Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia 

Start date: Semester 1/2025 (enrolment by 24 February 2025) 

Stipend: A$32,192 per annum for a maximum duration of 3.5 years / A$45,000 per annum for Indigenous candidates (tax-free) 

For further information, see https://www.qut.edu.au/study/fees-and-scholarships/scholarships/polarisation-and-partisanship-in-australian-and-international-public-debates-2-phd-scholarships and contact Prof. Axel Bruns (a.bruns@qut.edu.au). 

Research Outline: 

We offer two scholarships on this topic, and specifically seek at least one Indigenous Australian candidate. Students from diverse and multilingual backgrounds are also especially encouraged to apply. 

Candidates may come from a range of backgrounds within the humanities and social sciences, and have an interest in working within media and communication studies, with a particular interest in populism, propaganda, and/or polarisation. At least one candidate should also have an interest in affect, emotion, identity, and fandom in public and political communication, and the way that these factors overlap and intersect with partisanship and populism. 

Candidates should have an interest in, and early experience with, working with qualitative, quantitative, and/or mixed-methods research approaches; our work provides options for drawing on big data from news media and social media sources as well as for deep analysis of small, targeted collections of content. In particular, this may also include multi-modal approaches which investigate the "video first" Internet and the way that this emphasis on audiovisual content affects the dynamics and drivers of partisanship and polarisation. 

Indigenous Australian candidates are welcome to address any relevant topic. Indigenous candidates may be interested in addressing topics like the recent Voice to Parliament referendum in Australia and/or similar processes elsewhere in the world; however, there is absolutely no requirement for Indigenous candidates to address only such topics. Successful Indigenous Australian candidates will be eligible for the Indigenous Postgraduate Research Award (IPRA), which supersedes the 'Polarisation and Partisanship in Australian and International Public Debates' scholarship stipend. 

These two PhD projects will contribute to the work of the Australian Laureate Fellowship project Drivers and Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate, a groundbreaking research project led by Prof. Axel Bruns and funded by the Australian Research Council for the period of 2022-27, and join a team of more than ten doctoral and postdoctoral researchers working on related issues. 

The successful candidates will be supervised by Professor Axel Bruns and other members of the Laureate team, and have the opportunity to engage in an innovative and highly active team of researchers using cutting-edge qualitative and quantitative methods ranging from in-depth manual content analysis through computational social science to AI-enhanced analysis of public communication data from news media and social media sources. 

The candidates will join the vibrant scholarly community of the world-leading QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), and have an opportunity to connect with researchers across its domestic and international partner networks. As a member of the DMRC, you will also join a supportive and welcoming environment that prides itself on our respectful and diverse community.