COSMOS – Postdoctoral Fellow III

University of Arkansas System•Little Rock, AR

9d•Onsite

About The Position

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. Postdoctoral Fellow will develop socio-computational models to advance our understanding of cyber campaigns run on social media, grounded in the dynamics of various 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, Distinguished Professor, and Director, COSMOS Research Center at UA-Little Rock.

Requirements

Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Information Science, or a related discipline
3+ 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
1+ years of experience in grant writing and management. Grant writing experience must be demonstrated through a successful grant acquisition and management record
Advanced 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
Advanced in data visualization using Matplotlib, Seaborn, and ggplot2, and experienced in managing research projects with tools like Git/GitHub, ClickUp, and Jupyter Notebooks
Advanced 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
Successful research grant writing and management record for federal (e.g., NSF, DoD) and state (e.g., ARA) funding agencies and foundations
Advanced understanding of research methodologies, data collection strategies, and statistical/analytical techniques
Advanced in computational social science, including social network analysis and social media mining
Extensive experience researching cyber campaigns on social media platforms
Skilled in analyzing multimedia content in dynamic and complex online environments
Proficient in qualitative and mixed-methods data collection and analysis
Demonstrated ability to translate research into usable, operational tools or applications
Strong computer programming and data management skills
Culturally competent and able to work effectively with individuals from diverse disciplinary backgrounds
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills for scholarly publication, collaboration, and public engagement
Experience supervising and mentoring student researchers and volunteers
Excellent organizational and project management capabilities, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks and deadlines
Proven ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary research team

Nice To Haves

Extensive research experience in computer programming and data management
Successful grant-writing experience and a strong publication record

Responsibilities

Prepare and submit grant applications for external funding
Project management (e.g., setting and tracking deadlines and progress of team members, providing reports to the supervisor)
Lead and coordinate project meetings, including agenda setting and minute-taking
Assist in developing new research initiatives aligned with the Center’s mission
Manage complex research projects, offering strategic direction and oversight
Conduct social media analysis to support research projects, including ideation, hypothesis generation, data collection, preprocessing, and analysis of cyber behaviors
Analyze multimedia-rich content within online information environments
Synthesize research findings into written reports and scholarly publications, and present at conferences, program reviews, and other scientific venues
Develop software modules to operationalize and transition research outcomes into practical tools
Support stakeholder training in research methodologies and developed tools
Mentor and oversee graduate students involved in research, preparing for an academic or professional career
Perform other duties and provide additional support as assigned