The Centre for Media and Journalism Studies (CMJS) at the Faculty of Arts and the Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Science and Engineering are looking for a PhD student in “Assessing the reliability of news and online information: fostering critical digital literacy skills for Generative AI”. The project is funded by a M20 Grant from the Ubbo Emmius Foundation, fostering interdisciplinary and interfaculty collaboration.

The PhD Project
This PhD project studies how children (8-12), adolescents (12-18) and young adults (18-25) build critical literacy skills to evaluate news in the context of algorithmic personalization and GenAI. It brings together expertise on media and journalism studies, digital literacy and inclusion, argumentation theory and AI, combining argumentation theory and affect theory to understand the intertwined processes of cognitive information processing and affective sensemaking crucial for digital literacy. It asks

- How do young people perceive and assess the reliability, neutrality and diversity of news generated by AI versus journalistic and non-journalistic human information sources?
- How do they combine explicit knowledge based on argumentation frameworks and tacit knowledge based on affective experience when assessing news?
- What individual, social and contextual factors foster or hinder the development of the critical digital literacy skills necessary to do so?

The rise of algorithmic personalization, AI-powered information sources and generative AI is fundamentally changing how citizens access, consume and engage with news and news-like information. This specifically affects young people between 8-25 years who get their news mostly from social media. To assess the reliability, neutrality and diversity of the abundant information in their social media feeds that are algorithmically generated, they need to develop critical digital literacy skills that allow them to distinguish between different sources, genres and content.
This project studies how young people’s cognitive information processing and their affective sensemaking processes interact when weighing AI-generated and human-produced news. Moving beyond one-dimensional, cognition-focused approaches to AI literacy, it aims to understand how intuitive and affective knowledge contributes to how young people (learn to) navigate automated news. Starting from the practices, perceptions and experiences of the news user, it aims to understand the civic consequences of GenAI in people’s everyday life. Combining Toulmin’s argumentation theory and affect theory, the project analyzes if and how cognitive and affective processes relate in the development of critical digital literacy skills related to GenAI. It will apply in-depth, semi-structured interviews containing think-aloud protocols and a walk-through exercise, focus groups and an online experiment.

The project will be supervised by Prof. Marcel Broersma and Dr Joëlle Swart (CMJS) and Prof. Bart Verheij (Bernouilli Institute). This is an interdisciplinary project at the intersection of Journalism Studies and Artificial Intelligence.

You will be asked to

- Further develop the research design of the project.
- Carry out research, present your results and author scientific articles on the above mentioned topics.
- Collaborate with members of the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies and the Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, and more broadly in the Jantina Tammes School for Digital Society, Technology and AI.
- Engage and collaborate with other researchers working on the interface of journalism studies and AI research.
- Complete a PhD thesis written in English in the specified timeframe (4 years).
- Collaborate on outreach and public engagement activities.
- Gain teaching experience.

This PhD project offers a unique opportunity to work in an international environment and to acquire valuable research experience: You will be carrying out research in the context of the Journalism Studies group of the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies (CMJS), where the PhD student will be primarily based, and the Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.

Organisation
Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 27,000 students are encouraged to develop their own individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.

The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members, who are working at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.

- A Master’s degree in journalism studies, communication science, philosophy, AI or related area relevant to the project.
- Excellent analytical skills and capacity to do innovative research.
- Excellent communication and academic writing skills in English.
- Excellent language and interpersonal skills in Dutch, given that research participants will be Dutch children, adolescents and young adults.
- Team player mindset and aptitude for interdisciplinary research.
- Familiarity with concepts, theories, and debates in relation to journalism, AI and digital literacies is a plus.
- Experience with the applied methods is a plus.

Fixed-term contract: 48 months.

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the University of Groningen offers you:

- A salary of € 2.872 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3.670 gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time position.
- A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.
- An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
- A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After six months, an assessment will take place of the candidate’s results and the progress of the PhD project, in order to decide whether employment will be continued.
- The PhD candidate is expected to conduct a total of 0.4 fte teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.
- Willingness to move and reside in The Netherlands.

The appointment will commence as soon as possible and before the end of 2024 at the very latest. We allow 3 months from selection in case of VISA applications.