COSMOS - Postdoctoral Fellow I

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Closing Date:

Type of Position:

ResearchersNo

Job Type:

RegularNo

Institution Name:

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a metropolitan research university that provides an accessible, quality education through flexible learning and unparalleled internship opportunities. At UA Little Rock, we prepare our more than 8,900 students to be innovators and responsible leaders in their fields. Committed to its metropolitan research university mission, UA Little Rock is a driving force in Little Rock's thriving cultural community and a major component of the city and state's growing profile as a regional leader in research, technology transfer, economic development, and job creation.

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Department:

COSMOS - Provisional Positionshttps://cosmos.ualr.edu/

Summary of Job Duties:

The Postdoctoral Fellow position is a full-time, provisional position with the COSMOS Research Center (cosmos.ualr.edu) at the University of Arkansas and is funded through a grant or contract. The position renewal is contingent upon continued grant funding and satisfactory job performance. The Postdoctoral Fellow will develop socio-computational models to advance our understanding of cyber campaigns on social media, grounded in the dynamics of social and communication processes such as group formation, activation, decentralized decision-making, and collective action. The Postdoctoral Fellow will help extract relevant open-source information in a guided snowball data collection manner by leveraging cyber forensics and deep web search-based methodologies. Postdoctoral Fellow will work with the research team in developing predictive models of various socio-technical behaviors on different social media platforms (including multimedia-rich platforms), and usable tools/software to identify key actors and key groups responsible for coordinating cyber campaigns and disseminating propaganda. This is an on-campus position. This position is governed by state and federal laws, and agency/institution policy.

The position reports to Prof. Nitin Agarwal ([email protected]), Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair & Donaghey Distinguished Professor, and Director, COSMOS Research Center at UA-Little Rock.

Qualifications:

Required Education and/or Experience: 

• The candidate must have a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Information Science, or a related discipline;

• The candidate must have at least 1+ years of research experience in social media mining, computational modeling of social science theories, working with social network analysis tools, and examining cyber campaigns conducted on social media. The research experience must be demonstrated through published research articles in leading journals and conferences relevant to the topics mentioned above.

Preferred Education and/or Experience:

• Candidates with strong experience in computer programming and data management will be given preference.

Job Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Support research projects through ideation, social media analysis, hypothesis generation, and evaluation to understand cyber behaviors;

• Assist with data collection, cleaning, preprocessing, analysis, and interpretation of findings;

• Contribute to writing research findings and presenting at conferences, program reviews, and other academic or professional venues;

• Develop software modules to support the transition of research into functional tools;

• Assist in analyzing multimedia-rich content from online information environments;

• Provide training and support to stakeholders on research findings and tool usage;

• Mentor and oversee graduate students involved in the research, providing valuable experience for future academic careers;

• Contribute to the preparation of research reports and publications;

• Support grant writing and proposal development;

• Coordinate team meetings and lead research-related discussions;

• Record and maintain accurate minutes of meetings;

• Perform other duties and provide additional support as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Proficient in data analysis, modeling, machine learning, and AI, using Python and SQL, with extensive experience in libraries and frameworks such as Pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, Gensim, BERTopic, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and LLMs;

• Skilled in data visualization using Matplotlib, Seaborn, and ggplot2, and experienced in managing research projects with tools like Git/GitHub, ClickUp, and Jupyter Notebooks;

• Specialized in NLP, text mining, and graph analytics, including the use of NLTK, spaCy, TextBlob, VADER, and transformer-based models (e.g., BERT, GPT);

• Familiar with social network analysis (SNA) using NetworkX, igraph, and Gephi for complex network and graph-based data exploration;

• Foundational understanding of computational social science and social network analysis;

• Expertise in social media mining and analysis;

• Research experience examining cyber campaigns conducted via social media platforms;

• Familiarity with analyzing multimedia-rich content in online environments;

• Experience in transitioning research concepts into practical tools;

• Proficiency in computer programming and data management;

• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving capabilities;

• Ability to collaborate with individuals from diverse disciplinary backgrounds;

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for disseminating research findings and engaging with stakeholders;

• Strong organizational and time management skills;

• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within a research team.

Additional Information:

$70,000 annualLetters of Recommendation, Listing of Publications, List of three Professional References (name, email, business title), Resume

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Prof. Nitin Agarwal
Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Chair and Donaghey Distinguished Professor
Director, COSMOS Research Center

All application materials must be uploaded to the University of Arkansas System Career Site https://uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UASYS  

Please do not send to listed recruitment contact.

Pre-employment Screening Requirements:

Criminal Background Check, Sex Offender Registry

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is committed to providing a safe campus community. We conduct background checks for applicants being considered for employment. Background checks include a criminal background check and a sex offender registry check. For certain positions, there may also be a financial (credit) background check, a Motor Vehicle Registry (MVR) check, and/or drug screening. Required checks are identified in the position listing. A criminal conviction or arrest pending adjudication or adverse financial history information alone shall not disqualify an applicant in the absence of a relationship to the requirements of the position. Background check information will be used in a confidential, non-discriminatory manner consistent with state and federal law.

The University of Arkansas is an equal opportunity institution. The University does not discriminate in its education programs or activities (including in admission and employment) on the basis of any category or status protected by law, including age, race, color, national origin, disability, religion, protected veteran status, military service, genetic information, sex, sexual preference, or pregnancy. Questions or concerns about the application of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, may be sent to the University’s Title IX Coordinator and to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Persons must have proof of legal authority to work in the United States on the first day of employment.

All application information is subject to public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Constant Physical Activity:

Hearing, Manipulate items with fingers, including keyboarding, Repetitive Motion, Sitting, Standing, Talking, Walking

Frequent Physical Activity:

Hearing, Manipulate items with fingers, including keyboarding, Repetitive Motion, Sitting, Standing, Talking, Walking

Occasional Physical Activity:

Hearing, Manipulate items with fingers, including keyboarding, Repetitive Motion, Sitting, Standing, Talking, Walking

Benefits Eligible:

Yes