The Horizon Europe project “#DEMOCRACYINACTION: Grassroots culture, arts and cultural spaces for political participation and expression online and offline in a resilient Europe” explores arts and culture-based grassroots organizations in physical spaces, social media and the metaverse to understand their critical potential to promote democracy. #DEMOCRACYINACTION focuses on four key areas of social transformation of untapped potential: 1) Nightivism (cultural nightlife in cities for political engagement); 2) Mobilization for women’s rights; 3) Civic participation through culture; 4) Youth activism and civic education. The research includes cases in all EU regions as well as in America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia in democratic and non-democratic contexts. It is assumed that online and offline realities are inextricably linked. The study is based on a comparative, transdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach that includes collaboration with community centers, theaters, exhibition halls and other physical spaces as well as virtual immersive environments. The aim is to provide innovative research findings and policy recommendations for the democratic and safe use and design of social media and the metaverse.
The advertised position is responsible for the implementation of the sub-project on youth, culture and democracy in the metaverse under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Matthias Quent.
Your new challenge
- Responsibility for the coordination and implementation of the sub-project in all matters (administrative and technical)
- Conducting field research on democracy in immersive digital environments (metaverse and VR), especially in relation to youth and culture; including avatar-based experiments
- Implementation of the publication plan (scientific and practice-oriented)
- Cooperation with international partners
- Organization of events and participation in meetings, including several meetings abroad
- Presentation of contributions at national and international conferences
- Participation in the intellectual exchange of the university and the Institute for Democratic Culture
You bring with you
- Completed university degree and doctorate with a specialist background relevant to the research project
- Comprehensive academic expertise on digitality and social media, for example with a focus on social, cultural or media studies
- Specialist knowledge of democracy, youth and/or culture
- Relevant publications in the subject area
- Experience in qualitative research in digital spaces (e.g. ethnographic)
- Technological interest and knowledge of metaverse / extended reality
- Very good command of written and spoken English (C1)
- Independent, proactive and team-oriented work
- Experience in project coordination and international cooperation is an advantage
We look forward to receiving your detailed application with certificates, references and proof of your professional
expertise by 30.11.2024. Please use our online application portal for your application.