W2 Professorship (W3 tenure track position) in Political, Social or Communication Science Universität des Saarlandes
Saarland University is a campus university with a strong international focus and a distinctive research profile characterized by its four core research hubs -Computer Science and Informatics-, -BioMed-, -Europe- and -Sustainability-. With numerous internationally respected research institutes situated in the vicinity of the university and dedicated support for start-up companies, Saarland University is an ideal environment for research, teaching and innovation. The proportion of international students studying at Saarland University is well above the national average and is testimony to the university-s strong international focus. Saarland University has been officially certified as a family-friendly university since 2004.
The Faculty of Human and Business Sciences at Saarland University is inviting applications for the following position to commence in June 2027:
W2 Professorship (W3 tenure track position) in Political, Social or Communication Science
(m/f/x; Reference no.: W2905)
This professorial position is a fixed-term public sector appointment (-Beamtenverhältnis auf Zeit-) for a maximum period of five years. If the tenure evaluation procedure (teaching appraisal and external assessment of research work) is positive, the appointee will be promoted to a permanent professorship (lifetime tenure) at the German academic salary scale W3.
The university is also inviting applications for another 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 political, social or communication science. The successful candidate will define their own research agenda, provided that it demonstrates excellence in the field, 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 AI-based methods. Based in the department of European Social Research, the person appointed to this position will work at the intersection of political science, sociology and communication science. They will pursue theory-driven, comparative research on public communication and societal change with data-driven methods, addressing questions such as political and social opinion formation, the mediated public sphere, or processes of social change. The professorship will also contribute to the development of joint research questions, methods and publications with the wider SOUNDS project and computer science.
We expect you to develop and lead externally funded research, including third-party funding applications at national and European level and to participate actively in coordinated funding initiatives such as Collaborative Research Centres. Your teaching duties will include courses on empirical social research, digital communication research and computational methods, which will also be offered as part of related degree programmes in neighbouring disciplines. 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 academic standing in political science, sociology and/or communication science, with an empirical and quantitative focus, and a strong record of working with novel digital data sources to address societally relevant questions. You should also be open to formal affiliation with the Department of Computer Science. You will have an established international research network and an excellent track record of relevant publication and of third-party funding, including grants awarded, applications submitted or applications being prepared. A willingness to teach in English is expected, as is the willingness to teach in German in the medium term. The tenure evaluation follows the criteria of the university's tenure-track regulations.
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. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, nationality, ethnic heritage or social background, religious beliefs, personal beliefs or values, disability, 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 résumé 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.
- Proof of disability if you declared a disability in your application
- If you hold a university degree from a non-German 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
Kennziffer
W2905
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