Research Associate

Role Description

Department

As one of the longest-established (1965) and most distinguished in the UK, the Department of Sociology has played an important role in the development of the discipline. The Department is also in the World Top 100 for Sociology (QS World Ranking by subject 2025).  By collaborating with international and national partners, we pride ourselves on doing sociology that makes a positive change in the world.  We are a collegiate department with a vibrant, research-intensive group of staff, organised around four clusters: Science, Health and Technology; Gender, Sexuality and Inequalities; Culture, Value and Practices; and Language and Social Interaction.

Role

The European Research Council funded project, ‘The Ethics of Synthetic Data in the Age of Machine Learning and AI’ (SYNDATA), is now recruiting two Research Associates to join our department for a period of 36 months.

As part of the SYNDATA project, you will be breaking new ground, contributing to a better understanding of the ethical and political consequences of synthetic data for contemporary societies.

In this role you will be working with Dr Benjamin Jacobsen as principal investigator and will be based at the University of York, UK. As our successful candidates you will be researching various aspects of synthetic data and how they are in the process of transforming society and culture. In examining this area, you will be part of an exciting research team that carries out interdisciplinary qualitative research, including semi-structured interviews, digital ethnography, non-participant observations, and archival research, including reading and analysing computer science papers. Moreover, you will collaborate on the research design of the whole project, with a specific focus on one of the core case studies/work packages.

The posts are available from 1 October 2026, with a latest available start date of January 2027,  for a period of 36 months.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

• Undergraduate degree in sociology or related area
• PhD in sociology or related area, or equivalent experience
• Knowledge of the social implications of critical data and algorithm studies to engage in high quality research
• Ability to write up research work for publication in high profile journals and engage in public dissemination
• Competency to conduct individual and collaborative research projects
• Experience of writing up research work for publication
• Ability to work as part of a team and also to work independently using own initiative
• Collaborative ethos

Interview date: to be confirmed but anticipated to be within the first few weeks of June 2026

For informal enquiries: please contact Dr Benjamin Jacobsen on benjamin.jacobsen@york.ac.uk

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum (essential) criteria for each position will be offered an interview.  Read more about the University of York’s commitments under the Disability Confident scheme.