Job description
Internet memes have emerged as a novel format for expressing ideas on the web, evolving from a simple form of entertainment to a sophisticated medium of communication that reflects societal sentiments, values, and trends, and occasionally unethical and harmful behavior. State-of-the-art multimodal AI cannot explain the relatability of memes, which are deeply rooted in background knowledge about current and historical events, personal values, and contemporary internet culture. Moreover, the challenge of interpreting memes naturally requires multifaceted approach combining method development and benchmarking from an AI perspective and understanding relatability and intent from a communication science theory perspective.

This PhD project aims to develop a knowledge-driven neuro-symbolic AI methodology for interpreting memes about societally relevant topics (e.g., climate change) and adequate evaluation paradigms that focus on communication intents and relatability. It will employ communication science theories to facilitate deeper interpretation, and connect the dots between these findings and theories about analogy and framing. We expect that combining background knowledge of internet memes with powerful multimodal models can illuminate the personal and cultural values that guide the creation and spread of internet memes.

The PhD project will be cross-disciplinary and supervised jointly by Dr. Filip Ilievski (Assistant Professor of Commonsense AI within the Learning and Reasoning group) and Prof. Wouter van Atteveldt (Professor of Computational Communication Science and Political Communication).

Your duties

• shape and refine the indicated research topic according to your interests
• conduct research on the stated topic using adequate research methods from AI and communication science
• publish the results as scientific papers in prestigious scientific venues in AI and at the intersection of AI and communication science
• attend suitable conferences to present the research
• actively participate in the groups Learning and Reasoning and Communication Science
• support BSc / MSc teaching and supervision activities in the department

• a strong MSc degree in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Communication Science, Human Language Technologies, or a related field
• advanced knowledge about AI and basic understanding of communication science concepts
• solid programming abilities in Python
• excellent communication skills in English (verbal and written)
• motivated team player who shows initiative to drive their own research
• record of cross-disciplinary activities and interest
• (bonus) experience with foundational language or vision models, and/or neuro-symbolic AI
• (bonus) knowledge of theories about analogies, metaphors, or framing
• (bonus) prior publications and/or experience with empirical research methods

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

Fixed-term contract: 18 months.

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of € 2.770,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.539,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
• an employment contract of initially 1.5 years. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

About the department
The VU Department of Computer Science has approximately 200 staff members, including approximately 110 PhD students. Lecturers form a critical and essential basis for the functioning of the department, providing foundational education that helps determine the future of our students.

Our research and our students are diverse, covering disciplines such as Social sciences, Humanities, Economics, and Bioinformatics. Currently, we offer programs in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Information Sciences (BSc and MSc), and Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (MSc), with a total of around 1,000 new students each year.

Faculty of Science
Researchers and students at VU Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science tackle fundamental and complex scientific problems to help pave the way for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, and from molecules to the moon: we cover the full spectrum of the natural sciences. Our teaching and research have a strong experimentally technical, computational and interdisciplinary nature.

We work on new solutions guided by value-driven, interdisciplinary methodologies. We are committed to research, valorisation and training socially engaged citizens of the world who will make valuable contributions to a sustainable, healthy future.

Are you interested in joining the Faculty of Science? You will join undergraduate students, PhD candidates and researchers at the biggest sciences faculty in the Netherlands. You will combine a professional focus with a broad view of the world. We are proud of our collegial working climate, characterised by committed staff, a pragmatic attitude and engagement in the larger whole. The faculty is home to over 11,000 students enrolled in 40 study programmes. It employs over 1,600 professionals spread across 10 academic departments.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely. - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of the VU. The VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services. Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

We want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select based on competencies and talents. We therefore encourage anyone who recognizes themselves in a vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, religion, philosophy of life, orientation, disability or chronic illness, to respond.

Candidates with a jobs agreement indication (“doelgroepregistratie”) will be given priority if suitable. For these candidates applies:

• A PhD candidate with a registration (“doelgroepregister”) may apply for a minimum of 0.7 fte
• An extra supervisor is available for PhD students with target group registration and their supervisors.