Postdoctoral Position | Center for Adaptive Rationality

Job Offer valid until July 15th, 2025

The Center for Adaptive Rationality (ARC) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin seeks applicants for 1 Postdoctoral Position (EG 13 TVöD; 39 hours/week).

The position is for three years and is available from October 1st, 2025 on, but later start dates are possible.

The Position

The Center for Adaptive Rationality takes an interdisciplinary approach to behavioral and social science. This position is part of a project aiming to investigate why some citizens feel increasingly alienated from liberal democracy and how a shared sense of reality can be restored and sustained in the face of increasingly polarized information environments and the widespread dissemination of misinformation.

The project addresses two main research questions: First, how, when and why have some citizens in Germany turned their backs to institutions, established parties and traditional media, and, more generally, lost faith in liberal democracy and shared consensual reality. Second, to what extent can these individual developments be linked to their social media use and content, and, relatedly, can micro-level mechanisms be linked back to the macro-level developments in the general population.

Your Profile

We are seeking an outstanding postdoctoral researcher with demonstrated expertise in the study of populist and extremist politics—preferably within the German or broader European context. Ideal candidates will also bring knowledge of research on misinformation and anti-democratic attitudes, particularly at the intersection of technology, democracy, and behavioral public policy, along with strong empirical research skills (quantitative, experimental, and/or qualitative).

The successful candidate will be responsible for providing both theoretical background on the main topic of the project and for designing and conducting empirical studies, including survey experiments. Additional responsibilities include: authoring scientific publications in relevant peer reviewed journals; conducting detailed literature reviews; participating in academic conferences; and presenting research findings and project outcomes.

Requirements

• PhD in Political Science, Psychology, Computational Social Science, or a closely related discipline
• Demonstrated expertise in research on anti-democratic attitudes, political extremism, and populist ideologies, supported by relevant publications (including the doctoral dissertation)
• Strong methodological training in quantitative survey and experimental research (Additional asset: experience with using large language models in surveys)
• Proficiency in data science tools, especially Python or R
• Proven ability to work collaboratively in interdisciplinary and international research settings
• Strong skills in scientific project management
• Excellent written and spoken proficiency in both English and German 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in managing collaborative research networks
• Familiarity with data privacy regulations, open science practices, and data anonymization protocols

There are no teaching responsibilities associated with this position.

Our Offer

This 3-year position is available from October 1st, 2025 on. The Max Planck Institute for Human Development (www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de) offers an excellent research infrastructure, including support staff and equipment. It provides an international research environment, with English as the working language. The research group fosters a collaborative and inclusive work environment both within the group and in international collaborations.

Your Application

The Max Planck Society strives for gender and diversity equality. We welcome applications from all backgrounds. The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such individuals.

We look forward to your application, which should include a cover letter describing your research interests, your CV, relevant certificates, and, if available, a representative preprint or publication.

Please submit your application without a photo. All documents should be sent as a one single PDF file, with your last name as the file name to ARC Applications, MPI for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin (arc-applications@mpib-berlin.mpg.de), with the subject line “Postdoctoral Position on Democratic Alienation and Misinformation”. Applications must be submitted by July 15th, 2025 to ensure consideration. However, review of applications will continue until the position is filled.