W3 Professorship in Computational Social Science (m/f/x; Reference no.: W2906)

This professorial appointment is open regarding the candidate's specific research focus within the field of computational social science. The successful candidate will define their own research agenda, provided that it demonstrates excellence in computational social science, addresses current societal questions, makes use of novel digital data sources and establishes clear links with computer science.

SOUNDS is a research project at Saarland University funded through the Saarland state government's Transformation Fund. It investigates societally relevant questions through novel digital data sources, digital behavioural traces, social media data and Al-based methods. This professorship provides the computational social science core of the SOUNDS project. It will combine social-science theory with network analysis, automated text analysis, the study of large-scale digital behavioural data, mobile sensing and Al-based modelling, addressing questions such as collective opinion formation, social cohesion and polarisation, or the role of digital platforms in public communication, and contributing to joint questions, methods and publications with the social sciences and computer science. The successful candidate will be expected to develop and lead externally funded research, including principal investigator roles in coordinated funding initiatives such as Collaborative Research Centres. Teaching duties will include computational and methodological courses, for example on the analysis of digital behavioural data, automated text analysis and network analysis. These courses will contribute to degree programmes in the social sciences, computer science, data science and psychology. The role also includes the supervision of student theses and the mentoring of early-career researchers.

The appointment will be made in accordance with the general provisions of German public sector employment law (see legal recruitment requirements in $ 41 Saarländisches Hochschulgesetz, current version available at https://recht.saarland.de/bssl/document/jlr-HSchulGSLrahmen).

We are looking for a researcher with excellent international standing in computational social science and a strong record of working with novel digital data sources applied to societally relevant questions. Your expertise should include computational methods such as network analysis, automated text analysis, the analysis of large-scale digital behavioural data and Al-based modelling. You should be open to a formal affiliation with the Department of Computer Science. You will have an established international research network, an excellent record of high-impact publication and of third-party funding, including grants secured and applications submitted. You should also be prepared to take on principal investigator roles in coordinated funding initiatives such as Collaborative Research Centres. A willingness to teach in English is expected, as is the willingness to teach in German in the medium term.

Saarland University views internationalization as a process spanning all aspects of university life. We therefore expect members of our professorial staff to promote and foster further internationalization. Special support will be provided for projects that expand collaboration within existing international cooperative networks, e.g. projects with partners in the European University Alliance Transform4Europe (www.transform4europe.eu) or the University of the Greater Region (www.uni-gr.eu).

In accordance with the objectives of its gender equality plan, Saarland University is actively seeking to increase the proportion of women in this field. Qualified women candidates are therefore strongly encouraged to apply. Preferential consideration will be given to applications from disabled candidates of equal eligibility. Furthermore, we welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of nationality, ethnic heritage or social background, religious beliefs, personal beliefs or values, age, sexual orientation or identity.

Please complete the application form in Saarland University's online application portal at www.uni- saarland.de/berufungen and submit it with your application documents by no later than 15 October 2026. Application documents must be uploaded as a single PDF file (max. size 10 MB) and should include the following documents in the order specified:

• Cover letter (addressed to the Dean of the Faculty of Empirical Human Sciences and Economics), 
• your resume detailing your academic career, 
• a list of your publications, 
• a summary of your research activities and external funding secured to date, 
• a list of courses you have taught, sample course evaluations, other evidence of your teaching  qualifications
• a two-page research plan and 
• a two-page teaching plan, 
• as well as your five most important publications 
• Please also include proof of disability if you declared a disability in your application and, 
• if you hold a university degree from a foreign university, please provide proof of equivalence from Germany's Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) if available. If you have not yet requested proof of equivalence from ZAB, you must submit proof at a later date if so requested.

When you submit a job application to Saarland University, you will be transmitting personal data. Please refer to our privacy notice for information on how we collect and process personal data in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (www.uni-saarland.de/en/privacy). By submitting your application, you confirm that you have taken note of the information in the Saarland University privacy notice.

The full job advertisement can be found at: www.uni-saarland.de | www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzo6dxr1FWk