PhD in Social Psychology (100%)
Starting date: June 1, 2025; not later than Sept 1, 2025
The Center for Social Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Basel is recruiting for a full-time PhD position (100%) starting June 1, 2025, or latest Sept 1, 2025.
The Faculty of Psychology is one of seven faculties of the University of Basel, the oldest university in Switzerland. With our core focus on Society & Choice and Health & Interventions, we are successful both nationally and internationally in our research and study programs.
The Center for Social Psychology specializes in research topics of high societal relevance, including social exclusion. Feeling socially excluded can have severe consequences on the individual and group level, and is related to a variety of economic, political, and societal parameters. We explore topical questions such as the connection between political events and exclusion feelings or the preference for political exchange versus exclusion. This specific PhD project will focus on feelings of social exclusion in a personal or political context or on political participation and exchange. Our team places emphasis on state-of-the-art methodology including artificial intelligence tools.
Your position
Research
- Coordinate and manage research projects
- Conceptualize, design, conduct, and analyze research studies (e.g., experiments, panel data)
- Mentor research assistants
- Document and present research findings in English
Teaching
- Design plan, and teach courses (lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical courses) and design, perform, and evaluate course-related examinations (written and oral certificates)
- Supervise students and review their contributions (seminar, bachelor and master theses); support examinations on the BSc and MSc level
Training and service
- Continue your education/training (e.g., take courses on research methods and didactics)
- Take responsibility for various organizational processes within the Center for Social Psychology, including communication & outreach activities (websites, media contact, brochures, annual reports, etc.)
Your profile
- A very good MSc degree in Psychology is mandatory. In addition, knowledge in related disciplines (sociology, political science) is helpful
- You have excellent knowledge of core research methods and statistics and are willing to learn new skills and methods independently (e.g., Large Language Models, Bayesian Statistics)
- You can analyze datasets using R or are willing to learn R quickly
- You are interested in using artificial intelligence tools in research (and learn necessary programming skills)
- Your long-term goal is a position in academia
- You have strong organizational skills and the ability to work independently
- Your written/spoken English proficiency is very good (at least C1).
We offer you
- Very good mentoring
- Joining a dedicated team that enjoys collaborating on various projects
- Positive, productive, and well-equipped working atmosphere in which you can thrive
- An attractive salary
- Participation in an active doctoral program in the research area Society & Choice
- Basel is situated in Switzerland, at the borders to France and Germany. It's a great and welcoming city, and an excellent place to live and work. Quality of life, health care, and public transportation meet the highest standards
Please submit your application as *one single* PDF file with the applicant's name as the file name via the online portal (applications through other channels will not be considered); no later than April 1, 2025. This file should consist of a short cover letter describing your research interests and fit to the position, your curriculum vitae, all relevant certificates, the contact details of one expert in the field (whom we may ask for a reference letter), and one scientific contribution you authored (e.g., short abstract of or your entire qualification thesis; a manuscript; a journal article).
Please do not hesitate to send us an email for further inquiries to Prof. Dr. Rainer Greifeneder via sp-at-unibas.ch. We are looking forward to receiving your application!
