[Commlist] PhD Position: Analysis of Images and Videos on Climate Change

A doctoral scholarship is available at UCLouvain. The research project 
focuses on the analysis of images and videos on climate change 
circulating in digital social networks.


Questions about this offer can be directed to Andrea Catellani 
((andrea.catellani /at/ uclouvain.be)).

PhD Position: Analysis of Images and Videos on Climate Change

Hiring Context

The Research Centre in Communication (part of the Institute for Language 
and Communication, UClouvain, Belgium) has an opening for a fully funded 
three-year PhD fellowship in video and images analysis. This opening is 
done in the context of a pan-European interdisciplinary research project 
on climate change communication analysis. You will work within a team of 
more than 10 researchers and academics from Belgium, France and Norway. 
The fellowship will start between 15 November 2020 and 15 January 2021 
for 36 months. The offer is open until 30 September 2020, but candidates 
that suit all requirements can be interviewed before this date. We 
specifically encourage women to respond to this call for applications, 
as we are committed to equality of opportunity. Due to the Covid-19 
specific context, face-to-face & teleworking conditions will depend on 
official conditions at the start of the job.

Research Context

Climate change today is undoubtedly a challenge for humanity. The 
Special IPCC 1,5 °C report highlighted the numerous dramatic 
consequences of climate change; yet, the response of our societies has 
been slow, contradictory and elusive. The humanities and social sciences 
are called on to make a crucial contribution to the understanding of how 
humans approach and make sense of climate change, in order to reduce the 
value-action gap, using innovative forms of communication to identify 
entry-points for climate action.

This research project has the transformative aim to improve the 
scientific understanding of why societies remain indifferent to the 
risks of climate change, and to understand how multimodal devices and 
recommendations can convert apathy into action. The project will focus 
on Belgium, France, and Norway. The cooperation between specialists in 
linguistics, semiotics, law and governance studies, anthropology and 
psycho-social analysis can significantly improve the state of the art, 
by combining expertise on texts and images as indications of sensemaking 
by individuals and cultures, and expertise on social and psychological 
factors that influence behaviours and attitudes. In Belgium, the 
research will be undertaken in collaboration with some non-governmental 
organizations: (1) a cooperative which will receive assistance 
transforming their communication strategy for calls to action; and (2) a 
network of organisations, which will contribute to a real-time 
social-network analysis of a new communication strategy in 2020-2021.

One of the main tasks of the project is to increase knowledge on the 
visual aspect of online discourses on climate change and climate change 
mitigation. The analysis of the most “famous” (most seen, shared and 
commented on) images and videos on climate change from YouTube, 
Instagram, Twitter and Reddit and of the interaction between images and 
verbal texts will also aim at improving our knowledge of the role of 
visual content in climate change mitigation.

Job Description

On each platform, the most famous climate change images and videos will 
be identified and collected. These images will be analysed with a 
semiotic approach, which is useful for understanding the implicit 
potential meaning of images, including interactions with texts. The same 
approach will be applied to a corpus of comments on this visual content, 
in order to analyse how real viewers produce meaning in relation to 
images and videos. Intertextual connections will also be examined. This 
analysis will allow for a comparison between different countries and 
different platforms.

The aims of the research are the identification of patterns and 
tendencies concerning the most influential images on climate change in 
the countries of focus. We aim to 1) identify iconic, narrative and 
rhetorical multimodal configurations in (dominantly) visual content 
concerning climate change, and to 2) analyse the attitudes and 
discursive forms of commentary concerning this content, whether in 
favour of or against climate mobilisation. For example, how different 
forms of opposition to climate change mitigation policies are expressed, 
in comments on the visual content but also through recycling, use and 
manipulation of this content? How do climate skepticism is expressed and 
articulated through disagreement and conflict, in particular in relation 
to and through visual contents? This analysis will contribute to the 
understanding of how people interpret and manipulate these images, and 
of how images participate in creating meaning concerning climate change 
and climate change mitigation practices. The global approach is inspired 
by the semiotic tradition of analysis, taking into consideration also 
the theoretical and methodological contributions of social semiotics and 
pragmatics.

On this basis, the PhD aims to offer advice on effective climate change 
communication. A result of the research will be also a scientific 
support to the production and test of prototypes of multimodal and 
innovative communication devices on climate change for the partners, 
including for example augmented and virtual reality. Devices and 
prototypes will be produced by the project team with the support of MIIL 
(Media Innovation & Intelligibility Lab, UCLouvain); they will be tested 
by the PhD student with techniques that are made available by the Social 
Media Lab of UCLouvain, in particular, eye-tracking, interviews, and 
user experience tests.

The PhD candidate will work mainly in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, under 
the supervision of Andrea Catellani (IL&C, UCLouvain) and Louise-Amélie 
Cougnon (MiiL, UCLouvain). S/he will be affiliated with the Institute 
for Language and Communication. Applicants from outside the EU are 
responsible for obtaining the necessary visa or permits.

The candidate’s activities will include the following:

- taking part in the doctoral training programme;

- working actively on a PhD thesis, with the aim of defending it by the 
end of the three-year position;

- contributing actively to the global research project;

- reporting on the results of the PhD project in scientific articles and 
at conferences, with the support of the supervisors.

Research Profile

•A master’s degree in Semiotics, Visual Studies, Communication, 
Information and Communication Studies, Linguistics or any similar degree.

•Excellent academic record and strong interest in visual and multimodal 
analysis and on climate change communication analysis.

•Fluency in French; good level of English (minimum B2); proficiency in 
Dutch and/or Norwegian will be considered as an add-on.

•Skills in semiotic analysis or willingness to acquire such skills.

•Skills and familiarity with the analysis of social media corpora and 
images or willingness to acquire such skills.

•An experience in climate change or political discourse and images 
research are an asset, but not a requirement.

•Capacity to work both independently and as part of a team.

Application Procedure and Timetable

If you are interested in this position, please send to Prof. Andrea 
Catellani (andrea.catellani /at/ uclouvain.be):

- a detailed CV in English or in French;

- a copy of Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas;

- a transcript of records for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees;

- a cover letter, describing, at least, your motivation and how your 
profile responds to the offer;

- a sample piece of academic writing in English or French;

- the names and contact details of two academic referees.

Deadline for application: 30 September 2020

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview (in 
Louvain-la-Neuve or online) in October 2020.

Questions about this offer can be directed to Andrea Catellani 
((andrea.catellani /at/ uclouvain.be)).


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