through data, automatized 
inequalities, racial bias, and movement towards more just data practices;
(2) awareness of algorithmic control (the perspectives of data subjects 
from the Global South, data rich and data poor ethnic / mobile groups),
(3) data governance (use of social scoring, AI, machine learning methods 
in governmental institutions for controlling mobility).
• Participation in the teaching activities of the research group, 
including supervision of students;
• Participation in the administrative functions of the research group;

Qualification requirements:
• MA or equivalent in social sciences (in the fields of sociology, 
public administration, media and communication, human geography, or a 
related discipline);
• Excellent knowledge of research methods, including quantitative 
(survey, mobility tracking, basic and advanced statistics, social 
networks analysis) or qualitative methods (interviewing, textual 
analysis, visual analysis methods). Knowledge of digital or 
computational research methods are advantageous.

Specifics & Benefits:
We offer the chance to do high-level research in an internationally 
recognized research team; opportunities for conference visits; 
networking with leading universities in the field of data studies; 
publishing in high-level journals in the field.
• The position is fixed-term (4 years)
Start date: 1 September 2019 (or as soon as possible).
• The position is financed from the state scholarship and from the 
projects, which in total provides monthly income up to 1200 EUR net 
(including 20% national income tax, Estonian national health, social 
security and pension payments).

Application requirements:
• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae
• Research proposal (5 pages)
• When applying for the 1st time for a position in TalTech, duplicate of 
the required
diploma (MA) or other document providing evidence of the necessary 
qualification.

For more information on TalTech, see www.taltech.ee <http://www.taltech.ee>

For more information on RND, see www.taltech.ee/nurkse 
<http://www.taltech.ee/nurkse>

For more details on the position, please contact:
Dr. Anu Masso, Associate Professor in Big Data in Social Sciences, 
Ragnar NurkseDepartment of Innovation and Governance, (anu.masso /at/ taltech.ee)



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