Wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in/Doctoral Researcher (all gender)

The Professorship for the Design of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) gGmbH in Bochum, Germany, invites applications for the following academic position:

Doctoral Researcher (Wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in)
in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction,
Artificial Intelligence and/or Data Science

Salary group TV-L 13 (100%)

Preferred Start Date: April 1st, 2026
(Contingent upon funding approval.)

Application Deadline: March 1st, 2026.

The position is fully funded for three years. The candidate will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Hendrik Heuer. A doctorate can be awarded in collaboration with the University of Wuppertal.

The ClaimGuard project will develop an AI-based system designed to support collaborative fact-checking, strengthen media literacy, and create reusable data and software resources for research and practice. It builds on recent experimental work suggesting that dialogue-based interactions with AI chatbots can help people reconsider and reduce endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. Developing such an AI-based system is important. Disinformation is a major global challenge. It shapes public opinion and influences decision-making. It does so by exploiting cognitive, emotional, and social vulnerabilities. This problem is especially severe because false claims can spread quickly on social platforms.

This position offers you the opportunity to do a PhD within the ClaimGuard project and take a leading role in the work package on the knowledge base, evidence extraction, and open science infrastructure.

• Conducting a systematic review of relevant datasets (German and multilingual) and document the results in a transparent, reusable way.
• Building and maintaining a disinformation knowledge base focused on German-language resources, designed for both AI training/prompting and standalone research use.
• Designing and running user research (e.g., a survey with a large sample) to understand needs, expectations, and concerns—feeding results back into knowledge base and tool design.
• Developing a fact and source extractor that retrieves evidence from the knowledge base and relevant news sources and prepares it for user-facing dialogues.
• Co-organizing the first Open Science large-scale competition in the context of disinformation: defining tasks, preparing a benchmark dataset subset, and contributing to a submission/evaluation platform and an associated workshop proposal.
• Publishing results in leading conferences like ACM CHI, ACM CSCW, and similar conferences.

This PhD position is part of an independent research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). The project is funded under the call “Trust in Democracy and the State: Detecting and Countering Digital Disinformation” (German: „Vertrauen in Demokratie und Staat: Digitale Desinformation erkennen und abwehren“).

Requirements

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Media Informatics, Digital Media, or a related field
• Programming skills in at least one programming language such as Python, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, Dart, or equivalent
• Interest in responsible AI, fact-checking, and building tools for real users
• Ability to work independently and document work clearly
• Very good English skills (written and spoken)
• Residence in Germany

Desirable

• Demonstrated experience with scientific publications (e.g., prior publications, a Master’s thesis, or work-in-progress)
• Demonstrated experience with misinformation, disinformation and related phenomena
• Demonstrated software development experience
• Good German skills (written and spoken)

• A diverse and equal-opportunity working environment
• Continuous personnel development
• Flexible working hours
• 30+1 days annual leave
• 14 days workation per year (EU and home country)
• Flat hierarchies and short decision-making processes
• Three days of mobile work per week (flexible location within Germany)
• Anonymous health hotline, discounted sports courses, and internal workshops on health-related topics
• Family-friendly working, and a parent-child office
• Equality policy measures (e.g., free internal workshops on communication, digital anonymous grievance box) and internal network CAISrainbow

This project is a collaborative effort with Kristin Marosi of codetekt e.V., Prof. Dr. Thomas Kosch (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Prof. Dr. Maurice Jakesch (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar), and Prof. Dr. Iris Kirchner-Freis (Hugo Grotius gGmbH). You will collaborate with two other PhD students and with student research assistants across the participating institutions.

The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) gGmbH researches the political, economic, social, and cultural developments triggered by the internet and digitalization. As an interdisciplinary research institution, CAIS uses scientific methods to help shape a digital society in the interests of the people. The research programs at CAIS deal with the opportunities and challenges of digitalization in all its facets and contribute scientific findings to current social debates.

The CAIS strives to increase the diversity of our scientific community. We strongly encourage members of historically marginalized groups to apply, including, but not limited to: people of color, women, LGBTQIA+, and others. Disabled applicants with essentially equal professional and personal qualifications will be given priority.

Applications should include a CV, all university transcripts, and a reading sample, e.g., from prior publications, a Master’s thesis, or work-in-progress. Please also provide a letter of motivation of up to three pages (excluding references) in which you explain your motivation for doing a PhD on this particular topic and why you are the right candidate.

For full consideration, please submit all documents in electronic form (as PDF) by 01.03.2026 via the button down below, quoting the reference number B2026-ClaimGuard.

If you have questions, please get in touch with Prof. Dr. Hendrik Heuer.

We plan to invite candidates by mid-March and make a decision as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the costs for the application cannot be reimbursed.