Job description

This PhD position is part of the research project “How Twitter awareness campaigning affects cancer prevention and early detection behavior”. Today, cancer is one of the most deadly diseases: worldwide, each and every minute more than 15 people die from cancer. According to the World Health Organization, about one third of these cancers deaths could be prevented by (1) doing research, (2) screening, (3) changing lifestyles and (4) taking vaccinations. Nowadays, health organizations initiate online campaigns to raise awareness and to change behavior among citizens. But little is known as to whether or not these campaigns really help. The envisioned PhD student would study how and under which conditions online cancer awareness campaigns actually increase funding, raise awareness, and change behavior of citizens.

The data that will be used for this project comes from a datagrant from the micro blogging platform Twitter that offers a unique opportunity to answer this research question and improve Twitter campaigns as an instrument for cancer awareness. Using these Twitter data and data about offline behavior, the PhD will study four cancer awareness campaigns that aim to: 1) raise funds for prostate cancer research (#Movember), 2) motivate women to screen for breast cancer (#Mamming and #PinkRibbon), 3) increase the use of sunscreen to prevent skin cancer (#Sunsmart) and 4) motivate female teenagers to vaccinate against human papillomavirus (#HPVReport).

The project is conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Public Administration Department and the Netherlands Institute for Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship of the Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences, from the Databases Group of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science and from the #DataForGood program of Twitter. The PhD position is hosted at the Public Administration Department.

Requirements

You have finished a research master or double master program in the Social Sciences, such as Business Administration / Engineering, (Health) Communication, Health Sciences, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration or Sociology. You have thorough knowledge and outstanding skills in quantitative analysis, and are able to program in Stata or R. Knowledge of and experience with social media analysis and Big Data analysis tools, such as tools from the Hadoop stack, is a clear advantage. You are able to work independently as well as in a project team, and you have excellent communicative skills in English, and preferably in Dutch.

Information and application

For more information you can contact prof. dr. Ariana Need, e-mail: a.need<στο>utwente.nl , phone: +31 53 489 4037 , or dr. Michel Ehrenhard, email: m.l.ehrenhard<στο>utwente.nl, phone: +31 53 489 4531. You are invited to upload your application together with contact details of at least 2 referees, curriculum vitae, including the list of courses you have followed (with grades), before February 22th, 2015.

Working conditions

We offer a very challenging position in an inspiring environment. This position is a PhD project. As a PhD candidate you will be appointed in a full-time position for a period of three years (38 hours a week), leading to a dissertation. The gross monthly salary for a PhD increases from € 2125,- in the first year to € 2593,- in the third year (in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities). The University of Twente offers additional attractive employment conditions.